Statement of the NGOs

The NGOs believe that acts of torture and inhuman treatment that occurred throughout the recent years in the penitentiary system remain unresponded. 

After videos showing acts of torture and ill-treatment in penitentiary facilities were made public last year in September, the NGOs have highlighted that ill-treatment and investigation of ill-treatment was a systemic problem that the Public Defender as well as NGOs have attempted to tackle throughout the years. The video material made public was one of the examples of the systemic problem. Therefore, in addition to other requirements, NGOs have also demanded independent, objective and effective probe into all cases that involved torture and ill-treatment, including into the cases shown on the video tapes. Further, we also proposed to confer the mandate of investigating to a public prosecutor who would enjoy public trust and would utilize humane and technical resources at its disposal to focus on investigation of torture and ill-treatment; and lastly, to set up within the public prosecutor a board manned by relevant professionals – lawyers, doctors and psychologists, to ensure active engagement and monitoring of public. The board would interview prisoners throughout Georgia, collect evidence and provide it to the public prosecutor.