Georgia: Former Public Defender Sozar Subari has drawn attention to the treatment of prisoners at Gldani Prison in Tbilisi, following the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) judgment in the case of Ochigava v. Georgia, which documented repeated abuse and torture during Akaki Ochigava’s detention.
In his statement of evidence, the applicant claimed that he had been subjected to ill-treatment by prison officials which involved the use of force, threats and insults. The European Court of 16 February 2023 found that the applicant had been ill-treated as part of widespread and systematic abuse of the prison system.
Case files showed prisoners were assaulted physically and verbally on an ongoing basis; they were also constantly restricted and had no loud speech, only a whisper, as per the case files. They were not allowed to rest during the day on their beds and could only see their families on special visits with modest supplies.
The so-called “quarantine procedure’’ was among the most severe practices during which prison personnel systematically assaulted incoming inmates day and night.Ochigava states that when he arrived he went through a series of harsh beatings that caused his body to gain a lot of bruises and have his teeth knocked out from his front teeth.
While in custody, he continued to experience cruel treatment. One of the most violent episodes of maltreatment occurred on 16 November 2011, when the prison officers struck him in such a severe manner that they ended up fracturing his back, ie vertebral column, leaving him temporarily unable to walk.They also hit his hands with a baseball bat following his refusal to sign a document, according to which he had fractured his spine because he fell off his bed, leading to a couple of broken fingers.
Other reported cases include one where prison staff took him to a shower block, sprayed him with cold water and beat him with batons, and another where, having been beaten until he was unconscious, he awoke shackled to a pipe in the prison morgue in the company of corpses.
The Court considered these submissions in the context of the judgement of the national court, together with medical reports and other evidence. The Court found that various acts of ill-treatment constituted torture and that the treatment complained of had been inflicted by or at the instigation of public officials.
The probe has likewise come under attack. While the Tbilisi City Court in February 2018 sentenced seven prison guards, the Court admitted it had been hampered by grave deficiencies, including a significant delay in launching the probe and the non-investigation of numerous grave allegations. The Court also found that some top officials had not been adequately investigated.
In its judgment, ECHR found, there had been a breach of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) torture and inhuman or degrading treatment. The breach in this case related to treatment towards Ochigava and the failure to conduct an effective investigation.
The case continues to be a reminder to States parties of their obligation to protect detainees, to investigate promptly and impartially into the allegations of ill-treatment and to prosecute the perpetrators.Former Public Defender Sozar Subari’s comments on the ruling sparked renewed attention to the victims and the grave human rights violations exposed by the prisons in Georgia.
