 
The monitoring co-rapporteurs for Georgia of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe (PACE), Michael Aastrup Jensen (Denmark, ALDE) and Boriss
Cilevics (Latvia, SOC), have expressed their shock at the videos that have
surfaced in Georgia showing prisoners being abused and tortured by prison
guards.
"Such practices are unacceptable in a Council of Europe member State, therefore
we welcome the swift reaction of the authorities. We expect that the authorities
will now conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into these abuses, as
well as into the structural question of how they could take place despite
warnings from such respectable institutions as the Georgian Human Rights
Defender," they said. "All perpetrators, including those that have abetted or
condoned such crimes, should be punished to the fullest extent of the law," they
added.
The co-rapporteurs intend to return to Georgia in the framework of the ongoing
monitoring procedure for the country once the parliamentary elections are over.
.
For more information see: www.coe.int / www.coe.ge |
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political organisation set up in 1949, the Council of Europe works to promote
democracy and human rights continent-wide. It also develops common responses to
social, cultural and legal challenges in its 47 member states.