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Investigators of the Special Investigation Service enhanced their knowledge on documenting injuries

20 investigators of the Special Investigation Service (SIS) enhanced their capacity on documenting medical evidence of alleged crimes, including torture and ill-treatment, during training sessions held on 22-23 September. Namely, the new staff of the investigation department increased their knowledge over a wide range of important topics regulated by the Istanbul Protocol, including interviewing principles around injuries, vicarious trauma and established methods to identify traces of ill-treatment and torture from a medical perspective.

As a result, the SIS investigators will apply their knowledge and gained skills when processing notifications received form the temporary detention isolators about the alleged crimes committed by the police.

The two day training sessions were organised within the framework of the Council of Europe Project “Human Rights Compliant Policing in Georgia” (HRCPG) which is designed to address issues related to effective policing in line with human rights standards, the rights of detained persons and their treatment by police, the treatment of juvenile victims and offenders as well as effective investigation into alleged ill-treatment by police and effective remedies against police misconduct.

We work together to promote Human rights, Democracy and Rule of Law.

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The Human Rights Compliant Policing in Georgia (HRCPG) project is designed in close cooperation with the Georgian authorities and will support them in enhancing monitoring and discharging policing responsibilities in an effective and accountable manner through greater compliance with human rights standards.

It will support the development of policies and regulatory measures by the medium and high-level decision-makers at the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) that will address the shortcomings identified by the European Court of Human Rights, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia (PDO) in policing. It will enhance the professional and operational capacities of police services and their officers as well as national independent monitoring and investigation mechanisms (PDO and the Service of the State Inspector - SSI) and relevant staff members to prevent police misconduct while performing their duties and to carry out effective investigations into allegations or other indications of ill-treatment, disproportionate use of force and other human rights violations, in line with Council of Europe standards and best practices.

Capacity building initiatives for police services and national independent monitoring and investigation mechanisms will also focus on policing of democratic freedoms (e.g. public gatherings), principles of ethics, issues related to juveniles and other vulnerable groups, as well as a gender-sensitive approach to policing.

In addition, the Project will also support the MIA in improving the rights of detained persons and their treatment in police custody and temporary detention isolators (TDIs). Capacity building activities for TDI staff, both medical and non-medical staff, will aim to ensure the protection of fundamental human rights, including access to adequate services, in detention facilities.

Working with national civil society organisations (CSO) is part of the Project’s design given the importance of effective involvement of CSOs in the external monitoring of police conduct is essential to ensure accountability and transparency of policing as well as public trust.

The Project builds of the Council of Europe’s successful history of co-operation with the MIA, particularly with the Department of Temporary Detention (TDI), the Department of the Human Rights Protection and Qualitative Investigation and the MIA Academy. The project represents a continuation of the previous 24-month project Juvenile and Adults Detainees Support (JADES) carried out in 2019-2021.

This Project will be implemented within 24 months, until 30 June 2023, with an overall budget of 600,000 Euros financed through the Action Plan of the Council of Europe in Georgia.