In the report on Georgia published today, the Council of Europe anti-torture Committee welcomed the absence of allegations of ill-treatment in the institutions visited, commended the efforts to address overcrowding, improve access to healthcare and living conditions. However, the committee urged the authorities to immediately address inter-prisoner violence, acute deficit of out-of-cell activities, the usage of “de-escalation rooms” as punishment, and serious shortcomings in the provision of mental healthcare.
The report follows the most recent visit of the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) to Georgia from 10 to 21 September 2018. The delegation inspected the treatment of persons in police custody and the situation of prisoners in penitentiary establishments, in particular those in high-risk and semi-open prisons, as well as juvenile inmates. In addition, the delegation carried out visits to several psychiatric hospitals and, for the first time in Georgia, to an immigration detention facility.
The delegation received hardly any credible allegations of deliberate ill-treatment in the establishments visited. Overcrowding was no longer a major problem either. Material conditions varied but were generally acceptable.
