Georgia’s Human Rights Record in International Spotlight

UN Human Rights Committee Criticizes Georgia’s HR Practices

UN Committee on Human Rights gives one-year term to Georgian state to work out how to deal with the problems of human rights violation in Georgian judicial system. The Committee considers some core issues of such urgency and importance that it’s not to wait for Georgia’s next periodic review planned in about 4 years.

Georgian NGOs on human rights as well as Human Rights Watch office in Tbilisi, Georgia, welcomed the recommendations the Human Rights Committee gave to Georgia. At the special press conference on April 16 they pointed out that these recommendations issued by the Committee on April 9 are quite strict and straightforward.

“The Committee has provided clear instructions on what Georgia must do to fulfill its international human rights obligations”, said Elizabeth Andersen, Executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia division.

The Committee sets the concrete measures for solving the problems of religious violence, guaranteeing rights of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, and establishing the civilian service alternative to the military one.

The recommendations issued by the UN Committee on Human Rights specifically address the unbearable condition existing in Georgia’s pre-trial detention cells and prisons.

There are three specific points committee requires answers on in 12 months: very large number of deaths of detainees in police stations and prisons; the widespread and continuing subjection of prisoners to torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by law enforcement bodies; and the 72 hour period during which persons can be kept in police detention and before they are informed of the charges against them.

The Committee recommends Georgia to ensure that all forms of torture are punishable while nowadays there is no legislation ensuring punishment of law enforcers who tortured, or mistreated a detainee in Georgia.

“The State party should also set up an effective system to monitor the treatment of all prisoners,” the recommendations say. This specific recommendation was part of other statements of international organizations made previously. According to the head of Georgian non-governmental organization Former Political Prisoners for Human Rights Nana Kakabadze, NGOs have been trying to achieve monitoring of pre-trial detention cells for years but their effort was, so far, in vain.

The third subject the Committee wants Georgia rapidly improved upon is the rights of the detainees in primary detention cells. The recommendations say that the government should ensure that detainees are promptly informed of the charges against them and that they should be given the opportunity to make a complaint before a judge regarding any ill-treatment during the investigation phase.

The Human Rights Watch has been working in this field in Tbilisi for four years by now. It has filed several letters to Georgia’s President Shevardnadze complaining about torture of detainees. Nevertheless, torture by police and other law enforcement officials remains an everyday reality in Georgia, says Alex Anderson, representative of the Human Rights Watch in Georgia. He says the know facts are only “a tip of an iceberg.”

The Human Rights Watch points out that, in fact, Georgian Criminal Procedure Code allows effectively arbitrative detention by the police.

“In sum, what the Human Rights Committee has done is to pose very serious questions about the credibility and integrity of the entire Georgian criminal justice system”, says Alex Anderson and suggests Georgian government to undertake fundamental reforms of both criminal procedure legislation and law enforcement structures and procuracy. “Otherwise the recommendations given by the Committee can never be implemented”, he says. 

Even though a lot has been said about implementation of reforms in these bodies, both the Human Rights Watch and Georgian non-governmental organizations agree that in this term Georgia has not even moved forward, in fact, it even failed to remain in the same place and has eventually backtracked on legal reforms.
 
After the US State Department drew special attention to the human rights violations in Georgia, President Shevardnadze called for a special government session dedicated to this particular issue. However, the human rights NGOs have little faith in these actions saying it will end up with no concrete result. They fear the government sessions are just a smokescreen to demonstrate devotion to the ideals of the human rights to the international organizations.

It is clear, that Georgia can no more play hide-and-seek and promises the improvement of human rights conditions in Georgia. It has to take concrete measures and talk about concrete actions concerning the criminal system in exactly one year.

By Salome Jashi, Civil Georgia