Watchdog Details “Inhuman and Degrading Treatment” Against Protesters by Police
The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association issued a statement on December 2 saying that according to lawyers from the Legal Aid Network, which unites several human rights watchdogs, most of those arrested on December 2 were severely beaten and subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment. The protests have been ongoing since November 28, following Georgian Dream’s decision to halt accession negotiations with the EU and against a backdrop of unprecedented police violence.
The statement notes that some of the detainees are currently being held in a medical facility, adding that “they have bruises all over their bodies and facial injuries in the form of broken noses and jaws. All the detainees in the clinic have concussions, multiple bruises, and hematomas, and have difficulty moving and speaking.”
The watchdog says that according to the detainees, the police used violence both during and after their arrest. The detainees describe in detail their treatment by the police: “They were mercilessly beaten by at least six members of the Special Branch in a detention minibus. During the beating, the police officers took turns and agreed in advance to break the arms or legs of the detainees. Their superiors instructed them to hit the protesters in the liver and head. While being beaten, the detainees were spat on, cursed, and shouted at. The detainees recall being threatened with rape, often with police batons, for “liking [opposition leaders] Gvaramia and Khazaradze” or for “being so European and liking [sodomy].”
“After a long and continuous beating, the minibus was covered in blood,” the detainees recall; they also remember the raincoat of a detainee being full of blood. The beatings were reportedly supervised by a relatively senior man who made sure that no one died during the beating. Those who got out of the minibus were led one by one through the so-called “riot police corridor,” – which means riot police officers hit them one by one over the head and back – before being taken to the patrol police car.
According to the detainees’ testimonies, the riot police, on some occasions, removed the detainees’ shoes, and many were taken barefoot to the medical facility. The riot police also confiscated the detainees’ mobile phones and asked them to unlock them.
The GYLA says: “We condemn this inhuman and degrading treatment and demand an immediate investigation into each and every such crime.”
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