CoE research: Georgian prison population decreased, country still has high incarceration rate
Russia and Georgia have the highest incarceration rates in Europe. Photo: OFFFSTOCK/shutterstock.
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Between 2008 and 2018 the prison population in Georgia has decreased by 43 per cent. However, Georgia is the second in Europe by its high incarceration rate, the Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics for 2018 (SPACE) reads.
The statistics of 2008 read 445 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants in Georgia, while the figure was 252 per 100,000 in 2018.
CoE says that the number of inmates in the Georgian prisons was increasing until 2012 [under the United National Movement], with 516 inmates per 1000,000 in 2012.
The report says that the decrease kicked off from 2013 [under the Georgian Dream leadership], with 219 inmates per 100,000 that year.
Countries with particularly high incarceration rates continued to be Russia (418.3 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants), Georgia (252.2), Azerbaijan (235), Lithuania (234.9), Republic of Moldova (215.2), Czech Republic (208.8), Latvia (194.6), Poland (194.4) and Estonia (191.4). Not taking into account countries with less than 300,000 inhabitants, the lowest incarceration rates were found in Iceland (46.8), Finland (51.1), Netherlands (54.4), Sweden (56.5), Denmark (63.2), Slovenia (61.1) and Norway (65.4),” reads the survey.
CoE says that the situation in Georgian prisons meet European standards.
The report says that around €11,7 are spend on one inmate daily in the country [the figure in the EU member states in €66,5].
Azerbaijani spends €6, Armenia- €11,4 and Russia- €2,5 on one prisoner daily.
The total number of inmates in Georgia is 9,407, including those in pre-trial detention.
272 of the 9,407 are women.
Most of the inmates, 3,464, are sentenced to three to five years in prison, 78 sentenced to 20 years and 73 to lifetime.
The latest Council of Europe survey for mortality rates amongst inmates ranks Georgia as the fifth lowest.
The Georgian Justice Minister Thea Tsulukiani has evaluated the outcomes of a rehabilitation program initiated by her five years ago, titled Rehabilitation and Resocialization Program for Former Prisoners.
A report of the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Union (EU) joint project - Human Rights and Healthcare in Georgian Prisons and Penitentiary Facilities - has praised "tangible progress” made in better healthcare in the prison system.
Georgia’s Acting Minister of Corrections Kakha Kakhishvili told Parliament that the Ministry of Corrections planned to build a new prison for young offenders aged 14-21 years, through the recommendation and support of the European Union (EU).
Georgia’s population has slightly decreased, reaching 3,723,500 people as of January 1, 2019, says the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).
A bill presented by the Georgian Dream ruling party MPs allows inmates to receive a Master’s degree while in prison as the current law regulates the conditions and procedures only for Bachelor’s degree.“The current law, with the involvement of the Ministry of Education and Justice, offers procedures and conditions only for the Bachelor’s degree for inmates. There are no rules for a Master’s degree,” says the bill.
The Council of Europe’s new annual prison statistics report released earlier today says that Georgia is the third among the countries with the highest incarceration rates in Europe following Turkey and Russia.
Georgia had remarkably high prison and probation rates in 2020, which could be an indicator that community sanctions and measures are being used not as alternatives to imprisonment but as supplementary sanctions, reads the 2020 SPACE II annual survey carried out by the University of Lausanne for the Council of Europe.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has stated that the situation in Georgian prisons is ‘exemplary’ and that the Georgian Dream government put an end to torture and inhuman treatment of prisoners as soon as they took office back in 2012.
Two inmates have died in a fire in Rustavi Prison No.17 yesterday, the Georgian Justice Ministry confirmed earlier today. The fire broke out at around 14:00 yesterday allegedly in the prison cafeteria. Six fire brigades with 11 fire engines were trying to extinguish the fire. It has not been reported so far what caused the death of the inmates - thermal burns of smoke.