Council of Europe anti-torture committee assesses Georgia’s progress
The delegation has assessed progress made in the implementation of the recommendations following the previous visit in 2014. Photo: CoE
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The Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) delegation has carried out a visit to Georgia from 10 to 21 September.
The delegation has assessed progress made in the implementation of the recommendations made by the CPT following the previous visit in 2014.
Delegation members have paid particular attention to 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.
Furthermore, the delegation carried out visits to several psychiatric hospitals and, for the first time in Georgia, to an immigration detention facility.
In the course of the visit, the delegation has held consultations with Minister of Justice Tea Tsulukiani, Minister of Internal Affairs Giorgi Gakharia, Minister of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs David Sergeenko and with several other senior officials.
Such periodic visits usually take place every four years. The findings of the visit are then shared with the government and made public, as well as the comments of the government.
The committee of Ministers' Deputies has assessed the initiative "as a vivid sign of Georgia’s firm commitment to promote confidence and interaction between the societies split by the dividing lines.”
The project will look at ways of combining legislative, capacity-building and awareness raising actions to ensure the appreciation of diversity in Georgia and the possibility for everyone to freely enjoy their rights.
The Council of Europe (CoE) Congress of Local and Regional Authorities was overall satisfied with the calm, uneventful and well-administered Election Day in most of the polling stations visited by the delegation, following a competitive campaign where democratic values were respected by and large.
The Council of Europe (CoE) Congress President Gudrun Mosler-Törnström shared her concern over the death of Georgian citizen Archil Tatunashvili in the Russian occupied region of Georgia – Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).
The report shows that Georgia allocates 9,70 EUR per inhabitant to its judicial system while the European average of the budget allocated to the judicial system per inhabitant in 2016 is 64 EUR and the median is 53 EUR.
The Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body GRECO published a report on December 19 looking at how Georgia has implemented the recommendations on dealing with corruption offences, and specifically on the transparency of party funding.
The Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) commends the Georgian authorities for combatting ill-treatment and urges them to address informal prisoner hierarchy and a lack of out-of-cell activities, as well as to improve mental health care.