Special Investigation Service authorised to investigate violations under European Convention of Human Rights

Georgia’s Special Investigation Service has been authorised to investigate violations of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, known as the European Convention on Human Rights, Koka Katsitadze, the agency’s Chair, told the Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee on Monday. 

The official said specific amendments by the country’s legislative body had been made as part of the 12-point conditions outlined by the European Commission last year for granting Georgia the European Union membership candidate status, and noted the fourth condition of the reform agenda had recommended actions for further strengthening of his service. 

Commending the changes adopted after the consideration of the agency’s written views, Katsitadze stressed they gave the country an “opportunity to successfully fulfil its positive obligation to subject violent crimes committed by public servants to an independent investigative mechanism”. 

Providing details, he said the agency had been allowed to investigate allegations of destruction of evidence by law enforcement officers, illegal detention, abuse of official authority and forgery, as well as election violations if they were alleged to have been committed by law enforcement. 

Katsitadze presenting the report about the 2022 activities of his agency in the Parliament's legal Affairs Committee. 

Katsitadze further noted his employees had been granted the right to enter penitentiary institutions “unimpeded [and] without a special permit” to ensure they could respond to complaints by inmates “in a timely and effective manner”. 

The official also highlighted the agency had interviewed more than 3,500 law enforcement officers across the country based on citizens’ complaints since its establishment in March 2021, including “hundreds of cases” recorded by the previous body. 

The agency has responded to all cases and alleged violations, which has led to crime prevention that is the key role of the Special Investigation Service '', he pointed out. 

Speaking about cooperation with the Interior Ministry, the official said his agency had drafted recommendations to the body after noting 25 percent of the 261 alleged victims had claimed disproportionate and excessive use of physical force during detention by law enforcement officers. 

The recommendations asked the Ministry to retrain its employees who were directly engaged in arrests and transfer of individuals to detention facilities, increase use of body cameras and decrease time limits for providing requested recordings, and regulate standards of handcuffing. 

Katsitadze also noted the agency’s recommendations to the Special Investigation Service called for improvements in supervision of suspects and convicts at forensic examination institutions and in the suicide prevention programme, which he said aimed at identifying suspects or convicts prone to suicide to reduce deaths. 

The Special Investigation Service and Personal Data Protection Service replaced the State Inspector Service that combined responsibilities of the two offices before the ruling Georgian Dream party proposed its abolishment in December 2021 in a bid to “further strengthen personal data protection and ensure more effective investigation of alleged abuse of power cases”.