Local and international human rights advocates initiated a large-scale survey after one year from the dissemination of video footages depicting torture of prisoners. The survey will look into motives of torture and inhumane treatment in Georgian prisons and its role in the justice system of Georgia. 1200 respondents will take part in the survey, of which 600 are former prisoners.
Survey results to be unveiled in the first half of 2014 will respond to the key questions: What were the key factors prompting torture? What was the goal of photo and video documentation of facts of torture? What physical and psychological methods were used most often? Were prisoners tortured in certain prisons or throughout the whole country? Was the method practiced by a certain group of administration or was it an official policy?
The survey will also focus on the changes that have taken place since the 2012 Parliamentary elections.
Based on the survey, international experts will give recommendations to the Georgian government regarding the prison management and ways to avoid the practice of torture and cruel treatment.
Baroness Vivien Stern, a member of the House of Lords and founder of Prison Reform, who will be involved in the survey, visited Georgia to attend the presentation. Professor Andrew Coyle, the Director of the International Centre for Prison Studies and prison adviser to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, will also take part in the survey.
The research group is made of local and international NGOs working on human rights issues.
The following organizations are involved in the research:
The Georgian Centre for Psychosocial and Medical Rehabilitation of Torture Victims; the Georgian Young Lawyers‘ Association; Penal Reform International; EMPATHY – Psycho-Rehabilitation Centre for Victims of Torture, Violence and Pronounced Stress Impact; Transparency International Georgia; 42nd Article of Constitution; the Human Rights Center; Youth for Justice; the Public Defender; Human Rights Priority and Global Initiative on Psychiatry.