The European Court of Human Rights ruling in a case involving a former prisoner has “confirmed” torture and inhuman treatment were “systematic and widespread” in Georgian penitentiary institutions until 2012, the country’s Justice Ministry said on Friday.

The comment comes following February 16 ruling of the ECHR in the case Ochigava v Georgia, where the Court found the applicant had suffered “systematic acts of ill-treatment” in Gldani Prison No.8 in Tbilisi between June 2011 and August 2012, while the competent domestic authorities had “failed to conduct an effective investigation” into the matter.

“From the decision of the Strasbourg Court, it is established once again that the torture of prisoners in Georgian prisons took place systematically, among others, in the following forms: the practice of compulsory beating of newly placed prisoners - the so-called quarantine procedure; systematic beating of prisoners several times a week; long-term placement in solitary confinement and small solitary cells for punishment, where there was nothing but a metal bed, and prisoners had to sit on cement floors during the day. The bed was folded and attached to the wall with a lock.

The staff of the institution opened the bed and allowed the subject to use it only between 10 pm and 8 am. Prisoners also had to stand the whole time if several prisoners were placed in the cell at the same time; restriction of food intake and toilet use for prisoners; permanent restriction of meeting with family members; covering the prisoners with a special kind of helmet and stuffing a ball in their mouth so that they did not talk; Conversation between prisoners was allowed only in whispers.

The purpose of this mistreatment was to force the prisoners to obey and cooperate with the prison administration. The complainant Akaki Ochigava experienced the aforementioned forms of torture himself. In November 2011, he was beaten with extreme cruelty, as a result of which he damaged his spine and lost the ability to walk.

After complaining about the mentioned fact, the investigator advised him to declare that he got injured when he fell out of bed. The applicant refused, which is why the employees of the institution broke his fingers with a baseball bat. His fingers were mostly deformed from multiple fractures. In addition, the applicant was not provided with proper medical care.

Besides, during one of the incidents, the prison staff stripped him in the shower room, poured cold water on him and beat him severely with batons. There was a case when the applicant lost consciousness due to beatings, and after regaining consciousness, he found himself handcuffed to a pipe in the prison morgue, with dead bodies.

As a result of the above-mentioned treatment in the penitentiary, the applicant has been a disabled person since March 28, 2014.

Taking into account all of the above, the European Court found that the applicant was subjected to torture in Gldani prison and that it was part of the systemic torture that existed at the time, which was characteristic of the whole system.

It should be noted that the victims of ill-treatment did not report the cases of torture both during private and personal (family) contacts. This was partly due to the lack of hope for the improvement of the situation, the fear of further punishment and the ineffectiveness of the protection mechanisms.

However, as the complainant told the prosecutor, he felt safe enough to file a complaint about ill-treatment in Gldani prison after the prison scandal and the October 2012 government changes.

As a result of the investigation of the Prosecutor’s Office, in 2017, a number of people were charged with the torture of A. Ochigava, and on February 6, 2018, the defendants were found guilty by the Tbilisi City Court. The judgment was left unchanged by the Tbilisi Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. A. Ochigava, an ex-convict, was recognized to be a victim in this case, along with other persons.

In spite of the above, taking into account the systematicity and scale of the violation, the European Court also found flaws in the procedural part of Article 3 of the Convention (obligation to investigate), because the arrest and trial of the responsible persons took place 5 years after the occurrence of the contested facts, which was considered a long time for the execution of justice”, - reads the statement.

The ECHR has ordered the Georgian state to pay the applicant EUR 20,000, plus any tax that may be chargeable, for non‑pecuniary damage.