Communicated on 28 September 2015
FOURTH SECTION
Application no. 14142/15
Akaki Ochigava
against Georgia
lodged on 11 March 2015
STATEMENT OF FACTS
1. The applicant, Mr Akaki Ochigava is a Georgian national who was born in 1966 and lives in Tbilisi. He is represented before the Court by nine lawyers: Ms N. Jomarjidze, Ms T. Abazadze, Ms K. Shubashvili, and Ms T. Dekanosidze, lawyers at the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association in Tbilisi, and also by Ms K. Levin, Ms J. Evans, Ms J. Gavron, Mr. V. Grigoryan, and Mr P. Leach, lawyers at the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre in London.
2. The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.
3. On 2 June 2011 the applicant was arrested on the suspicion of having committed a robbery. On 3 June 2011, as part of his admission procedure to Tbilisi no. 8 prison (“the Gldani prison”), a doctor examined the applicant and noted in his medical file that he had no injuries at the time of his admission.
1. The alleged acts of torture and ill-treatment in the Gldani prison
4. The applicant claims that he was subjected to repeated acts of torture and ill-treatment in the Gldani prison between June 2011 and August 2012.
5. According to the applicant, torture and ill-treatment of prisoners by the prison staff was common practice in the Gldani prison during the impugned period. The applicant further claims that, apart from being subjected to “routine” violence and verbal insults like any other prisoner in the Gldani prison, he was also singled out and specifically targeted. The applicant contends that, due to the repeated and continuous nature of his torture and ill-treatment in the Gldani prison (allegedly he was beaten at least several times a week), he is unable to specify the exact dates of every such occasion. He also claims that his requests for medical assistance after each beating were ignored and were instead met by insulting remarks from the prison staff.
6. With regard to particular episodes of alleged torture and ill‑treatment, according to the applicant, the beating of newly arrived prisoners was routine in the Gldani prison (a so-called “quarantine procedure”), and he was no exception. On the day of his arrival in the Gldani prison the applicant was allegedly beaten so severely by several prison guards and a high-ranking prison officer that, in addition to sustaining multiple bruises, several of his front teeth were broken. After the beating the applicant was placed in a cell without being provided with any medical assistance.
7. Another form of ill-treatment alleged by the applicant was his arbitrary placement by the prison guards in a cell of solitary confinement (the “karzer”) or in a small detention cell (the “fuks”) in retaliation for voicing even a minor protest against the abuse. According to the applicant, the “karzer” was normally a cell measuring ten square metres, containing no furniture apart from a folding metal bed. During the day the applicant had to sit on the cement floor, as the bed was folded and attached to the wall with a lock. The prison guards would only unlock the bed and let the applicant use it between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.
8. As far as the “fuks” was concerned, this was a small detention cell measuring four square metres and containing no furniture. The applicant had to sit and sleep on the tiled floor. Sometimes, the applicant would be placed in this cell with several other inmates and, the space not being sufficient for them to sit on the floor, they all had to stand all the time. At other times, the prison guards would deny him food or the use of a toilet, the latter being located outside the cell. The applicant claims that sometimes he would have to spend several days either in the “karzer” or the “fuks”, and any minor attempt to voice his discontent would be met with more beatings. There were also occasions when the prison guards would put a special helmet on his head which placed a ball in his mouth and prevented the applicant from speaking, all the while continuing to verbally insult him.
9. The applicant also describes his beatings in the shower room of the Gldani prison. In particular, he claims that the prison guards would strip him naked in the shower room, splash him with cold water and beat him severely, sometimes with batons. On one occasion, the applicant claims that he lost consciousness during yet another beating in the shower room, and that when he regained consciousness he found himself handcuffed to a pipe in the prison morgue among the dead bodies.
10. Apart from the physical and verbal abuse, the forms of retaliation for voicing even minor discontent about the misconduct of the prison staff allegedly included arbitrary restrictions on access to the prison shop (where the prisoners would normally buy food and other basic items) or denial of family visits. The applicant also claims that even his methadone treatment for withdrawal from drug addiction was discontinued without any explanation or medical oversight, as a form of retaliation. This affected his psychological well-being and made his withdrawal process extremely painful.
11. According to the applicant, in 2011 he made two attempts to voice his grievances about the alleged acts of torture and ill-treatment. Once, he sent a letter to the director of the Gldani prison, and on the second occasion he sent a letter to the President of Georgia. Both attempts were allegedly followed by fierce retaliations from the prison guards. The applicant claims that he received a particularly severe beating after the prison guards found out about his letter to the President of Georgia (“the incident”): according to him, as a result of this exceptionally severe beating, his spine was damaged and consequently he could hardly walk. After the beating, he was placed in the prison medical centre for a day, and was returned to his cell after being given painkillers. Later on, as he still had serious difficulties in walking, he was given a wheelchair. Allegedly, given the severity of the incident, the director of the Gldani prison had to report the applicant’s injuries to his superiors.
12. On 5 November 2011 an internal inquiry was opened by the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Corrections (“the ID”) concerning the applicant’s injuries. According to the applicant, an investigator from the ID, who had come to the Gldani prison to obtain a statement from him, advised the applicant to say that he had fallen out of bed, and that that was how he had damaged his spine. Allegedly, the investigator also told the applicant to include in his statement a disclaimer confirming that he had no complaints about the prison staff. Initially, the applicant refused to sign such a statement and also complained to the investigator about other occasions on which he had been beaten in the Gldani prison. In response, the investigator invited the prison staff to the interview room. The staff then took the applicant to a different room and beat him severely. After the beating, the applicant, upon being brought back to the investigator, gave in and signed the statement confirming that he had fallen out of bed and that he had no complaints against the prison staff. On 5 December 2011 the ID decided not to proceed with a criminal investigation on the grounds that no offence had been committed.
13. Another beating allegedly took place in December 2011. The applicant claims that this time the prison staff broke all of his fingers by hitting his hands with a baton. Again, no subsequent medical treatment was provided to him. After the beating, the applicant was returned to his cell, where his cellmates helped him to bandage his broken fingers. According to the applicant, owing to the lack of medical treatment, his fingers did not heal properly; they are now deformed and he has difficulties bending them.
14. In January 2012 the applicant hired a lawyer who made enquiries with the director of the Gldani prison about the applicant’s situation. However, after the prison guards made it clear to the applicant that any pursuit of legal action would result in more beatings, he instructed the lawyer not to take any such action. Subsequently, the applicant continued to be the target of occasional beatings and was sometimes placed in the “karzer” while he still remained in his wheelchair. The applicant contends that there was even an occasion when the prison guards burned him with cigarettes.
15. In September 2012 footage of acts of torture and ill-treatment of the inmates of different prison establishments, including the Gldani prison, was disseminated in the Georgian media (“the prison scandal”). Subsequently, as the result of the October 2012 elections in Georgia, the leadership of the country changed. The applicant claims that after the prison scandal and the changes in government, which also affected the prison system, he felt safe to complain about his torture and ill-treatment in the Gldani prison.
16. On 5 November 2012 the Office of the Public Defender of Georgia (“the PDO”), having met the applicant in prison at the request of his lawyer, referred the applicant’s case to the Chief Public Prosecutor of Georgia and requested that an investigation be launched into the alleged acts of torture and ill-treatment to which the applicant had been subjected in the Gldani prison. The PDO’s referral letter was accompanied by a written statement from the applicant which described the alleged acts and listed the names of the alleged perpetrators.
17. On 5 December 2012 the applicant sent a similar letter of complaint to the President of Georgia. His letter was subsequently passed on to the Ministry of Corrections and the Chief Public Prosecutor of Georgia.
18. On an unspecified date the prosecutor of the Gldani-Nadzaladevi Region of Tbilisi opened a criminal investigation into the applicant’s allegations. On 23 January 2013 the applicant was examined as a witness.
19. On 17 January 2014 the applicant was released from prison.
20. In October 2014 the prosecutor upheld the applicant’s motion and commissioned an expert medical report on the applicant’s state of health. According to the applicant, to date, this medical report has not been completed. In November 2014 the applicant’s former cellmates were also examined as witnesses.
21. Since the start of the investigation, the PDO and the applicant’s lawyers have repeatedly made enquiries with the relevant prosecutor about the progress of the investigation, and have requested that the applicant be granted victim status, which would allow him to be involved in and receive information about the ongoing investigation. The names of the alleged perpetrators have also been provided to the prosecutor on numerous occasions. Similar letters have been addressed to the Chief Public Prosecutor of Georgia, in which the applicant’s lawyers also raised complaints about the inaction of the prosecutor in charge of the applicant’s case, and the failure to grant the applicant victim status.
22. In his most recent letter (dated 30 December 2014) available in the file, the prosecutor informed the applicant’s lawyers that the applicant’s case had been joined to a large-scale investigation into numerous alleged acts of ill-treatment in the Gldani prison, and that the investigation was still ongoing. The prosecutor also advised that, since the applicant did not have victim status, he was not entitled to receive detailed information about the ongoing investigation.
23. Most of the applicant’s allegations are corroborated by the statements (available in the file) of several former inmates of the Gldani prison who shared a cell with him at different times during the impugned period.
2. The applicant’s medical treatment
24. On 1 November 2012 the applicant was transferred from the Gldani prison to Ksani no. 15 prison. After his medical examination at this prison, he was transferred to civilian hospitals for additional medical examinations. As a result of these examinations and consultations with different medical specialists, including a neurosurgeon, the applicant was placed in a civilian hospital for surgery on his spine. On 20 November 2012 the surgery was performed and consequently the applicant was able to walk with crutches.
25. Between 25 March and 25 September 2013 the applicant was placed in the prison medical establishment, where he was treated for his earlier diagnosed viral hepatitis C, cirrhosis of the liver, protrusion of the vertebrae of his lumbar spine, hypertension, and an emotionally unstable personality disorder. After his release, the applicant continued to receive medical treatment for his various conditions.
26. On 28 March 2014 the applicant was classed as having a moderate permanent disability. Later in 2014, as his condition deteriorated, the applicant underwent additional medical treatment, including another surgery on his spine. The applicant claims that he requires continuous medical treatment for his various conditions.
27. On 18 November 2014 the applicant initiated court proceedings against the Ministry of Corrections, claiming moral damages for the endured suffering and for the costs of the anticipated necessary medical treatment. Those proceedings are still pending.
COMPLAINT
28. Claiming that his ill-treatment was a “daily, systemic practice” in the Gldani prison, the applicant complains under Article 3 of the Convention about his repeated torture and other forms of ill-treatment in the Gldani prison between June 2011 and August 2012, and about the lack of an effective investigation thereof.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
1. Was the applicant’s complaint under Article 3 of the Convention about alleged acts of torture and ill-treatment lodged with the Court in line with the rules on exhaustion of domestic remedies and the six months laid down in Article 35 § 1 of the Convention (see Aprasidze and others v. Georgia (dec.), no. 32220/07, 21 May 2013; Manukyan v. Georgia (dec.), no. 53073/07, 9 December 2012)?
2. Between June 2011 and August 2012 was the applicant subjected to repeated acts of torture or ill-treatment by the staff of Tbilisi no. 8 prison, in breach of Article 3 of the Convention?
3. Have the domestic authorities fulfilled their obligations in respect of the applicant with regard to the procedural limb of Article 3 of the Convention?
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