The Minister of Correction and Legal Aid of Georgia Khatuna Kalmakhelidze said: “People die both in prison and outside prison. There is nothing extraordinary in it. People in prison die mostly because of old age.”
The leader of the public movement “Solidarity with Illegal Prisoners” Eka Beselia does not agree with the minister. She said the prisoners do now die because of their old age. “It is impossible to allege that 25, 35 or 40-year-old person dies because of old age. It is nonsense. It is not normal.”
The report of the Public Defender of Georgia states that mostly the prisoners die because of tuberculosis, and diseases of breathing system and infections. The human rights defenders speak about the causes of these diseases.
“The first reason of mortality among prisoners is criminal negligence of corresponding institutions; the prison administration is infantile and medical institutions are completely indifferent to sick prisoners. The second reason is anti-sanitary in detention settings. The prisoners, sick with various infections, are not isolated and there is a high risk of spreading the virus among inmates. Anti-sanitary conditions, unhealthy nutrition and ill-treatment aggravate the health conditions of the prisoners and it often results into their death,” Eka Beselia told the Human Rights Center.
Journalist and former prisoner Shalva Ramishvili also shares her opinion. He said poor medical service results into the high number of mortality in prisons.
As a result of the research carried out by the Public Defender of Georgia exposed cases which directly indicated to ineffective and inadequate diagnostic or medical procedures in jail hospitals. In addition, the report also lists the facts of physical assault of prisoners who were left without attention after intimidation.
“Prisoner M.V died; the diagnosis – close trauma on his chest – according to the official document the dead person was beaten in prison. 73-year-old K. U. died of tuberculosis and lung diseases; conclusion – the person of this age and with similar diseases shall not be placed in the detention setting because it is inhuman treatment.”
Our respondents state that the situation can be improved by reduction of prisoners’ number in prisons. “We should petition to international organizations who can influence the governments and who financially assist our government. They should persuade our government to take measures to resolve this problem.”
Eka Beselia believes that in order to reduce mortality among prisoners the penitentiary institutions shall become more transparent and the facts of ill-treatment and torture shall be prevented.
“In 2009-2010, the problem of overcrowded detention settings was urgent in penitentiary system of Georgia. Although serious progress was achieved in this direction, the overcrowded cells still negatively influence medical service in prisons and proportionally reflect on the living conditions in detention settings,” the report of the Public Defender.
And finally, the statistics about prisoners in Georgia is urgent. By December of 2010, there were 23, 684 prisoners in Georgian prisons. The index of imprisonment is 538 at 100 000 people while according to the European standard the limit is 150.
Sopo Getsadze
