Amnesty International Report 2000 - Georgia

Head of state and government: Eduard Shevardnadze
Capital: Tbilisi
Population: 5.4 million
Official language: Georgian
Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes
1999 treaty ratifications/signatures: Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty; International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol; European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and its Protocol No. 6 concerning the abolition of the death penalty

Reports of torture and ill-treatment in custody continued during 1999, including one instance in which police allegedly beat a man to death. In the disputed region of Abkhazia, ethnic Georgians continued to allege that they faced arbitrary detention, ill-treatment and robbery at the hands of Abkhazian forces. At least one death in custody in disputed circumstances was reported in Abkhazia. At least one death sentence was passed in Abkhazia, but no executions were carried out. Some 200,000 ethnic Georgians displaced by the conflict faced obstacles to their return.

Background

Georgia was accepted as a full member of the Council of Europe in April. The ruling party retained its parliamentary majority after elections in October. The disputed regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia remained outside the control of the Georgian authorities, and there was little progress in peace talks. The situation in Abkhazia remained tense, in part due to the activities of irregular armed groups, but there was no major outbreak of hostilities.

Alleged torture and ill-treatment

There were persistent allegations of torture and ill-treatment in custody.

• Six men detained after a robbery near the city of Kutaisi were reportedly ill-treated in police custody. Five were named as Temur Khaburzania, Ramaz Khantadze, Kvantaliani, Giorgadze and Lipartiani. The men were said to have been detained in two groups of three on 24 January and taken to Kutaisi regional police station. Ramaz Khantadze reported that police officers slapped him in the face, causing his nose to bleed, beat him on the chest and legs, and dictated a "confession" to him. He was released shortly after this. Another, Kvantaliani, told his lawyer that he had been brutally beaten on the legs and feet by a named police officer. The lawyer said he saw wounds on his client's legs consistent with this allegation. When a Georgian non-governmental organization (NGO) subsequently asked to see those still detained, Kvantaliani was brought to them wearing a hat, scarf and long sleeves. He refused to speak to his lawyer or the NGO representative.

Deaths in custody

At least one man was reported to have died as a result of being beaten by police.

• Davit Vashaqmadze and his friend Zaza Buadze were in a stationary car in Tbilisi's Tavisupleba Square when two police officers asked for their documents on the evening of 13 November. Davit Vashaqmadze did not have his documents on him, and the officers reportedly pulled the two men out of the car and started to beat them. Several other police officers also reportedly joined in the beating. Davit Vashaqmadze and Zaza Buadze were then told that they would be taken to Mtatsminda police station, but were instead taken to a district outside the city centre where the beating continued. Davit Vashaqmadze apparently suffered multiple fractures and other serious injuries, and died in hospital two days later. Zaza Buadze was also said to have sustained serious injuries. A criminal investigation was opened by Tbilisi City Procurator's office, and two police officers were reportedly arrested and charged in connection with Davit Vashaqmadze's death.

At least two men also died after allegedly throwing themselves from upper floor windows while in police custody. Ivane Kolbaya died in March after falling from the fifth floor window of the Tbilisi Central Police Department, and Zaza Tsotsolashvili fell to his death in December from the sixth floor window of the Ministry of Internal Affairs building in Tbilisi. Police claimed both deaths were suicides.

However, the head of the Georgian forensic medical centre reportedly said that forensic medical examiners could not determine whether the trauma marks they found on Ivane Kolbaya's body were the result of the fall or were sustained prior to his death, and the head of the parliamentary Human Rights Committee questioned the circumstances of Zaza Tsotsolashvili's death after examining the room from which he is said to have fallen. Zaza Tsotsolashvili's brother was allegedly pressurized by police into refusing an independent autopsy, but four law enforcement officers were suspended pending investigations into this case.

Compulsory military service

Although a law providing a civilian alternative to compulsory military service came into force on 1 January 1998, it was not implemented owing to a failure by the Georgian authorities to enact relevant procedures. Aspects of the law itself also raised concern. It was not clear, for example, that any alternative service would be of a genuinely civilian nature and completely separate from military structures. It also appeared that while those performing alternative service could transfer to military service, there is no corresponding provision for those on military service to transfer to an alternative civilian one. AI sought further information in view of reports that the alternative service would be one year longer than compulsory military service.

Discrimination against women

In June the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women considered Georgia's first periodic report under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The Committee noted positive aspects such as the establishment within the ombudsperson's office of a confidential hotline for women victims of violence. However, the Committee expressed concern about the lack of a real understanding of discrimination against women; the persistence of a patriarchal culture and the prevalence of gender stereotyping; and the policy of not criminalizing procurement for the purpose of prostitution, which had created an environment in which women and children were not protected from sexual exploitation in sex-tourism, cross-border trafficking and pornography. The Committee's recommendations included comprehensive measures to eliminate gender stereotypes; gender-sensitive training for law enforcement officials and agencies; amending the criminal code to impose severe penalties for sexual violence and abuse of women and girls; and establishing a network of crisis centres and consultative services to assist women victims, especially girls.

Abkhazia

Many reports on events in Abkhazia were extremely polarized and difficult to verify independently. The de facto Abkhazian authorities failed to respond to AI's concerns, which meant that AI was unable to reflect their assessment of allegations against forces under their control.

Hostage-taking

In April the crew of a Georgian fishing boat named Alioni were detained by Abkhazian border guards. The only female crew member was released around 10 days later, but the rest were taken to Sukhumi. There it was reported that the captain and chief mechanic were to be charged with illegally entering Abkhazian waters, and the remaining crew with fishing illegally in a conservation area. However, Abkhazian officials were quoted as saying that crew members could be released without any further legal proceedings if exchanged for four Abkhazian civilians captured by Georgian irregular armed forces. AI expressed concern that if the crew members were held without formal charge, with their release conditional on an exchange for others, then in effect they were being held as hostages. In August the Abkhazian Supreme Court began hearing the case, but the nine men were released the following month in exchange for three Abkhazians and one Cossack, said to have been held in western Georgia by Georgian irregular forces.

Ill-treatment and death in custody

Allegations of torture and ill-treatment continued, with at least one reported death in custody in disputed circumstances.

• An ethnic Georgian named Apollon Markelia was reported to have died following a beating by Abkhazian law enforcement officials. He and another man named Ushangi Todua were said to have been detained in the Gali district, then taken to a preventive detention unit in the town of Ochamchira. On 5 August it was reported that Apollon Markelia had died after being beaten in this unit.

Georgian irregular forces

Abkhazian forces continued to face armed attacks, sometimes leading to fatalities, and Abkhazian civilians and military personnel were said to have been taken hostage by irregular Georgian armed groups. AI continued to approach the Georgian authorities about alleged links between such groups and Georgian officials, and urged them to take all appropriate steps to ensure that anyone within Georgian jurisdiction responsible for human rights violations in Abkhazia was apprehended and brought to justice.

Return of the civilian population

In March the Abkhazian side unilaterally began implementing a "refugee return program" to the Gali district, but this was not supported by the Georgian side or the international community. In a statement in May the UN Security Council demanded that both sides put a stop to the activities of armed groups and establish a climate of confidence allowing refugees and displaced persons to return. The Security Council reaffirmed the right of all those affected by the conflict to return home in secure conditions.

Death penalty

At least one death sentence was passed during the year. Otak Kulaia was sentenced to death on 31 August for heading a terrorist group which caused explosions in the town of Tkvarcheli in 1998. The head of the Commission for Human Rights in Abkhazia reported in November that 14 people had been sentenced to death since the region had declared itself independent. No executions were reported.

AI country report

• Concerns in Europe, January – June 1999: Georgia (AI Index: EUR 01/002/99)