DETAINEE TREATMENT BETTER--TRANSPARENCY STILL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 001621

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/09/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM GG
SUBJECT: DETAINEE TREATMENT BETTER--TRANSPARENCY STILL
LACKING

REF: A. TBILISI 1042


B. TBILISI 1299

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Classified By: Ambassador John F. Tefft for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Georgia's Ombudsman told DCM and Poloff in a
meeting on 5 July that detainee treatment at pre-trial
detention centers has improved due to monitoring of these
venues. He recounted specific cases where independence of
courts, instances of misuse of power by police, government's
infringement of property rights of citizens, and inadequate
prison conditions for inmates still continue. Subari
expressed his satisfaction with the U.S. State Department's
Human Rights Report (HRR) for Georgia which he said helped
him in his work and his dealings with the Georgian executive
and legislative branches. END SUMMARY.

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The Role of the Public Defender Office
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2. (C) DCM and Poloff met with Sozar Subari, Georgia's
Public Defender/Ombudsman, on 5 July. At the outset of the
meeting Subari described the mandate of the Public Defender.
His office is permitted to receive information from any
government agency and provide recommendations to the
appropriate agency; his recommendations, however, are not
binding. The Public Defender's Office is a parliamentary
agency and is accountable to Parliament.


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Detainee Maltreatment Down, Funding Up
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3. (C) Subari related to DCM and Poloff that the incidents
of maltreatment of pre-trial detainees are decreasing
following the introduction of Ombudsman's monitoring of these
venues (reftel A). As a result of "unannounced visits" by
the Ombudsman's staff, the incidence of physical abuse of
detainees has significantly decreased, and special record
books on detainees are reviewed to ensure that detainees are
being logged into the system and relatives are notified of
their detention in a timely manner. Additionally, Subari
noted that the increase of funding from 300,000 GEL (179, 640
USD) to 600,000 GEL (359,282 USD) for inmate health care was
a positive sign, although the increase is still not
sufficient and serious health problems remain in the prison
health care system. He highlighted in particular the spread
of tuberculosis, inadequate treatment of diagnosed
inmate-patients, and poor practice of maintaining medical
records as lingering problems. The subordination of the
prison health system is unclear as
to whether it belongs to the Ministry of Justice or to the
Ministry of Health and this lack of clarity has no one agency
in a responsive role.

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Lingering Problems
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4. (C) Subari stressed that major human rights problems
still are prevalent in the country due to the lack of
independence of courts, instances of abuse of power by
police, government's infringement on property rights, and
inadequate prison conditions (reftel B). He highlighted
specific instances of police falsification of evidence in the
killing of Robakidze by the patrol police in 2004 and recent
inhumane treatment of inmates in Rustavi prison where inmates
were kept naked for the purpose of punishment. Subari
underlined the inappropriate actions and corruptness of the
Special Operation Department (MOIA),and their involvement in
the illegal detention of three young men in Svaneti. His
professional opinion is that Georgia's judicial system is not
yet mature enough to ban the presence of video and television
cameras in the courtroom. He acknowledged that perhaps in
America this would be understandable, but in Georgia there is
still strong distrust of the judicial branch and passage of a
law prohibiting re
cording devices from the courtroom would only cement further
this distrust.

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Lack of Parliamentary Support
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5. (C) Subari regretfully noted the lack of Parliament's
support to his agency. He recalled in particular
Parliament's reaction to his 2005 annual report which was
critical of the religious minorities' situation in Georgia.
In the course of his presentation, the majority of the
Parliament walked out in protest. Parliament was also very

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late in adopting its resolution on the report. When the
resolution was adopted, its stated that the Parliament did
not share the Ombudsman's position on the religious minority
issues. Subari stressed that the same reaction occurred to
his 2006 report to which he is still awaiting a reply. During
the last year the Public Defender's Office has submitted
seven claims to the Constitutional Court of Georgia, but only
one of those has been satisfied. He specifically noted a
particular incident when the Parliament adopted a certain
provision overruled by the Constitutional Court. The
provision refers to the purchase of the minimal amount of
shares in the possession of share-hold
ers in a joint-stock company by the owners of the majority of
shares at a "fair price" against the will of their owners.
The Ombudsman's Office filed a lawsuit with the
Constitutional Court on behalf of the owners of the minimal
amount of shares and won the case, but the Parliament
disregarded this precedent.

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Praise for HRR
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6. (C) Subari expressed his satisfaction with the HRR for
Georgia which he said helped him in his regular work dealing
with the Georgian executive and legislative branches. He
expressed frustration at the lack of support for his work by
the executive and legislative branches; he said that the HRR
echoed many of his same concerns and that it gave additional
credence to his concerns before the other two branches.


7. (C) Subari told Poloff that in contrast to other public
structures where budgets have grown 200 per cent or more, his
budget has not increased in the last three years, despite the
increase in workload. He himself admits that his two
priorities, the fight against torture and protection of the
rights of national and ethnic minorities are not
enthusiastically embraced by the administration and often put
him in direct opposition to the powers that be. He noted
with pride that the prestige of his office has grown and now
occupies second place only to the Georgian Orthodox Church as
far as public trust.
TEFFT