GEORGIA: MINISTER OF CORRECTIONS INFORMS DIPCORP

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 000537

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHM KDEM GG
SUBJECT: GEORGIA: MINISTER OF CORRECTIONS INFORMS DIPCORP
OF PLANNED REFORMS

REF: A. TBILISI 0453

B. TBILISI 0470


1. (SBU) Summary: Minister of Corrections and Legal
Assistance (MCLA) Dimitry Shashkin briefed the diplomatic
corps March 18 on his ministry's current status and future
plans. Shashkin addressed both corrections and democratic
reforms, as he did with the Ambassador during a previous
meeting (ref A and B). Shashkin appealed to the
international community for assistance in helping his
ministry move toward European standards. He distributed a
list of current corrections and legal assistance
needs/deficiencies to the group (faxed to EUR/CARC and INL).
On democratic reforms, Shashkin said that forming commissions
to ensure Georgia's democratic progress is a priority. Media
freedom is the first priority, followed by property rights'
guarantees, justice and court reform, and penitentiary
reform. The Ambassador, along with participating EU and COE
ambassadors, agreed that they would look over the list,
examine current assistance programs, and meet soon to discuss
possible assistance and coordination in response to Minister
Shashkin's request. End Summary.

NEW MINISTRY HAS BIG GOALS...


2. (SBU) After introducing his new Chief of Probation,
Teimuraz Iobidze, Shashkin addressed corrections issues. He
explained the ministry has approximately 100 staff at the
ministry itself, with 4,500 total staff (including guards and
probation officers),19,000 prison inmates, and an estimated
23,000 convicts on probation. The Minister acknowledged that
Georgia's penal system is far from European standards, but he
intends to reform the system in this direction. Shashkin
estimated he needs USD 127 million to bring the system up to
western standards. For 2009, his budget is GEL 27 million
(USD 16.3 million). Shashkin said that he wants to
incorporate crime prevention efforts into his reforms, and
revising the probation system is his first task. Shashkin
said his ministry is also working to address healthcare,
women and juvenile inmate issues, education, and job training
(by placing workshops in prisons).

...BUT NEEDS HELP


3. (SBU) Shashkin appealed to the group for cooperation and
communication. He welcomed inquiries from the international
community and NGOs. Shashkin said any complaints will be
investigated immediately by his deputy and the MCLA's
inspector general. Shashkin said the MCLA will hold an open
house on April 23 at Gldani Prison #8, and invited the group
to attend. The Minister distributed a list of "Needs and
Priority Areas for 2009" to the group. It includes staff
development, capacity building, improvement of prisons and
the penitentiary system, and strengthening of the probation
service and legal assistance bureau.

DEMOCRATIC REFORMS, MEDIA FIRST


4. (SBU) As the designated GOG lead for the "second wave of
democratic reforms," Shashkin told the group that his first
special commission (ref B) will address media freedom. He
said the government does not believe that "they have solved
the problem," even though there are now eight talk shows on
national TV. Shashkin further said that President
Saakashvili "does not want to be criticized for media
freedom." (Note: Post will report on the media situation
septel. End note.) Shashkin appealed to the group again for
assistance. He said he wants to sponsor a roundtable to
ascertain international measures/indicators of media freedom
that can be applied in Georgia to ensure media freedom.
Shashkin lamented that the OSCE is likely leaving, as the
country "needs a free and fair mediator," and they perhaps
Qcountry "needs a free and fair mediator," and they perhaps
could have assisted in this effort. The Ambassador noted
that the U.S. and the EU had supported the "Michnik Group"
which was established before the 2008 presidential election
to address this same issue. Unfortunately, the group
withered away after the election.


5. (SBU) Shashkin said additional democratic reforms would
follow. In order of likely sequence, he noted private
property guarantees, justice/court reform, and then
prison/penitentiary reform. Shashkin said he is working with
Parliament on ensuring private property rights, and pledged
that the country would have a new trial system by 2010. He
said a new penitentiary code would be in place by 2010, and
that an NGO representative would be added to the current
six-member probation/parole commission. (Note: Shashkin did
not address reports of sentence commutations that were
granted in November that halved the prison time for four

TBILISI 00000537 002 OF 002


former Ministry of Internal Affairs employees who were found
guilty of murdering Sandro Girgvliani in 2006. End note.)
Shashkin said he is working with the Public Defender's
Office, and hopes that he can increase coordination and
cooperation with the MCLA.

AMBASSADORS RESPOND


6. (SBU) The ambassadors welcomed Shashkin's briefing and
promised to look at his requests for assistance. They noted
that many ongoing programs currently exist. The EU said they
currently are spending 23 million Euro on justice reforms in
Georgia. The ambassadors suggested some ongoing programs
could be modified to include some of the new requests as
well. The OSCE representative noted that even if the OSCE
mission in Georgia is closed, the OSCE will continue to work
with the GOG. In response to a question about election code
reform, Shashkin noted that this is now up to Parliament, but
that the GOG is committed to democratic reforms. The
Ambassador suggested that the international donor community
(including USAID, COE, and the EU/EC) could review the
requests together and then meet with Shashkin to discuss
assistance in greater etail.

COMMENT


7. (SBU) Comment: As the former head of the International
Republican Institute in Georgia, Shaskhin is publicly
committed to making progress on implementing President
Saakashvili's promised second wave of democratic reforms.
The government understands the importance of showing the
international community that it is taking democratic reform
seriously. In addition, it appears the government is making
a concerted push on democratic reforms ahead of the planned
April 9 protests in order to demonstrate this commitment to
the Georgian public.
TEFFT