measure, and before using this measure, facility staff should use other, less restrictive means, such as direct staff supervision and electronic surveillance. In case of insufficient means, transfer to the deescalation room and solitary (safe) cell should be used as a momentary, urgent measure, which should not exceed 24 hours and at the same time the prison multidisciplinary team (psychologist, social worker, doctor and In the case of necessity - a psychiatrist) should provide adequate assistance to the prisoner. And if the work of the multidisciplinary team is insufficient to achieve the goal of protecting the safety of a prisoner with mental health problems, s/he should be transferred immediately to the psychiatric unit of the N18 Medical Establishment of Defendants and Convicts or to another psychiatric institution. Use of de-escalation rooms and solitary (safe) cells as a punishment During inspections in penitentiary establishments, according to the information received by a special preventive group, in some cases the placement of prisoners in a de-escalation room and solitary (safe) cells was actually carried out without a normative basis (risk of harm to the life or health). In particular, according to the prisoners, the real reason for being placed in the indicated cells was the prisoners protesting against the non-fulfillment of their duties, employees violating the regime requirements and verbal dispute with them. So for example, a prisoner in the facility N8 was placed in a de-escalation room. According to him, the real reason for placing him in the de-escalation room was the demand for his own telephone conversation. According to the prisoner, the staff of the establishment knew that he was going to call the journalists and talk about the facts of violation of his rights in the facility. He explained that he was not nervous and had not had any cases of self-harm. It should be noted that in de-escalation rooms and solitary (safe) confinement cells, prisoners are provided with limited access to personal hygiene and dishwashing detergents. The clothes of the prisoners placed in these rooms are kept with the staff of the establishment and the prisoners have limited access to their own clothes. While in de-escalation rooms and solitary confinement cells, inmates are often not allowed to take a shower or take a walk. They have limited access to the store, telephone calls, personal correspondence and meetings. Due to the fact that prisoners are deprived of their legal rights, their living conditions are deteriorated, they are not provided with psycho-social assistance when they are placed in a de-escalation room and solitary confinement, the interviewed prisoners perceived being placed in a de-escalation room as measure of punishment. At the same time, the prisoners state that in addition to being placed in de-escalation rooms and solitary confinement cells, they are subject to disciplinary sanctions. In a report following its visit to Georgia, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture expressed serious concerns about the practice of using the de-escalation rooms. The committee described the practice of frequent use of de-escalation rooms for 72 hours as de facto punishment. In addition, the 39