of the penitentiary service preparation bases or in a special quarantine area arranged in a hotel rented with the support of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia and funded from the state budget. Later, the rotation model was changed and it was based on the following principle: 7 days free rest, 14 days self-isolation at home, PCR testing, 21 days at work. From November 28, 2020, the work schedule of the employees in the barracks regime was changed again and moved to the regime of not being able to leave thee facility for one month83. During the visits to penitentiary establishments by the Special Preventive Group in 2020, common problems were identified regarding the employees of the barrack regime, in particular, the insufficient number of personnel and the fact that their contact with the outside world was somewhat limited. Monitoring of the N17 penitentiary establishment84 revealed that since March 29, 50 employees of the facility85 had remained in the barracks regime, of which 34 were employees of the legal regime department and 7 employees of the security department (including department heads). The staff of the Legal Regime Department were deployed on the territory of the establishment at the checkpoints in 4 residential buildings.86 There was one checkpoint in each of thel four buildings and 4 staff members were on duty at each checkpoint. 1 employee was on duty at the medical point. The Public Defender believes that in order to alleviate the stress created by the difficult working conditions of the employees in the barracks regime in the facility, it is recommended that they have the opportunity to communicate with family and relatives independently and during non-working hours, including unlimited video calls. The Public Defender negatively assesses the living conditions in which the employees of the barracks regime have to live. For staff accommodation, there are mostly allocated long meeting rooms, although these rooms cannot accommodate all employees and some of them have to live in other non-residential spaces. Consequently, there is no private environment for employees, adequate hygiene conditions and employees constantly have a feeling that the working day is never over, which has a negative impact on their psychological state. In terms of the risks of ill-treatment, it can be said that the current situation, which is related to the busy work schedule of employees during the pandemic, also affects their attitudes towards prisoners. During the monitoring87 in the N8 penitentiary establishment, the members of the special preventive group witnessed the fact how the employee was arguing with the prisoner and both of them shouted at each other. An employee later mentioned with the members of the monitoring team that he was tired. In addition to the harsh treatment of prisoners, the aggressive and abusive attitude of the staff towards each other was evident. The Public Defender believes that the stress caused by the hard working conditions See the Summary Report on the activities of the Special Penitentiary Service 2020, pages 10 and 12. 30.04.2020, 01.05.2020 and 07.05.2020 visits. 85 9 managers of the central administration - including the director, deputies and heads of departments. 86 The mentioned employees were on duty every other day. 87 Monitoring of August 4-7, 2020. 83 84 45