National Preventive Mechanism called on prisoners to stay calm, listened to their demands and were trying to keep the situation under control that was successfully achieved. The Preventive Group assessed the situation at the establishment as natural, since for years prisoners were not allowed to utter a word in this establishment and hurt and protests had been accumulating in response to the experienced violence and degrading treatment. The prisoners were expressing verbal protests against the prison staff, directly involved in their mistreatment, and against those who were still employed at the establishment. The prisoners would whistle and shout the moment they would see these officers, but they did not commit any serious violence or other incidents. To defuse the situation and avoid dissemination of false information, the Ministry of Corrections, Probation and Legal Assistance of Georgia decided to allow the human rights NGOs and journalists to enter the establishment, let them see the situation on spot and speak with prisoners. These people entered the establishment while Public Defender representatives were in the establishment; they studied the situation and left the institution. On the night of September 19th, two ambulance cars entered the penitentiary establishment N8 to transfer 2 convicts from medical establishment N18 to city hospitals. But it became a problem, since a security car that was supposed to escort the ambulances could not enter the prison territory because of the protesters at the gate who did not allow the cars to enter. After they have thought of the way for the ambulance cars to leave the territory, another problem appeared. Namely, the citizens outside the gates claimed that the ambulance was transporting beaten prisoners and would not allow them to leave the area. The ambulances managed to leave the prison territory only after involvement of the Special Preventive Group. Penitentiary establishment N15 in Ksani On September 20th, 2012 some media outlets disseminated information on the special rapid reaction unit’s alleged entrance into Ksani Establishment N15. According to PDO monitoring results no special rapid reaction unit entered the establishment and the situation there was quite. Certain media sources were disseminating false information all day long on alleged destabilization, dead and beaten prisoners being at various establishments. The Prevention and Monitoring Department of the PDO was continuously monitoring the penitentiary establishments. At the time the situation in all the establishments was quite and under control. The National Preventive Mechanism of the PDO once again encouraged citizens to avoid disinformation that could lead to disorders in establishments and, first of all, harm prisoners’ interests. On September 21st, 2012 the Special Preventive Group of Public Defender’s Office undertook a special monitoring in Ksani Establishment N15 where the group members interviewed prisoners from the all the parts of the establishment. Convicts held in the so-called “old zone” of the Ksani Establishment wrote a collective explanatory note addressed to Public Defender which was signed by 526 convicts. The explanatory note dealt with uneccaptable, inhuman, and degrading treatment of convicts inflicted in the past by the administration and employees of the Ksani Establishment N15. The explanatory note mentioned regular tortures, physical and verbal abuse. It stated that convicts were punished for every small mistake, sometimes even without a reason. Before transferring to a solitary cell a convict was taken to an exercise room in the administrative building where he was beaten, tied to a heating system pipe. Sometimes even electric shock was used; he was threatened with a rape. Upon admission of new convicts and prior to their settlement in cells they were taken to the shower room where they were left for several days. They were forced to stand on their knees, their heads been shaven and verbally assaulted. According to convicts from shower room one by one they were taken to the administrative building or cell and made to sign a cooperation agreement. Otherwise the one who dared to refuse cooperation, would be beaten, threatened with prolongation of the sentence and exerting pressure on his family. www.ombudsman.ge NPM Report