National Preventive Mechanism describe the means for punishment in detail: “I. beats [children] with a ruler, the ruler is bitter on the skin, made of plastic and transparent.” The aforementioned members of the staff beat children in the head, face, and hands, mainly with their hands, and also with a ruler; they also pull their hair. According to the same beneficiaries, “when children make teachers angry, they make them stand outside, in the corridor, for a long time.” According to the children, “if you leave the classroom without permission, they will make you stand in the corner from one meal time to another” (the interval between different meals is 2.5-3 hours). According to the beneficiaries, employees of the institution often beat a ten-year-old child who “refuses to go to bed; when they beat X., we go to bed.” The ten-year-old X. confirmed the violence inflicted against him/her: “Teacher L. pulls my ears; s/he tore my ear away when I made him/her angry – I was not doing the tests and was scribbling” (the scar on his right ear was photographed). The beneficiary also mentioned violence by a person called I. who beats him and two other boys: “I. comes into the hospital room (he calls the bedroom a hospital room) and beats us.” The same beneficiary also named a teacher called N. who beats beneficiaries. During an interview, when asked about possible ill-treatment of beneficiaries by the staff, an 11-year-old child became very nervous, which was manifested in the trembling and twisting of hands, a change in the tone of his/her voice, and blushing; s/he denied all kinds of pressure on beneficiaries, though s/he said that teachers had asked the beneficiaries who had left the interview room what the experts of the preventive group had talked to them about. One of the beneficiaries (who was unable to name his/her age) declared during an interview: “The teachers do not get angry at us; they don’t beat us.” Then, without waiting for our question, s/he told us: “Now ask me what happens in the school.” When asked how s/he knew what we were going to ask him/her, s/he said that teachers had “instructed” him/her. A nine-year-old child was nervous during an interview; s/he sat with his/her head hung and moving and touching his legs and clothes. At first, s/he didn’t want to talk about ill treatment, then s/he agreed and declared that “teacher I. quarrels with children and tells them not to stand up; s/he hits the boys with a ruler when they make him/her angry”. She also said that a person called M. “makes them stand in the corner.” According to a ten-year-old child, teachers pull the hair and ears of one of the beneficiaries, X., who is distinguished with aggressive behavior and “often fights with children,” and make him stand in the corner. However, he said that he didn’t know the names of these teachers. According to him, children often fought with one another; he also named two elder beneficiaries who bullied children; he was also beaten, but it happened “a long time ago” (he was not able to specify exact time). According to an 11-year-old child, teachers slap children, while nurses pull their hair. The Tbilisi Public School No. 203 (former Boarding School for Children with Hearing Loss and Impairment) 110 Soon after the interview with beneficiaries started, when the staff of the institution learned that the group of experts included a sign-language interpreter hired by Public Defender, it became noticeable that the staff were agitated, nervous, and overly interested in the process under way in the interview room; the employees interrupted the interviews several times by entering the room, with the pretext that the beneficiary “was tired and it was necessary to end the interview.” As a result of the interviews with the beneficiaries, the group received the following information: A 13-year-old child declares that beneficiaries often have conflicts with one another; there are also “bullies” who have a tense relationship with teachers. The teachers occasionally pull children’s hair and ears and slap them. 110 specialized boarding school for children with hearing loss and impairment aged from 5 to 18, 205 pupils are enrolled. The interviews with the beneficiaries were conducted with the help of a sign-language interpreter invited by Public Defender who ensured communication between the experts and pupils with the sign language, with full observance of confidentiality. www.ombudsman.ge NPM Report