facility. Efforts should also be strengthened to encourage prisoners to get engaged in a variety of activities. Although parole or commutation of the unserved part of the sentence is not a basic constitutional right of the convict, it is an important opportunity to motivate convicts to be fully focused on resocialization in the post-conviction period and be hopeful of effective enjoyment of this mechanism.123 2.6. Contact with the outside world Prisoners should be given the opportunity to have contact with the outside world as often as possible, including by sending letters, making phone calls and meeting family members.124 The Handbook of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) emphasize that prisoners’ outside contacts must be seen as entitlements rather than privileges. They should, therefore, not be used as either rewards or punishments.125 Telephone communication: In all the facilities visited by the Special Preventive Group in 2019, there was a lack of telephones. In addition, prisoners in Establishments Nos. 2, 3 and 8 complained about the violation of privacy while using the telephone. In Establishments Nos. 2 and 8, telephones are placed in the waiting rooms and prisoners have to speak in the presence of a prison officer. It is welcome that telephone booths were installed in Establishment No. 3 in 2019, however, the booths need to be equipped with additional isolation materials to create a confidential environment. According to the letter126 sent to the Public Defender’s Office, the administration of the facility is ready to take steps to eliminate this problem, which is welcomed by the Public Defender/Special Preventive Group. It should also be noted that prisoners do not have the opportunity to make phone calls in the very first days of their detention, as it takes 10 days to prepare a card for them. The arrangements for visits shall be such as to allow prisoners to maintain and develop family relationships in as normal a manner as possible.127 According to the information available to the Public Defender at this time, glass barriers in the rooms intended for short visits have not been removed yet.128 123 See the Special Report of the Public Defender of Georgia on the practice of early conditional release and commutation of the unserved part of the sentence in Georgia. The report is available at: <https://bit.ly/2WztLN5>; p. 3-4 [last accessed:17.02.2020]. 124 European Prison Rules 24.1. 125 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Handbook on Dynamic Security, New York, 2015, p. 22, available at: <https://bit.ly/2U7MgXk> [last accessed: 19.02.2020]. 126 Letter No. 354931/21 27 of the Director of the high-risk facility No. 3, November 27, 2019. 127 European Prison Rules 24.4. 128 According to the letter sent by the Ministry of Justice of Georgia to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture on November 21, 2019, the glass barriers in some rooms of Establishments Nos. 5, 6 and 12 were removed, while the arrangement of meeting rooms without barriers was to be completed in Establishment No. 2 by the end of 2019. P. 53. 52