solitary confinement (so-called safe) cells compared to their living cells. In particular, in these cells/rooms, prisoners have limited access to personal hygiene items and dishwashing detergents; they have limited access to their own clothes; their rights to take a shower and to go for a walk are often restricted; they have limited access to the prison shop, telephone calls, personal correspondence and visits. The sanitary-hygienic conditions are also unsatisfactory. According to prisoners, all of their rights, including the right to call the Public Defender or the lawyer, are restricted in the de-escalation room. They are not given cigarettes either, the cell window is closed and there is a lack of air. Based on the above, prisoners perceive placement in the mentioned cells/rooms as a punishment. According to them, if the staff has a desire to punish any prisoner, they try their best to keep the prisoner in the deescalation room in bad conditions (without water or hygiene items). The monitoring revealed that disciplinary sanctions are also imposed on prisoners in the de-escalation room, which reinforces the prisoners' sense that the transfer to these rooms serves the purpose of punishment.60 It should be noted that in Penitentiary Establishment No. 8, disciplinary sanctions are sometimes imposed on prisoners for being noisy in the de-escalation room. It is unclear to the Special Preventive Group why disciplinary sanctions are imposed on prisoners for being noisy in the deescalation room, whereas the de-escalation room is a place where a person is supposed to get free from negative emotions. Screaming and making noises can be regarded as one of the ways of achieving the above. Video surveillance in the de-escalation room: According to the recommendation issued during the monitoring visits to Penitentiary Establishment No. 3 in 2016, 2017 and 2018, the visual surveillance cameras should be installed in the de-escalation rooms and solitary confinement cells so that the cameras do not cover the toilets.61 The monitoring carried out in 2019 revealed that the cameras were still installed above the toilets. Accordingly, the location of the cameras failed to rule out the possibility of covering the toilet. According to the Deputy Director of the facility, toilets are not covered by the surveillance cameras, however, the Special Preventive Group was not given an opportunity to see the footage and verify the truth of what the Deputy Director had said. Improper use of internal classification cells: During a visit to Penitentiary Establishment No. 8, the Special Preventive Group concluded that, similar to the practice of de-escalation rooms and solitary confinement (so-called safe) cells, there were cases of transferring and placing prisoners in internal 60 In 7 out of the 10 cases examined on the basis of random sampling in Establishment No. 2, the transfer to the de-escalation room coincided with the imposition of a disciplinary sanction. As for Establishment No. 8, disciplinary sanction was imposed along with placement in the de-escalation room in 42 cases and along with placement in a safe cell in 23 cases. In Establishment No. 3, from January to September 16, 2019, disciplinary sanction was used in 660 cases, 74 of which coincided with the placement in the de-escalation room. 61 The report following the visits paid by the Georgian National Preventive Mechanism to Penitentiary Establishment No. 3 on May 23-25, 2016 and February 2-4, 2017, available at: <http://www.ombudsman.ge/res/docs/2019032815021473858.pdf> [last accessed: 17.02.2020]. <http://www.ombudsman.ge/res/docs/2019032815021473858.pdf> 37