about any possible involvement and hence potential criminal liability of the prison staff. Furthermore, according to the Letter no. 12/23626 dated 12 April 2014, the Chief Prosecution Office informed the Public Defender’s Office that criminal prosecution started only against three prisoners under paragraphs 5 to 8 of Article 117 of the Criminal Code. Against such background, it is necessary to conduct an independent and impartial investigation into the death of prisoner G.F. and to properly punish all those responsible. As a result of its visits to the penitentiary institutions, the National Preventive Mechanism came up with a list of issues affecting the effective prevention of illtreatment. In particular, the following risk factors should be considered for the purposes of prevention of torture and inhuman treatment in the penitentiary system: •• Documenting facts of ill-treatment and reporting them to the relevant authorities; •• •• •• •• Provision of victims with legal aid (access to a lawyer); Protecting victims for recurring ill-treatment; Training; Surveillance cameras. 2.2.1.  DOCUMENTING FACTS OF ILL-TREATMENT AND REPORTING THEM TO THE RELEVANT AUTHORITIES One of the important standards for the prevention of torture is to document possible evidence of ill-treatment and report it to the relevant authorities. Timely and methodically documenting and reporting injuries found on the body of a possible victim of ill-treatment will greatly facilitate to the investigation of cases of possible ill-treatment and the holding of perpetrators to account, which in turn will act as a strong deterrent against the commission of ill-treatment in the future. A crucial role in documenting possible facts of ill-treatment is played by the prison healthcare staff. For the purposes of prevention of ill-treatment, no less important is that a prisoner is timely examined by a medical specialist on admission to prison to verify whether the prisoner has been subjected to torture or other ill-treatment from the moment of his/ her detention until he/she has been brought to the penitentiary institution.14 According to the CPT (the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture) recommendations, documents produced on admission of a person to a closed institution should contain: •• an account of statements made by the person which are relevant to the medical examination (including his/her description of his/her state of health and any allegations of ill-treatment), 14 23rd General Report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, 2013, paras. 71 – 73 NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM OF GEORGIA 19