CAT/C/64/D/730/2016
deport the complainant and other asylum seekers if they reported any abuse. The
complainant was told that her asylum application would be rejected.
2.11 On 7 June 2013, the Director of the Martkopi Reception Centre informed the
complainant that, on 10 June 2013, she would be moved to a small overcrowded room. Due
to the unbearable living conditions at the Centre and warnings from Ministry staff that they
would not protect her from further attacks, the complainant informed the Director that she
was seeking an apartment so that she could leave the premises for her own safety. On 8
June 2013, while she was gathering her belongings to leave, a member of the Ministry staff
named L. started harassing her by saying that she would not be granted asylum in Georgia.
He attempted to extort money from her and started beating her. When other residents heard
her screams, they came to her rescue. As a result, the complainant was injured in the head,
face and hands, and her belongings were stolen or damaged. She reported the incident to
UNHCR and the Ministry. On her subsequent visit to the Human Rights Centre in Tbilisi
on 18 July 2013, the staff saw the injuries caused by L. and advised her to report the
incident to the police. The complainant was afraid of repercussions, but she accepted to go
to the Office of the Public Defender of Georgia, to whom she told her story. She also
declared that she had sent a written statement to UNHCR and to the Ministry, in the hope
that they would resolve the matter in a constructive manner. The Office of the Public
Defender requested a criminal investigation through the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the
Chief Prosecutor’s Office.
2.12 In July 2013, the Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that, according to an
examination of the facts mentioned in the letter from the Office of the Public Defender,
there were no grounds for initiating a criminal investigation. The case was therefore closed.
The Office of the Public Defender had also invited the Chief Prosecutor’s Office at the
Ministry of Justice to intervene; it did so on 27 August 2013, indicating that there were no
grounds for initiating a criminal investigation. On 9 September 2013, the complainant was
informed that the Office of the Public Defender was not authorized to take any other legal
measures and that her case was closed.
2.13 Also in July 2013, the complainant visited the Georgian Centre for Psychosocial and
Medical Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture for medical and social assistance. At the time,
the Centre did not have sufficient funds to address her medical needs. She returned in May
2015, after being diagnosed with a uterine myoma at the Curation medical centre (see
below). On that occasion, the Centre was able to buy her the medication that she had been
prescribed for one month.
2.14 In July and August 2013, the Psycho-Rehabilitation Centre for Victims of Torture,
Violence and Pronounced Stress Impact took the complainant to a clinic for a diagnosis,7
which revealed that she was suffering from post-traumatic haematomas of the abdomen and
liver and other illnesses. In August 2013, the Director of the Centre sent an urgent request
to the Ministry, claiming that the complainant was suffering from severe medical problems
and needed timely surgery, as well as accommodation and living expenses. On 27 August
2013, the Ministry replied by offering her the equivalent of $40 to buy medication for “the
alleged infection from the toilet at the Centre”. However, the complainant mentions that she
refused because her medical bill was already more than $2,000 and she needed surgery,
which would have costed another $1,000.
2.15 On 8 August 2013, a police officer named V.T. accompanied by a woman interpreter
went to the complainant’s apartment to take her statements. The complainant alleges that,
when leaving, V.T. touched her breast and smiled at her. Then on 14 and 28 August 2013,
V.T. allegedly came alone to her apartment to torture and rape her at gunpoint. The
complainant believes that these retaliatory acts were inflicted on her to punish, intimidate,
humiliate and cause her unbearable mental and physical anguish, for complaining about the
acts of torture and brutality perpetrated by government officials.
2.16 The complainant reported these incidents to the Office of the Public Defender, the
Chief Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, she did not obtain
7
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CT scan, ultrasonography and MRI.