3.3.2. SECURITY MEASURES, MANAGEMENT OF INCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES 3.3.2.1. De-escalation rooms In 2015, within the framework of the reform of the penitentiary system of Georgia, relevant ministerial orders approved the statutes of all penitentiary establishments. In accordance with the respective statutes, de-escalation rooms were operating in penitentiary establishments nos. 2, 5, 8, and 18; safe rooms were operating in establishments nos. 3, 6, and 7. On 9 August 2016, the statutes of establishments nos. 3, 6, and 7 were amended and the procedure of transfer of inmates to safe rooms was replaced by the procedure of transfer to de-escalation rooms.60 According to the information received from the Ministry of Corrections of Georgia, the numbers of inmates placed in the de-escalation rooms are the following: penitentiary establishment no. 3 – 116 inmates; penitentiary establishment no. 6 – 90; and penitentiary establishment no. 8 – 145. It is a positive development that the duration of placement of inmates in de-escalation rooms decreased in 2016 in comparison to 2015. However, there were isolated instances where inmates were placed in such rooms from 20 to 30 days. On one occasion identified in penitentiary establishment no. 3, a prisoner was placed in a de-escalation room for 36 days. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), in their Report to the Georgian Government on the visit to Georgia in 2014, observed that the maximum time limit at the material time for placement in a ‘de-escalation room’ (four days according to their information) was way too long. The CPT recommended that ‘it should preferably be limited to a few hours and, in any event, not more than 24 hours’.61 Furthermore, the Committee highlighted the importance of the strategy of de-escalation and observed that the lack of a genuine de-escalation strategy results in some inmates finding no other means of communicating their grievances than through hunger strikes, acts of severe self-harm and even attempted suicides.62 The Public Defender considers that the placement in a de-escalation room should be an instantaneous measure of urgent nature and it is impermissible to subject inmates to the conditions existing in these rooms for a long term as such placement could amount to inhuman and degrading treatment. The administration of a penitentiary establishment should resort to other measures, among them, involvement of a multidisciplinary group (a psychologist, a social worker, a medical doctor, and if needs be a psychiatrist) and provision of adequate help to inmates. 60 61 62 40 In the reporting period, de-escalation rooms were operative only in penitentiary establishments nos. 3, 6, and 8. See Report to the Georgian Government on the visit to Georgia carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 1 to 11 December 2014, CPT/Inf (2015), para. 94. Ibid., para. 54. HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN CLOSED INSTITUTIONS