3.8. THE MECHANISM FOR CONSIDERING APPLICATIONS/ COMPLAINTS IN THE PENITENTIARY SYSTEM OF GEORGIA The prohibition of torture is absolute, not allowing any exception or derogation. However, the realisation of the right not to be subjected to torture can be undermined when it comes to those who due to their being vulnerable are most likely to be susceptible to become victims of torture and inhuman treatment without safeguards to their right to prompt and impartial consideration of their complaints against representatives of the state authorities. The Public Defender, in the Parliamentary Report of 2015, pointed out that an effective mechanism of monitoring and consideration of applications/complaints in penitentiary establishments ensures respect for prisoners’ rights and is a fundamental safeguard against ill-treatment. Therefore, in 2015, the Public Defender recommended to the Minister of Corrections to ensure adequate awareness of prisoners about their rights in general, as well as the right to lodge an application/complaint and consideration procedure in particular. The Public Defender welcomes the steps made towards the fulfilment of this recommendation. In particular, it should be positively mentioned that, in the course of 2016, there were training sessions held in penitentiary establishments about the rights of the remand/ convicted, the procedure for lodging complaints as well as disciplinary and administrative proceedings.255 The Public Defender welcomes the improvement of the practice of displaying information about prisoners’ rights on various premises of establishment and disseminating brochures in several establishments. Among them, the publication of special brochures on prisoners’ rights for foreign inmates is positively assessed. Despite the above-mentioned, there are still considerable problems concerning adequate degree of awareness among prisoners in penitentiary establishments and the Public Defender’s recommendation cannot be considered to have been fulfilled without eradicating these issues. In particular, access to information brochures on the rights is not ensured in all penitentiary establishments. The existing practice of dissemination of information about prisoners’ rights does not ensure their adequate awareness about their rights in general as well as the right to lodge an application/complaint and consideration procedure in particular. In the opinion of the Special Preventive Group, it is less likely that, considering the stressful situation during admission to a penitentiary establishment, a prisoner could concentrate on the list of the rights and duties and memorise the imparted information. Therefore, the existing practice, whereby an remand/convicted person is given information about his/ her rights and duties on the single occasion of admission to a penitentiary establishment, is more of a formal nature and fails to ensure the awareness of a prisoner about his/her 255 Letter no. MOC 317 00036373 of the director of penitentiary establishment no. 5, dated 16 January 2017 (registered under no. 03-3/193 in the Office of the Public Defender of Georgia); Letter no. MOC 317 00037804 of the director of penitentiary establishment no. 16, dated 17 January 2017 (registered under no. 03-3/210 in the Office of the Public Defender of Georgia); Letter no. MOC 617 00046221 of the director of penitentiary establishment no. 8, dated 20 January 2017 (registered under no. 03-3/273 in the Office of the Public Defender of Georgia). NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM (NPM), 2016 119