tance of an open letter by a social worker, there should be two copies of a document certified by a stamp. The following information should be written in the presence of the prisoner in this document: a) the name and surname of the author of the letter; b) the name
and surname of the social worker to whom the letter has been submitted; c) the date of
submission of the letter; d) the recipient of the letter; and e) the number of pages of the
letter. Both copies should be signed by the prisoner and the social worker concerned. One
copy should be given to the prisoner and another should remain with the social worker.
In the Parliamentary Report of 2015, the Public Defender of Georgia recommended to the
Minister of Corrections of Georgia to take all necessary measures for ensuring free accessibility of envelopes for confidential complaints at such places (e.g. a library) where the
prisoners would not be dependent on the establishment’s personnel to obtain envelopes,
and prisoners could take them without being identified by the administration. The Public
Defender also recommended ensuring the availability of certain number of envelopes for
prisoners in cells.
The Public Defender observes that this recommendation has not been fulfilled. In particular, the monitoring of the Special Preventive Group conducted in penitentiary establishments in 2016 showed that sending a confidential complaint from closed-type penitentiary establishments is still problematic. In particular, it is impossible to obtain the requisite
envelope for writing a confidential complaint without being identified. A prisoner has to
apply to a social unit to get the envelope.
The monitoring visits made to penitentiary establishments showed that in closed-type establishments prisoners do not have the possibility of writing a complaint confidentially in
those cases where they need the assistance from a social worker in writing an application.
This is caused by the fact that social workers do not enter cells and they speak with the
inmates through a small window in the cell door. Even if the social worker enters the cell,
due to security reasons, a staff member of the security/legal unit would accompany him/
her. These circumstances violate the confidentiality of the contents of a complaint and
give rise mistrust towards the social services of penitentiary establishments.
Despite the recommendation given by the Public Defender of Georgia in the Parliamentary Report of 2015, it was still problematic in 2016 for the prisoners of closed-type penitentiary establishments to use complaints box without the surveillance of an accompanying person (staff member of either security or regime units). Similarly, in a number of
penitentiary establishments, complaints box is within the scope of surveillance cameras.
During the interviews carried out within the monitoring visits by the Special Preventive
Group in 2016, some of the prisoners would mention that after the submission of a confidential complaint, the registration numbers and the respective code of an envelope were
not displayed near the complaints box.258 The practice in penitentiary establishments remains the same, whereby prisoners are given registration number directly in their cells,
which makes it possible to identify the author of a confidential complaint.
258 In accordance with the statutes of penitentiary establishments, no later than the second working day from
dispatching a complaint, the registration number and the respective envelope code shall be displayed near
the complaints box.
122
HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN CLOSED INSTITUTIONS
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