As the Public Defender stated in the Parliamentary Report of 2015, the separation of prisoners by prison administration without adequate reasoning and for indefinite period under the pretext of ensuring their safety is in breach of both domestic legislation and the standards established by international instruments. It also undermines the possibility of rehabilitation of the inmates of given penitentiary establishments and such actions may amount to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment. The position of the Public Defender remains the same that it is impermissible to isolate indefinitely a person in the circumstances where the statutory merits and reasons for such measures are not complied. Indefinite isolation of prisoners violates their basic rights guaranteed, inter alia, by Articles 3, 8, and 13 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental freedoms. RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE MINISTER OF CORRECTIONS OF GEORGIA: • To amend the statutes of high risk prison facility and specify the maximum term of separating prisoners from other prisoners; • To provide for mandatory review of the decision on separation of a prisoner in 14 days after the application of the measure and in the same intervals afterwards; • To establish relevant legal safeguards to ensure that separated prisoners are not placed under conditions that aggravate suffering inherent in detention and isolation; • To ensure through supervision and control that prisoners are isolated against their will only for security purposes and based on the grounds and procedures stipulated by the statutes of respective penitentiary establishments; and • To ensure immediately that the prisoners separated from other inmates against their will and without the merits and procedures provided by the statutes of penitentiary establishments are placed with other prisoners. 3.3.2.4. Use of Special Means According to the information submitted by the Minister of Corrections of Georgia, in 2016, penitentiary establishments used only handcuffs out of the available special means. In particular, 53 cases of use of handcuffs were identified in establishment no. 2; establishment no. 3 used handcuffs in 82 cases; and establishment no. 8 in 16 cases. In comparison with 2015, handcuffs were used in fewer cases in establishments nos. 3 and 8, in 2016. Handcuffs were not used in 2016 in establishments nos. 15 and 17. In July 2006, paras. 145, 152. NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM (NPM), 2016 51