A/HRC/31/57/Add.3 I. Introduction 1. The Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan E. Méndez, conducted a visit to Georgia, at the invitation of the Government from 12 to 19 March 2015. The purpose of the visit, held 10 years after the visit conducted by the previous mandate holder, was to assess the impact of reforms instituted in Georgia at the end of 2012 on the situation of torture and ill-treatment in the country, including conditions of detention, and to identify measures to prevent torture and ill-treatment in the future. 2. During his mission, the Special Rapporteur met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Deputy Minister for Internal Affairs, the Chief Prosecutor, the Minister for Justice, the Minister for Corrections, the Acting Chairperson of the Supreme Court, the Deputy Public Defender (Ombudsman), the Minister for Labour, Health and Social Affairs, the Chairperson of the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of Parliament, the Chairperson of the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament, the Head of regional Office of the Public Defender in Batumi, and representatives of United Nations agencies, and of other international and civil society organizations. 3. The Special Rapporteur visited both eastern and western Georgia, including a representative sample of places of deprivation of liberty in and around Tbilisi, Telavi, Kvareli, Kutaisi and Batumi. He visited a total of 11 facilities, including psychiatric institutions, police stations, temporary detention isolators, 1 pretrial facilities and penitentiaries. 4. The Special Rapporteur also attempted to visit the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia; the authorities that exercise de facto control over these regions, however, either denied him access from the territory controlled by the central government of Georgia or did not respond to his requests. 5. The Special Rapporteur expresses his appreciation to the Government of Georgia for the cooperation extended during his visit, in particular with regard to the unfettered access accorded to all places of detention in accordance with the terms of reference for factfinding missions by special rapporteurs/representatives (see E/CN.4/1998/45, appendix V), and to interview detainees in private. 6. The Special Rapporteur expresses his gratitude to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the regional OHCHR Senior Human Rights Adviser for the South Caucasus and his staff presence in Tbilisi, and others involved in organizing the visit for the excellent assistance prior to and throughout the mission. He also thanks the representatives of Georgian civil society and the international community based in Georgia for their assistance and invaluable insights. The Special Rapporteur is grateful to all his interlocutors, including senior State officials, representatives of civil society, lawyers, detainees, including victims of torture and ill-treatment, with whom he met. He expresses solidarity with victims and their families, and his support for the important efforts of survivors of torture, their relatives and human rights defenders. 7. The Special Rapporteur shared his preliminary findings with the Government of Georgia at the end of his mission. 1 In principle, a temporary detention isolator is used to hold a detainee for the first 72 hours after arrest and before the courts have authorized remand for trial (for administrative imprisonment the maximum is 15 days). A pretrial facility is used to hold a detainee after the initial court decision until trial. 3