It is noteworthy that the official statistics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the injuries on the
bodies of persons placed in temporary detention isolators did not change significantly in 2019 compared
to 2018.211 In 2019, a total of 15,191 persons were placed in temporary detention isolators, 10,348 of
which had injuries. 155 of them received injuries after detention, i.e.1.5% of the total number of injured
persons.212 As for 2018, this indicator was 1.4%.213 At the same time, 656 persons placed in temporary
detention facilities in 2019 received injuries during and/or after detention, accounting for 6.3% of the
total number of injured persons placed in the isolator. In 2018 this statistical figure was 5.6% (467
cases). In addition, in 2019, 429 persons placed in temporary detention facilities had complaints against
the police, 343 of which complained about physical abuse, representing 2.8% and 2.3% of the total
number of persons placed in isolators respectively. In 2018, these statistical data were 2.3% (303 cases)
and 2% (256 cases).
As in previous years, the tendency that in about one third of the cases examined by the Special
Preventive Group (2019 - 30.7%, 2018 - 27.6%, 2017 - 30.1%, 2016 - 31.3%), no injury described in the
medical records of the isolators are indicated in the detention documents, has been maintained. In 138
out of the 449 cases examined in 2019, the injuries described in the isolator were not indicated in the
detention documents.
In addition, in 285 cases (63.8%) studied as part of the monitoring, the detention documents indicated
disobedience/resistance to the police, which makes us think that the police likely used force/coercion;
however, the detention documents indicate the use of force only in 64 (14%) cases. Accordingly, police
officers likely used force in the above cases, although this has not ben indicated in the detention
documents. This circumstance additionally proves that the documents are filled in improperly.
It would be fair to note that the discrepancy between the documents may in part be caused by the
general practice of checking for injuries. In particular, checking for injuries by police officers is
superficial and does not involve a full examination of the body, as it is done in isolators. In addition,
the difference between the documents relating to administrative detentions may in part be caused by
the inaccuracy in the description of bodily injuries by police officers. In particular, the administrative
detention forms have no injury graph at all, which contributes to the formation of different practices some police officers describe injuries in the notes’ graph and some do not.
125 of the 138 cases mentioned above (when the injuries described in the isolator were not indicated
in the detention documents) were administrative detentions, while in 13 cases, persons were arrested
211
Information is available at: <https://info.police.ge/page?id=233> [last accessed: 05.02.2020].
After arrest - 34; before arrest-after arrest - 64; during arrest-after arrest - 18; before arrest-during arrest -after
arrest - 39. The sum of these data is 155.
213 A total of 12,995 people were placed in temporary detention isolators in 2018, of which 8,320 had injuries. 116
of them received injuries after arrest.
212
80
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