In addition to the fact that there is no statutory obligation for patrol inspectors to use body cameras,
according to the information provided by police officers, technical malfunction of body cameras is also
an obstacle. During the monitoring carried out by the Special Preventive Group in regions, officers of
the police departments and divisions noted that they had low-quality and malfunctioning body
cameras, which created obstacles for them.
The situation is similar in police facilities, where audio/video recording of the interrogation of detainees
is not mandatory and depends on the personal opinion of the police officer. The European Committee
for the Prevention of Torture stresses the importance of accurate recording of all police interviews
(including the start and end times and the names of all persons present during the interview). The
electronic recording of police interviews has also become an effective means of preventing ill-treatment
during police interviews whilst presenting significant advantages for the police officers involved.
Electronic recordings should be kept securely for a reasonable period, be made available to the detained
persons concerned, and/or their lawyers, and be accessible to representatives of international and
national monitoring bodies, as well as to any officials responsible for investigating allegations or reports
of police ill-treatment.238
In addition, the Public Defender believes that any space, where a detainee or a citizen may be present,
should be fully covered by a video surveillance system. The UN Committee against Torture considers
that all internal and external perimeters of police facilities, where a detainee may be present, should
be equipped with a video surveillance system. Exceptions to this rule are cases where the detainee's
right to privacy or the confidentiality of a meeting with a lawyer or a doctor may be violated.239
According to the information provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs,240 all territorial units were
equipped with internal and external surveillance cameras in 2019, except for three police facilities.241
At the same time, according to the Ministry, only entrances and common spaces can be monitored
through the video surveillance system installed in the buildings.
It is worth noting that the police facilities have varied infrastructure and may include the following
spaces: the entrance to the building – the so-called duty area; common workspace, i.e. workplaces of
detective-investigators and/or district inspector-investigators; individual work rooms; isolated
238
28th General Report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, 2019, para. 81, available in
English at: <https://rm.coe.int/16809420e3>, [last accessed: 01.02.2020]. Report of the UN Subcommittee on
Prevention
of
Torture
to
the
Government
of
Poland,
CAT/OP/POL/ROSP/1,
09.01.2020, para. 47, available in English at: <https://bit.ly/2xXKrn7> [last accessed: 04.02.2020].
239 Final report to the Russian Federation, Committee against Torture, CAT/C/RUS/CO/6, 28.08.2018, available
at:<https://goo.gl/JYvzY2> [last accessed 04.02.2020].
240 Letter MIA 3 19 03339730 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of December 12, 2019.
241 Video cameras are not installed in the following police stations: Mtskheta-Mtianeti Police Department of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs; Akhalgori District Division of Mtskheta-Mtianeti Police Department of the Ministry
of Internal Affairs; Jakhunderi Police Station of Lentekhi District Division.
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