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CASE OF KUKHALASHVILI AND OTHERS v. GEORGIA
CASE OF KUKHALASHVILI AND OTHERS v. GEORGIA
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
2 April 2020
This judgment will become final in the circumstances set out in Article 44 § 2 of the
Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision.
KUKHALASHVILI AND OTHERS v. GEORGIA JUDGMENT
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in two applications (nos. 8938/07 and 41891/07)
against Georgia lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention
for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the
Convention”) by three Georgian nationals, Ms Sofio Kukhalashvili,
Ms Marina Gordadze and Ms Rusudan Chitashvili (“the applicants”).
Ms Kukhalashvili and Ms Gordadze lodged their application on 26 January,
and Ms Chitashvili lodged her application on 14 August 2007.
2. The applicants were represented by Mr M. Sturua, a lawyer practising
in Tbilisi. The Georgian Government (“the Government”) were successively
represented by their Agents, Mr D. Tomadze and Mr L. Meskhoradze, of the
Ministry of Justice.
3. Relying on Articles 2 and 13 of the Convention, the applicants
complained about the deaths of their family members in prison, and of the
inadequacy of the investigations subsequently carried out.
4. On 30 July and 15 October 2007 notice of the applications was given
to the Government.
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THE FACTS
A. Background
10. The first applicant, represented by her lawyer (the same person who
represented the applicants in the present case, see paragraph 2 above,
hereinafter “the lawyer”), applied to the Prisons Department of the Ministry
of Justice (“the Prisons Department”) on 12 April 2006, asking for her
brother’s autopsy report and for information about any investigative
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measure taken in relation to the killing of Z.K. during the anti-riot operation
of 27 March 2006.
11. No reply was received, so the lawyer made the same application on
11 May 2006. He also asked to be informed about the late Z.K.’s status in
the proceedings: whether he was a civil party or an accused.
12. On 15 May 2006 an investigator from the Prisons Department
replied to the lawyer, saying that Z.K. did not yet have any status in the
proceedings concerned and that the autopsy report could be consulted on the
premises.
13. According to that report, dated 18 April 2006, there was a bullet
wound on the right side of Z.K.’s body, behind the armpit, and a bullet
wound on the left hip. The first bullet had pierced the ribs and pleura before
becoming lodged in the right lung. The second bullet had pierced the left hip
from bottom to top, and entered the stomach and damaged the intestines and
diaphragm before becoming lodged in and shattering the thorax bone.
Severe haemorrhaging that had occurred after these injuries had caused his
death.
14. On 11 July 2006 the lawyer contacted the General Public
Prosecutor’s Office (“the GPPO”), challenging the investigator’s reply of
15 May 2006. Observing that nearly four months had elapsed since Z.K.’s
death, he requested access to the file and asked to be informed of progress
in the investigation. Pointing out that, according to the autopsy report – the
only document in his possession – Z.K.’s death had been caused by firearm
injuries, the lawyer requested that Z.K. be granted victim status on account
of the armed operation of 27 March 2006.
15. In his reply of 29 July 2006, D.Z., a prosecutor from the GPPO in
charge of supervising investigations by the Ministry of Justice, stated that
civil-party status could not be granted to a deceased person. Even if a
relative of the deceased could be granted such status, this could not happen
in Z.K.’s case, because the lethal force used against him had been used by
representatives of the State “in a moment of extreme urgency in order to
quell the rioting by the prisoners and prevent them from committing
crimes”. As Z.K. had therefore not been injured as a result of an unlawful
act, there were no grounds under Article 68 § 1 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure (“the CCP”) to grant his relatives civil-party status in the case.
16. On 14 August 2006 the lawyer wrote to the GPPO again, addressing
the prosecutors who were hierarchically superior to D.Z., stating that it was
important for the first and second applicants to know about the exact
circumstances of their family member’s death. The lawyer accordingly
requested access to the file and permission to inspect the document
concluding that lethal force had been used against Z.K. “in a moment of
extreme urgency in order to quell the rioting by the prisoners and prevent
them from committing crimes”.
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38. The rioting was particularly bad in Prison no. 5, and required
intervention by the anti-riot squad in order for the situation to be
brought under control. During that armed operation seven inmates died, and
twenty-two inmates and two prison officers were injured.
(b) Initial investigative measures implemented by the Ministry of Justice
(inspection of the scene of the rioting in Prison no. 5)
39. Between 6.10 and 9.05 a.m. on 27 March 2006 a group of five
investigators from the Ministry of Justice carried out an inspection of the
scene of the rioting in Prison no. 5. According to the relevant investigation
report, the group came out onto the first floor of the prison through a metal
door on which the lock had been neither damaged nor forced. They made
the following findings in respect of the upper floors.
(i) Second floor – dormitory no. 3
40. The investigators entered the first corridor of dormitory
no. 3 through a metal door that was in working order. In the corridor, they
saw iron beds and pieces of wire meshing on the floor. The four cells in the
corridor had no doors and they saw prisoners inside them being guarded by
armed and hooded officers. The investigators seized two rubber bullet cases
(38 mm calibre) found in the corridor.
41. In the second corridor of dormitory no. 3, dismantled metal beds and
doors lay on the floor. Only two out of eleven cells had doors on them, and
these were closed. In the cells without doors, the investigators saw prisoners
being guarded by armed and hooded officers. The investigators seized six
rubber bullet cases (38 mm calibre) found in this corridor. At the end of the
corridor a metal door opened out onto the staircase to dormitories nos. 2
and 4. The ground was covered with bits of paper and fragments of metal
objects, and four metal doors and an iron bed lay on the ground. According
to the report, it was “clear that the prisoners [had] attempted to barricade
access to dormitory no. 3 with those objects”.
42. Of the four cells in the third corridor of dormitory no. 3, two had
doors and these were closed. In the cells without doors, the investigators
could see prisoners being guarded by armed and hooded officers. In this
corridor, rubber bullet cases lay “scattered” on the ground. There were also
metal objects on the ground and a dismantled iron bed.
(ii) Third floor – dormitory no. 4
43. The above-mentioned staircase (see paragraph 41 in fine above) led
to the third floor. The metal door to dormitory no. 4 was in place, but did
not fully open because of barricades that had been put up behind it. The lock
was in working order and did not appear to have been forced. The four cells
in the first corridor had no doors. The prisoners there were being guarded by
armed and hooded officers. In the corridor, two dismantled iron beds were
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prison warden’s office in dormitory no. 4, the watchtower of the top floor
exercise yard and the upstairs loft had been burnt.
51. A forensic examination of the body of A.B., the third applicant’s
son, was carried out on 27 March 2006. According to the expert who carried
out the examination, the body had: four injuries to the left thigh, one of
which was a long thin wound and still bloody, and another of which
revealed fragments of broken bone; two injuries to a toe on the right foot
and a fracture in the same place; two injuries and a fracture to the left
elbow; and an injury to the right side of the back. The back injury extended
to the pleura and the spine, and entered the skull via the neck. The skull was
fractured. A piece of yellow metal was removed from the skull and “sent to
the investigating authorities”. There were numerous red lesions on the lower
back, the nose, the forehead, around the left eye and on the left hand, and
the right nostril was torn. The internal organs were examined. It was
established that various types of alcohol were present in the blood. The
expert concluded that death had occurred between six and eight hours
before the autopsy, and had been caused by numerous firearm injuries. The
bullets had damaged the internal organs and the spine and had caused
broken bones. With regard to the many red lesions observed on the body,
the expert concluded that they had been sustained when A.B. had still been
alive and had been caused by a blunt object or blunt objects.
52. Two prison officers were injured during the anti-riot operation of
27 March 2006 – K.M. and M.S., heads of two dormitories, who
participated in the operation. According to medical reports of 30 March
2006, K.M. presented a non-perforating wound to the left forearm, caused
by a firearm, whilst M.S. had a perforating wound to the thigh, also caused
by a firearm. The injury sustained by M.S. was classified as a minor injury
resulting in him being unfit to work for a short period of time.
53. In the course of the investigation in the case, evidence from various
prison officers was heard, and the officers made the following statements.
(i) Statements of K.M. and M.S., two injured prison officers
54. K.M. (see paragraph 52 above) was questioned on 5 April 2006 and
his version of events was as follows. He was on duty in Prison no. 5 during
the night of 26-27 March 2006 and after 1 a.m. a colleague informed him
that a disturbance had started at the prison hospital. He immediately
informed the deputy director of the Prisons Department, who left for the
hospital. K.M. himself went to Prison no. 5 to reinforce the outside security
arrangements and prepare for a possible attempted breakout. Shortly
afterwards the disturbance spread to Prison no. 5. Amongst the shouting and
noise, the prisoners were throwing burning mattresses, sheets and clothes
out of the windows. Prison officers and police officers arrived. A while later
the directors of the Prisons Department also arrived. K.M. went up onto
watchtower no. 1, from where one could see into Prison no. 5, and observed
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that the inmates were moving freely about the building and even trying to
get out. The roof of Prison no. 1 caught fire. The police drove a car
equipped with a loudspeaker into the yard of Prison no. 5 to address the
inmates. Each appeal for calm was greeted by louder noise from the
inmates. The Prisons Department then urgently summoned all off-duty
officers. Security was reinforced on every watchtower around the prison. At
the same time firefighters and the anti-riot squad of the Ministry of Justice
arrived. The anti-riot forces were deployed at a distance of 30-40 metres
from the building, as burning objects and metal objects were falling from
the windows. During that time the President of the Parliamentary Human
Rights Committee spoke to the inmates through a loudspeaker, appealing
for calm.
55. At one point the governor of Prison no. 5 came to tell K.M. that he
was going to go into the prison to talk to the inmates. K.M. and M.S. (see
paragraph 52 above) decided to go with him. They could not gain access to
the dormitories through the main entrance, as the door was blocked from the
inside. They therefore used a back door. When they got to the first floor the
officers of the anti-riot squad were already there. It was relatively calm on
the first and second floors, but loud noise could be heard coming from the
third floor (dormitory no. 4), to which they had no access as the door had
been barricaded from the inside. They therefore went up to the fourth floor
before going back down to the third floor and using another door to get to
dormitory no. 4. The prison governor, who was first in line, was followed
by K.M., M.S. and several other prison officers, who were themselves
followed by anti-riot officers. Unlike the anti-riot officers, the prison
officers were not armed and were not carrying truncheons or wearing hoods.
K.M. and the governor were wearing black uniforms, and M.S. was in
civilian clothes. The group entered the corridor, with the governor appealing
to the inmates for calm and explaining that the old prison building might
collapse and kill thousands of people. When the group turned right in the
corridor, they were confronted with barricades. The prison officers
attempted to dismantle them, but the inmates started throwing pieces of
brick and iron in their direction. The anti-riot officers then fired rubber
bullets. In response, five or six shots rang out very close by. M.S. fell down.
Other shots rang out and K.M. felt his arm go warm. He did not realise that
he had been injured until he was out in the prison yard. When M.S. and
K.M. were injured, the anti-riot squad passed in front of them, shouting that
some of their men had been injured, and opened fire with their automatic
weapons.
56. When giving evidence on 11 April 2006, M.S. said that as the
appeals for calm issued in the prison yard had been unsuccessful, a decision
had been taken to “take the prison by storm”. Apart from that, he related the
same facts as K.M. Unlike G.P. (see the following paragraphs), M.S. stated
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that he had not seen in which direction the anti-riot officers had fired their
automatic weapons.
(ii) Statements of the governor of Prison no. 5
57. G.P., the governor of Prison no. 5, gave evidence on 7 April 2006.
According to him, at approximately 2.15 a.m. on 27 March 2006 inmates at
his prison started a disturbance, following the unrest in the prison hospital.
Considering that the disturbance could spread throughout the prison, he
telephoned B.A, the head of the Prisons Department, to tell him that he did
not have the means to bring the situation under control alone and was
therefore declaring a state of emergency in the prison and requesting
assistance. While waiting for help, G.P. decided to allow the guards of all
the dormitories to leave their post, close the doors of their dormitories and
the entrances to the building, and distribute weapons to their officers. The
security around the prison was reinforced to bar any escape attempt. In the
meantime, the inmates had succeeded in getting out of their cells and were
freely circulating in the corridors of the dormitories. Burning objects and
pieces of brick and iron were falling from the windows. The anti-riot squad,
B.A., firefighters and the police arrived. At about 2.45 a.m. the decision was
taken to take the prison by storm. G.P. then suggested to his deputies and
other colleagues that they should get ahead of the anti-riot squad in order to
avoid the members of the squad having direct contact with the inmates. He
hoped that once they saw familiar faces, the inmates would become more
compliant. The prison officers opened the main door and entered the
building, accompanied by the anti-riot officers. The lower floors of the
prison were empty. The entrance to the third floor (dormitory no. 4) was
barricaded. The prison officers started to take down the barricades. While
doing so, G.P. appealed to the inmates on the other side of the barricades for
calm. In reply, the inmates swore at them, throwing pieces of brick and iron,
whereupon the anti-riot officers fired rubber bullets at them. In response,
four or five shots rang out on the inmates’ side and M.S. fell down. K.M.
was also injured. G.P. and a member of the anti-riot squad took M.S. out of
the corridor. At that moment the anti-riot squad, who were positioned in the
stairway, moved into the corridor and opened fire using their automatic
weapons. According to G.P., the officers aimed at the ceiling and the walls.
The inmates scattered and returned to their cells.
(iii) Statements of the dormitory guards of Prison no. 5
58. When questioned on 8 April 2006, R.O., the guard of
dormitory no. 3, gave the same description of the general situation as the
other above-mentioned prison officers. He stated that he had been told by
his colleagues from dormitories nos. 4 and 5 that five inmates, including
A.B. (the third applicant’s son), had been behaving particularly aggressively
and had been seen destroying the cells.
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59. When giving evidence on 8 April 2006, Z.D., the guard of dormitory
no. 4, stated that on 27 March 2006 the nineteen cells of the dormitory had
housed 900 inmates. He explained that guards such as himself were never
armed and, moreover, did not have the keys to the dormitories where they
were shut in with the inmates. The doors to the dormitories were locked
from the outside after each round. That was why when the riot had broken
out in dormitory no. 4, which housed the “toughest” inmates, his life had
been in danger. Z.D. said that when he had gone on duty at 8 p.m. on
26 March 2006 he had checked all the locks on the cell doors. At about 1.30
a.m. he had heard noises coming from the prison hospital. The inmates had
been shouting “they’re duffing up the [criminal] bosses!” and urging all the
prisoners to riot. A few seconds later the inmates of dormitory no. 4 had
started banging on their cell doors. Z.D. had had the impression that they
were using iron beds or tables to force open their cell doors which opened
onto the corridor. In about five minutes the guard from dormitory no. 2 had
come to open the door to let Z.D. out. They had closed the door behind him
from the outside. Z.D. explained that all the cell doors were made of wood
reinforced with metal sheets. The door frames were also made of wood.
These old doors could only be locked with padlocks, and it was not difficult
to break them down. Z.D. stated that in dormitory no. 4 two inmates from
cell no. 76, A.B. (the second applicant’s son) and G.Dj., and an inmate from
cell no. 78, K.Q., had been the first to start rioting following the rioting that
had started in the prison hospital. They had been the first to break the
window bars in their cell doors before putting their heads out and urging the
prisoners to riot.
(d) Charges against the organisers of the prison riot and the transfer of the
case to the prosecuting authority
60. The investigative measures detailed above gave rise to charges being
filed against M.Z., P.M. and N.M., the three criminal bosses or “thieves in
law”, and against Z.V., G.A. and L.Ts., the three makurebelis who were
subordinate to the bosses (hereinafter “the six riot organisers”, see
paragraph 36 above). Those charges were filed on 13 April 2006.
61. According to an expert report issued on 4 May 2006, a secret
video-recording of a meeting between several organisers of the riot lasted
about twenty-five minutes and showed no signs of having been edited (see
paragraph 36 above). According to a transcript of the intelligible parts of the
conversation, the organisers agreed that they would lie by saying that during
an inspection the prison officers had started beating them. They would then
ring the emergency number for prisoners’ rights and various NGOs and
journalists, so that the following day there would be twenty-four-hour
reports on a television channel renowned for its criticism of the authorities.
This would, they said, allow them to “get on their feet again”. It was not
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them”, “which was why the anti-riot squad fired rubber bullets at the
inmates”. The inmates responded by firing “Makarov and gas pistols”,
slightly injuring two prison officers. Despite “subsequent attempts by the
prison officers and the anti-riot officers to quell the violence”, the prisoners
continued “firing their two Makarov [pistols] and four [other] pistols”,
which “obliged the anti-riot forces to open fire”. This meant that the
situation could be brought under control.
65. By a decision of 23 October 2006 the GPPO decided to sever the
case relating to the deaths of Z.K. and A.B. from the case concerning
possible abuse of power by the law-enforcement officers (see paragraph 64
above and paragraphs 76-84 below), in order to determine the causes and
circumstances of their death (see also paragraph 85 below). In that new
case, criminal proceedings for murder were instituted (an offence
prosecuted under Article 108 of the Criminal Code).
66. In the meantime, the six riot organisers had been committed for trial.
67. On 22 January 2007 B.A., the head of the Prisons Department, was
questioned by the GPPO within the framework of the criminal case directed
against the six riot organisers. The record of the interview states that at
approximately 1 a.m. on 27 March 2006 B.A. went to the prison hospital
after learning that a riot was being fomented (see paragraph 57 above). At
1 a.m. he reported to the Minister of Justice that the six riot organisers had
physically resisted prison officers while being transferred, that they had
urged the other inmates to rebel, and that the situation had degenerated. He
described the conduct of the inmates who had started rioting, informed the
minister that they had started a fire, and suggested that there was a risk of a
breakout. On the basis of that information, a state of emergency “was
declared” by the Ministry of Justice, in accordance with a ministerial order
of 12 February 2001 (“order no. 60”), and a crisis unit composed of the
Minister of Justice, two Deputy Ministers of Justice and B.A. himself was
“set up”. The Minister of Justice went to Prison no. 5 to examine the
situation and hear B.A.’s explanation. According to B.A., when appeals for
calm issued by the Ombudsman, the President of the Human Rights
Parliamentary Committee, police officers and prison officers were
unsuccessful, and when the fire that had been started in “Prison no. 5 took
hold”, the lives of 4,000 prison inmates were in danger, and the risk of a
massive prison breakout became real. A decision was then taken to
intervene.
68. With regard to the conduct of the inmates of Prison no. 5 and the
order in which shots were heard on both sides, B.A. related the same facts
as K.M. and M.S. (see paragraphs 54-56 above). According to B.A., once
K.M. and M.S. were injured, the situation “spiralled out of control”. In his
view, the likelihood of a massive breakout and the death of inmates in the
fire increased. The crisis unit then decided to order the anti-riot squad to
“take all necessary measures in accordance with the law to reinstate order,
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and if necessary use firearms within the statutory limits in force”. Following
the measures taken, and “with the use of firearms”, according to B.A., “the
mass disorder and insurrection by the prisoners were quelled” by about
4 a.m. The damage suffered by the Prisons Department amounted to 50,737
Georgian laris (GEL – approximately 16,500 euros (EUR)). In answer to the
only question asked by the investigator, B.A. replied that in similar
situations the crisis unit acted in accordance with the rules on detention and
weapons, order no. 60, the joint action plan of January 2003, and the rules
governing anti-riot forces (see paragraphs 96-107 below).
(e) Trial stage of the case brought against the six riot organisers
69. Between February and March 2007 the Tbilisi City Court held
several trial hearings in the case brought against the six riot organisers. The
following witnesses were heard by the trial court.
70. B.A, the head of the Prisons Department, when giving evidence in
court, said that once he had been informed by the hospital authorities that
the six riot organisers had been taken away and were waiting in the corridor
for their transfer to Tbilisi Prison no. 7, he had ordered them to be put in a
van parked in the hospital yard for that purpose. He claimed that none of
them had been taken to the hospital director’s office (compare
paragraphs 71-73 below). A few minutes later B.A. had been informed that
the inmates in question were refusing to be transferred. At the same time,
rioting could be heard. He had then summoned the anti-riot officers, who
had formed a corridor along which the six inmates had passed before being
transferred. With regard to the remaining events, he related the same facts as
those recounted on 22 January 2007 (see paragraph 67-68 above).
71. Z.V. and G.A., two of the six riot organisers (see paragraph 35
above), claimed before the court that on the night of 27 March 2006 they
had been woken by a guard who had summoned them to the hospital
director’s office for a meeting with B.A. In that office they had met B.A.,
who had been accompanied by the prison governor of Prison no. 7, a
number of people wearing hoods, P.M. (another co-accused), and several
prison officers, one of whom had been filming the meeting. B.A. had
questioned Z.V. and G.A. “about the date [of the meeting between the
organisers of the riot]”. The two inmates had replied that “they could not
remember”. B.A. had then struck G.A., who had hit him back. The people
wearing hoods had then started kicking and punching Z.V. and G.A. and
beating them with their truncheons and the barrel of their guns. The two
inmates had been unconscious when they had been transferred to Prison no.
7, where they had been beaten again.
72. L.Ts., another of the six riot organisers, stated that, having been
woken by a guard, he had been summoned to the hospital director’s office.
He had seen a lot of people in the corridor and anti-riot officers, who had
started beating him with their truncheons. At the same time Z.V. and G.A.
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were being beaten in the hospital director’s office (see the preceding
paragraph). After being transferred to Prison no. 7 at the same time as the
other two inmates, L.Ts. had been stripped naked and again kicked, punched
and beaten with a truncheon. According to L.Ts., he and Z.V. had had
marks on their body as a result of the violence, and G.A. had had such
marks on his face.
73. The director of the prison hospital stated before the court that with
the aid of informers among the inmates, he had learnt that a riot was being
prepared. He had informed B.A. accordingly, who on 27 March 2006 at
about 1 a.m. had come to the hospital and ordered the director to bring the
six riot organisers to the director’s office, with a view to transferring them.
When the trouble had started, B.A. had summoned thirty members of the
anti-riot squad to assist with the transfer. The anti-riot officers had not
stayed at the hospital because the situation there had quickly returned to
normal. They and B.A. had gone to Prisons nos. 1 and 5, which had also
started to have problems.
74. By a judgment of 2 April 2007 the Tbilisi City Court convicted
M.Z., Z.V., G.A. and L.Ts. of refusing to obey the lawful orders of prison
officers, disrupting order in prison, and assaulting prison officers or creating
a group for that purpose and actively participating in that group (Article 378
§§ 1 and 3 of the Criminal Code). They were sentenced to six years’
imprisonment each. N.M. was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for
the same offences and for illegal possession of a mobile telephone (an
offence committed in June 2006). P.M. was sentenced to twelve years’
imprisonment for the same offences as those committed by the first four
inmates and for being a criminal boss (Article 2231 § 1 of the Criminal
Code).
75. In its statement of the facts, the Tbilisi City Court considered that the
following facts had been established. As witnessed by the prison officers
followed by the anti-riot squad, the inmates of dormitory no. 4 had started
throwing pieces of brick and iron in their direction. For that reason, the
anti-riot squad had fired rubber bullets back at them. In response, the
inmates had opened fire using Makarov pistols and gas weapons. They had
carried on resisting until they had been brought under control by the
measures implemented by the prison officers and the anti-riot forces.
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been sustained when he had been alive, and could have been caused by
rubber bullets. The expert further stated, for comparison purposes, that there
had been no such lesions on the body of G.Y., an inmate who had also died,
and only firearm injuries could be observed on his body.
78. On 10 October 2006 the expert who had examined the bodies of
three other inmates who had died stated that, apart from firearm injuries, the
inmates had sustained lesions and bruises that had left red marks on various
parts of their bodies while they had still been alive, and very shortly before
their death. The lesions could have been caused by rubber bullets.
79. Between 24 and 26 October 2006 four inmates of Prison no. 5 were
questioned in the absence of a lawyer. According to the relevant records,
three of those inmates claimed that they did not require legal assistance.
None of them had been injured during the events in question. A brief
summary of their statements is reproduced below.
80. G.S., an inmate in cell no. 56, stated that at about 2 a.m. on
27 March 2006 he had heard inmates screaming and swearing, and that
when he had looked out of the window he had seen burning objects falling
into the prison yard. Shortly afterwards the lock on his door had been
broken and he and his cellmates had gone out into the corridor. On account
of the smoke, they had all gone up to the second floor. Shortly afterwards
the anti-riot forces had arrived, but they had been kept back by the
barricades. A shot had rung out on the inmates’ side. In response, the
anti-riot officers had fired rubber bullets and G.S. had hidden in a cell. The
anti-riot forces had dismantled the barricades and the situation had returned
to normal.
81. R.Ch., an inmate in cell no. 70a, gave a similar description. He
explained that the anti-riot forces had “had no means of targeting” the
inmates individually, and the sound of shots ricocheting off surfaces could
be heard. An inmate next to him had sustained minor injuries as a result of a
stray bullet.
82. B.Sh., an inmate in cell no. 71, gave a similar description, saying
that inmates from all floors had gathered together in their dormitory (no. 4).
He had seen pistols in the hands of two inmates, but could not identify the
persons in question. Later the anti-riot forces had arrived, but as they had
had “no means of targeting inmates” they had been randomly firing rubber
bullets.
83. G.T., an inmate in cell no. 104 (dormitory no. 5), gave a similar
description, adding that at about 1.10 a.m. on 27 March 2006 he had heard
the prison hospital inmates shouting out that the criminal bosses were being
attacked and inciting other inmates to riot. After his cell door had been
opened from outside, he had gone down to the third and fourth dormitories.
The inmates from the fourth dormitory had been barricading the entrances
with the cell doors. A group of prison officers had then arrived. A shot had
rung out and someone had shouted that a prison officer had been injured.
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Further shots had followed and he had no longer known who was firing at
whom or from where.
84. According to the case file as it stands at hand, the investigation into
the possible abuse of power by the law-enforcement officers has not been
terminated to date. It does not transpire from the available materials
whether, apart from the measures mentioned above (see paragraphs 77-83),
any other investigative steps have been made.
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Article 234
“Actions by an investigator, the head of an investigating authority, a prosecutor, a
judge or a court may be challenged by the parties to a trial and by other natural
persons or legal entities in accordance with the procedures established by this Code.”
Article 242 § 1
“1. In accordance with the rules provided for in this Code, a court action may be
brought against an act or decision of an investigator or prosecutor which, according to
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the person affected [by the act or decision], is illegal or ill-founded. [Such acts or
decisions] include:
(a) an order terminating criminal proceedings and/or a preliminary investigation.”
Section 96
“In the event of mass disorder ... in a prison, the Prisons Department shall draw up a
plan of additional security measures which shall be approved by the Minister of
Justice in consultation with the Ministry of the Interior and the State Agency for the
Protection of National Borders.”
98. By means of order no. 60, the Minister of Justice approved an action
plan for emergency situations in prisons, including mass unrest and
insubordination by prisoners. Among other things, a crisis unit would be set
up at the Ministry in order to coordinate the actions of various actors.
Chaired by the Minister of Justice, it would include the first Deputy
Minister of Justice, the Deputy Minister of Justice for the Supervision of
Prisons, and the head of the Prisons Department. A local crisis unit would
be set up in the prison concerned to implement its decisions. The Minister
of Justice and the first Deputy Minister would have the power to declare a
state of emergency within the Ministry and to request the assistance of the
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Ministry of the Interior. The head of the Prisons Department would keep the
Minister of Justice informed of the extent of the unrest and the reasons for
it, guarantee the presence of sufficient numbers of staff in the prison
concerned, and use the forces and means of the prison depending on the
requirements of the situation. In the event of an imminent risk of the
situation deteriorating, the head of the Prisons Department could himself
declare a state of emergency in the prison concerned and take action in
coordination with the appropriate territorial police force, in accordance with
the previously devised operational action plan.
99. The anti-riot squad formed part of the Prisons Department, and its
mission was to take rapid action to prevent mass disorder, attacks, escapes
and other transgressions in prisons. The legal basis for its activities was the
Detention Act, presidential orders, orders of the Ministry of Justice, the
rules governing anti-riot forces and other relevant statutes (Article 1). The
management of the anti-riot squad supervised the vocational and physical
training of members of the special forces (Article 2 § 4). The head of the
anti-riot squad was subordinate to the Minister of Justice and the head of the
Prisons Department, and was responsible for guaranteeing the squad’s
proper discipline, professionalism and compliance with the law (Article 6).
100. In carrying out their duties, members of the anti-riot squad were
entitled, in accordance with the relevant legal procedures, to have recourse
to physical force, and “to carry and use firearms and other special weapons”
(Article 8 § 1). When using firearms, they had to take all measures in their
power to guarantee the safety of third parties and provide medical assistance
to any victims (Article 8 § 2).
101. No other indications concerning the use of firearms by members of
the anti-riot squad were contained in the ministerial order in question, the
Detention Act, or any other statutes.
102. The joint action plan, which was adopted in January 2003 by the
Minister of Justice, the Minister of the Interior and the General Prosecutor,
put in place a number of measures to prevent emergency situations in the
prison system without the need for recourse to force and to bring such
situations under control where necessary. The authorities were to have
recourse to force only “in cases of dire necessity” in order to control
aggressive prisoners.
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KUKHALASHVILI AND OTHERS v. GEORGIA JUDGMENT
Justice, at least ten government agents also sustained injuries. The disturbance in
Tbilisi Prison No. 1 subsided without an armed intervention.
In explaining the origins of the disturbance in Tbilisi Prison No. 5, the government
maintains that one inmate, M[.]Z[.], an alleged thief in law, had plotted with others to
create a disturbance in the prison system intended to stop the ongoing prison reforms,
which, as noted above, were aimed at dismantling the thieves in laws’ authority within
the prisons. The government claims that [M.]Z[.], together with two other suspected
criminal authorities, recruited three other crime figures to carry out a plan to inflict
injuries on themselves and other collaborators that they would claim had been
inflicted by the head of the Penitentiary Department in order to provoke disturbances
in the penitentiary system. The government says that it obtained information about
this plot on March 25 and set up secret audio and video recording in the Republican
Prison Hospital, where all six of the alleged plotters were being detained.
On March 26, the head of the prison hospital informed authorities of the Penitentiary
Department that the six plotters ‘were organizing mass disturbances’ and asked that
Penitentiary Department officials take necessary measures. The head of the
Penitentiary Department and officers from the criminal investigation department then
arrived at the prison hospital to transfer the alleged plotters to other penitentiary
facilities. According to the government, ‘In order to prevent further complication of
the situation it was decided to carry out the operation at night,’ at 12:45 a.m. on
March 27.
Detention of the alleged riot plotters and disturbance in the Republican Prison
Hospital
The government claims that the six alleged plotters physically resisted the attempt
by Penitentiary Department officials to relocate them and that during their transfer
they called out to other detainees in the hospital to ‘start mass disturbances.’ As a
result, other detainees in the prison hospital ‘started disobedience and mass
disturbance, namely making noise, swearing, shouting, setting things on fire, breaking
the windows, etc.’
Victims and witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch described the actions of
the law enforcement agents who entered the Republican Prison Hospital to detain the
six alleged plotters riot differently from the government. Human Rights Watch
reviewed evidence indicating that at least four of the six detainees may have been
beaten severely as they were removed from the prison hospital and transferred to
Prison No. 7. One detainee told Human Rights Watch:
‘On March 27 I was asleep. I was called out of my room by the hospital
administration. They took me downstairs and started beating me. This began inside
and then continued outside where I lost consciousness. I was taken from the surgical
wing. I don’t know who beat me. It happened in the night. People were in masks. I
was taken into the yard and people beat me with metal sticks and truncheons, and
kicked me.’
The victim was then taken immediately to Tbilisi Prison No. 7. He suffers long-term
medical repercussions as a result of the beatings. Human Rights Watch observed the
severity of his condition and a doctor confirmed the urgent need for him to receive
sophisticated medical treatment.
The ombudsman and a medical professional visited the three other suspected riot
plotters allegedly beaten on March 27 when they were removed from the Republican
Prison Hospital. The medical expert confirmed numerous injuries consistent with
beatings on each detainee. One detainee stated that he was taken from his room and
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KUKHALASHVILI AND OTHERS v. GEORGIA JUDGMENT
‘beaten with [truncheons] in front the [hospital] Director’s Room.’ The medical expert
confirmed that the prisoner had been beaten on his abdomen, back, and head, and, as a
result, suffered pain in his kidneys, dizziness, and balance problems, as well as
nightmares and other psychological problems. The ombudsman and the medical
expert confirmed that two of the other alleged riot plotters had injuries consistent with
being beaten and suffered serious physical and psychological repercussions. The
ombudsman documented the injuries to one of these detainees in photographs which
he showed to Human Rights Watch.
Several witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch provided further
corroboration that several detainees from the prison hospital were beaten in the early
morning hours of March 27. One detainee explained:
‘On March 27, it started on the second floor. The special forces troops came into
the surgery wing of the hospital and took three guys right before our eyes. They beat
them on our floor and then took them to the courtyard. They didn’t hide it. They
beat them with gun butts and truncheons. People started to cry out. These were three
people from separate rooms. One of them has epilepsy. They took them out of the
hospital. There were 40, 50, or 60 members of the special forces. There was first one
group, then a second. They were in masks and black uniforms.’
Another witness stated: ‘I saw the special forces troops enter the surgery
department. First 20 [people] and then another 20.’ A third said: ‘It was 1 a.m. and I
was sleeping. I heard an inhuman cry that woke me up. I take sleeping medicines, but
even so, I woke up. I heard two cries. I saw people in masks in the courtyard. They
were beating two people. They cried out. Then they brought a third person out. I have
never heard such cries in my life.’
Witnesses who were in the prison hospital at the time stated that hospital detainees
started to make noise and protest in reaction to the treatment they saw being inflicted
on their fellow detainees. ‘People started screaming from the hospital windows. They
were making a lot of noise. People feared also being beaten. One of the people they
were beating has epilepsy. People were shouting ‘Don’t beat him! He has epilepsy!’’
– one detainee told Human Rights Watch. According to another detainee, ‘People
started to cry out. Some of the prisoners burned sheets and pillows and put them out
the window.’
The disturbance travels to Prisons No. 5 and No. 1
Witnesses stated that once the disturbance started in the prison hospital, detainees in
Prison No. 5 and Prison No. 1, located 50 meters away, also began to react. According
to one detainee in the prison hospital: ‘Prison No. 5 looks out onto our hospital. They
can see everything. They started to bang dishes and to make noise. They were yelling
out, crying out. They wanted to bring attention there.’ ‘From Prison No. 5, inmates
started yelling, ‘What’s happening?’ and started making noise, and they became
louder than people here. It’s only 50 meters away, and at night when it’s quiet, sound
travels really well,’ – another detainee told Human Rights Watch.
In Prison No. 5 and Prison No. 1, detainees made noise by shouting and banging
dishes and other implements. They also began to set fire to sheets and other objects
and throw them out of the windows. Upon seeing the disturbance in the prison
hospital spread to Prisons No. 5 and No. 1, the director of Tbilisi Prison No. 5,
G[.]P[.], told Human Rights Watch that he took the decision to remove all personnel
from the building for their own safety and to close the building. Ultimately, in Prison
No. 1, the authorities were able to put an end to the disturbance without conducting a
special operation or using force. However, what happened in Prison No. 5 after the
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KUKHALASHVILI AND OTHERS v. GEORGIA JUDGMENT
prison staff left the building remains unclear, and even government authorities provide
conflicting information.
The authorities reported that detainees on the third, fourth, and fifth floors of Prison
No. 5 broke out of their cells or exited their cells. The director of Prison No. 5 stated:
‘The doors were broken by the prisoners. Absolutely all of them were broken. The
doors are so old. That’s why they broke. They used the beds in the rooms. All it takes
is 10 people to use the bed and ram it against the door.’ One detainee who had been
on the fourth floor of Prison No. 5 on March 27 told Human Rights Watch that,
indeed, they had managed to break down their cell door. Other detainees confirmed
this.
From the available evidence, it is not clear that detainees broke their doors down en
masse. Some detainees said they managed to exit their cells and then opened the doors
of other cells. Still other detainees reported that their doors had not been broken or
opened and that they did not leave their cells. The Ministry of Justice reports that
‘prisoners destroyed all cell doors, and most [of the] inmates were outside the cells.
Some prisoners went on the roof and set the prison building on fire.’ K[.]M[.], head of
the Penitentiary Department special task force, also told Human Rights Watch: ‘The
inmates were burning clothes, blankets, and throwing these out the windows. Some of
them had climbed onto the roof. They threw things out and off of the roof. No one
could come too close to the building.’ However, when Human Rights Watch asked
Prison Director [G.]P[.] about the inmates on the roof he said – ‘What? There was no
one on the roof.’
[G.]P[.] told Human Rights Watch that at about 2 a.m., he called the head of the
Penitentiary Department, who came to the facility, and that 15 minutes later special
forces troops arrived and surrounded the prison buildings as a show of strength. The
ombudsman, S[.]S[.], who was also present during the operation, stated that there
were approximately 150-300 special forces troops. According to witnesses, two
armoured personnel carriers or some other type of large military vehicle were also
brought into the courtyard.
Soon after the disturbance began, several detainees called E[.]T[.], chairperson of
the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Civil Integration, and
she immediately went to the prison. She told Human Rights Watch: ‘Inmates told
me – ‘We’ve taken over the prison, we’re afraid they will start shooting, please come
help immediately.’ I had the impression that they wanted me to negotiate with them.’
She stated that, upon arrival at the prison, ‘I asked the minister of the interior to allow
me inside [the prison] with the ombudsman to convince the prisoners to return to their
cells. As soon as they opened the door [to the prison], the minister of the interior
changed his mind. I was told it was too dangerous to go in, what if the prisoners took
me hostage-they wouldn’t be able to help me. So instead they brought me a
megaphone, and I addressed [the prisoners].’ [E.T.] stated that she was not afraid to
enter the prison and believes that direct contact with the detainees might have diffused
the situation: ‘I still think if I’d gone in, they wouldn’t have taken me hostage.’
The special operation to quell the disturbance
[E.T.], [S.S.], and other officials spoke to the inmates from the prison courtyard
using a loudspeaker and asked them to calm down. The government claims that for an
hour it issued warnings that ‘if the orders were not followed [that] force [would be
used]’ and only then took a decision that members of the Penitentiary Department and
special forces should enter the building. However, according to S[.]S[.]: ‘Some of the
detainees had called me on my mobile phone. They wanted some kind of negotiations,
although they didn’t have any particular demands. But they wanted negotiations. The
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KUKHALASHVILI AND OTHERS v. GEORGIA JUDGMENT
troops gave no warning as they entered. They made no attempts to negotiate. There
was just one announcement over the radio [about the operation], which the detainees
claim not to have heard given the loud noise they were making themselves.’
Many discrepancies exist about the initiation of the special operation itself. [G][P.],
who led the first entry into the prison, stated that he, two colleagues from the
Penitentiary Department, and a group of special forces were unable to enter through
the main door of the prison because it had been barricaded from the inside. Using a
side entrance, they made it to the fourth floor where they started to break down a
barricaded door. He claims they heard yelling and gunfire. [G.][P.] described the
events that followed to Human Rights Watch:
‘The two department employees were shot. As soon as they were shot I took them
out of the corridor to a safe place. The special forces troops started to shoot with
rubber bullets into the windows and ceiling to scare the prisoners. Then the special
forces troops entered the fourth floor. It was dark. The prisoners had broken the
lights. We heard other gunfire and the special forces troops started to shoot [with
automatic weapons]. This was happening on the fourth floor, but some distance
from us.’
According to the Ministry of Justice, however, the events unfolded differently.
While, as noted above, the head of Prison No. 5 states that he and his colleagues were
shot at and his two colleagues were wounded as they entered the fourth floor, the
ministry claims that the authorities initiated the shooting by firing rubber bullets. Only
at that moment did the prisoners initiate fire in the direction of the Penitentiary
Department employees. In its report to the UN Committee Against Torture, the
Ministry states:
‘Having cleaned the blocked entrance of the building, the Director of the Prison
No. 5 with several Special Task Force officers entered the building and once again
called on the prisoners to calm down, this resulted [in] the counter-reaction of the
inmates and they began moving towards the administrators; therefore the special
task force used the guns with rubber bullets; the prisoners responded with firearms
shooting that resulted in injuries [to two Penitentiary Department employees]. After
[the] wounding [of] the staff members of the Penitentiary Department, the decision
to open the counter fire was made immediately.’
The government now claims that six firearms were found in the prison, together
with dozens of knives. However, conflicting information persists about the exact
number of firearms. In a press conference immediately following the incident, the
minister of justice reported to the media that five weapons had been discovered. The
ombudsman told Human Rights Watch that when he entered the prison immediately
after the special forces concluded the operation, he saw two guns allegedly fired by
prisoners during the riot. Human Rights Watch could not confirm whether prisoners
had firearms and, if they did, how many, and how they were able to obtain them and
keep them in the prison. When Human Rights Watch asked how the weapons
allegedly used by prisoners entered the prison in the first place, Prison Director
[G.]P[.] replied: ‘I don’t know. Not on my watch.’
Use of force during the special operation
The government does not provide any detail as to what happened after the special
forces entered the prison, stating only that ‘after the abovementioned, the situation
went under control, the prisoners entered their cells and stopped resistance.’ Both the
government and detainees state that no non-violent means or alternative methods of
riot control, such as teargas or water cannons, were utilized; the only means used was
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KUKHALASHVILI AND OTHERS v. GEORGIA JUDGMENT
gunfire with rubber bullets and live ammunition, resulting in the death of seven
detainees and injury to at least 17 detainees. The Standard Minimum Rules require
that the authorities should not ‘use force except in self-defence or in cases of
attempted escape, or active or passive physical resistance to an order based on law or
regulations. Officers who have recourse to force must use no more than is strictly
necessary.’ [...]
Human Rights Watch interviewed numerous detainees who described the use of
automatic weapon fire by special forces once they entered the prison. Human Rights
Watch interviewed seven detainees who had sustained gunshot wounds from
automatic weapons. Representatives of the Office of the Ombudsman also
documented gunshot wounds on detainees who had been in Prison No. 5 at the time of
the disturbance. These experts also found wounds consistent with being hit by rubber
bullets on the hips, buttocks, head, chest, ankle, and feet of 11 different individuals.
Human Rights Watch interviewed two people who had been injured by rubber bullets.
One detainee told Human Rights Watch, ‘I was hit twice with plastic bullets on my
right thigh.’
Some detainees also reported that authorities had been shooting at the main prison
building from the roofs of other buildings and that bullets entered through the
windows. At some point in the operation, bullets were fired into their cells from
outside the building. As a result, some prisoners felt compelled to leave their rooms
for safety reasons. Others reported being injured from this fire. One detainee in a cell
on the fourth floor reported: ‘I was in my room and wounded in my side. They were
shooting from the roof [of the administration building] opposite ours and a ricochet
bullet hit me.’ A detainee on the fifth floor stated: ‘There was shooting in the yard.
We were afraid and went out of the cell and stood in the corridor. Our door had been
opened from the outside. They opened it by breaking the lock. We were watching on
our television what was happening to us. There was shooting from the outside. There
was shooting from the roofs at our building. We then went into our room and waited.
In the cell next to us we heard shooting. There were people shot. There was one
person injured and another one killed.’ Another detainee, who sustained two bullet
wounds and then lost consciousness stated: ‘We have big windows in those cells. I
think bullets may have come through the windows. I had stood up from my bed. I
don’t know who shot me. Everyone was terrified.’ During its visit to Prison No. 5,
Human Rights Watch saw holes in the window shutters of numerous cells that
appeared consistent with bullet holes. However, a forensic examination is necessary to
determine the exact nature of the holes.
Various witnesses confirmed that the authorities fired bullets in the courtyard of the
prison during the operation, even in the direction of the prison hospital or the street
where dozens of journalists, relatives, human rights activists, and others had gathered.
Witnesses reported seeing ‘lighted bullets,’ apparently tracer bullets, which burn
brightly during their flight, enabling the shooter to follow the bullets’ trajectories.
The issue of excessive use of force
As described above, there are discrepancies in various accounts of the special
operation to end the disturbance in Tbilisi Prison No. 5, even among different
government agencies. Although it is clear that detainees put up an undetermined
degree of resistance to the law enforcement agents attempting to regain control of the
prison and that special forces troops used lethal force and other violent means to
suppress this resistance, the exact nature and proportionality of the force used remains
unclear. In these circumstances, it is difficult to conclude whether the shooting
described above was excessive, and a thorough investigation by an independent body
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KUKHALASHVILI AND OTHERS v. GEORGIA JUDGMENT
is the only means to reaching specific conclusions. However, Human Rights Watch
was able to document specific individual incidents of excessive and illegal force.
These involved at least two cases of shooting of detainees during the operation and
several cases of beating of detainees after the operation.
Human Rights Watch was able to document two cases in which special forces troops
appear to have shot detainees, who were not posing an immediate threat or danger to
the guards, without issuing any warning or using other means to subdue the detainees.
According to one injured detainee, who sustained five bullet wounds:
‘I was afraid of the gunfire. There was panic in our room. I was afraid of being
killed. We all were. Some people were saying to us – ‘Take it easy, don’t worry,
they won’t kill us.’ The door of our cell was closed. A guy with an automatic
weapon and a mask came into the room. He started to swear at us. He was alone
standing in the doorway, but there were others behind him. He said to us – ‘So you
want a colour television you motherfuckers?’ And then he started to shoot. I was
close to him and right in front of him and so I took the first bullets. This all
happened really fast. He came in, said these words to us, and then started to shoot.
He gave no warning that he would shoot. I lost consciousness. The thing is, we had
a television in our room, and a few days before this happened, they wanted to take it
away. We said no.’
Special forces apparently shot another prisoner because he could not comply fast
enough with their order to lie down on the floor. The prisoner, who sustained multiple
gunshot wounds, told Human Rights Watch:
‘The special forces came to our corridor. I heard them shooting in the corridor. The
special forces were saying, ‘Lie down!’ at the same moment as they shot. In my room
the people who were standing lay down. But for me-some of us were on the top bunk.
We couldn’t climb down to lie down because the room was all full of people lying
down. One special forces member came into our room and said – ‘Lay down
motherfucker!’ I came down from my bunk and saw a place near the bed towards the
corner. As I moved there, the special forces guy shot me. When prisoners heard the
gunfire, prisoners from other cells came into our cell. I was really afraid. I was just
watching the door waiting to see what would happen.’
Another detainee told Human Rights Watch that after being shot in the leg by a
member of the special forces, he fell to the ground. ‘Then the special forces guy came
over and fired two more bullets into my buttocks, right into my back pockets.’
As part of the operation, apparently once the special forces troops had gained
control of the prison, many members of the special forces beat detainees, apparently
to punish or subdue them. One detainee told Human Rights Watch that immediately
after the operation, ‘They beat us with truncheons. They also kicked us. [They beat
us] like dogs.’ According to another detainee, after the operation had begun, ‘We just
sat in our room and didn’t move. If people were in their rooms they weren’t beaten.
But if they had gotten out and had gone to another room they were beaten. I heard
how people were beaten. They would scream out in pain.’ A detainee from the fourth
floor stated that after the operation, ‘[The special forces] came and took us into the
hall one at a time and beat us practically to death. I lay in bed for a week unable to
move.’ Another told Human Rights Watch, ‘We were taken from our cells and beaten
to teach us a lesson.’ One stated that he was even beaten while being transferred out
of Prison No. 5: ‘I was beaten on the head with an automatic weapon, once in the
room, once in the van coming here [to Rustavi Prison No. 6].’ Based on interviews
with detainees in various penitentiary facilities following the operation, medical
experts from the Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture ‘Empathy’ estimated
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KUKHALASHVILI AND OTHERS v. GEORGIA JUDGMENT
that more than 100 detainees in Prison No. 5 were beaten during the course of the
operation or immediately afterward. [...]
Treatment of the wounded
The medical care provided to the wounded following the operation was wholly
inadequate.
The detainees who were taken from the Republican Prison Hospital and transferred
to Tbilisi Prison No. 7, as described above, reported that they did not receive
immediate medical attention for the injuries sustained from the beatings and faced
difficulties receiving adequate care. [...]
On April 7 representatives of the Office of the Ombudsman also found that, despite
continuing physical and psychological complications associated with the March 27
beatings, the detainees had not received forensic medical examinations, were denied
regular contact with doctors, and received no substantive medical treatment. One man
reported being afraid to request a visit by the doctor out of fear of additional verbal
and physical abuse by the prison authorities. The detainees were not allowed to go
outdoors and could not maintain proper hygiene-they could not shave and had limited
possibility to wash. There were no medical records related to the detainees in the
prison.
Those wounded during the special operation in Tbilisi Prison No. 5 also reported
receiving inadequate care. Although numerous ambulances had arrived at the prison,
not all inmates were treated immediately by skilled medical personnel, and at the time
of Human Rights Watch’s visit, many detainees who were in need of surgery still had
not received it. [...]
An expert acting at the request of the Office of the Ombudsman also identified
numerous patients in Rustavi Prison No. 6 in need of urgent medical care some weeks
after having been injured in the March 27 incident. One detainee had multiple wounds
some of which had apparently become infected resulting in fever. The expert
determined that other detainees had single bullet wounds that required surgery and
other serious treatment. One detainee with a chest injury had not received an x-ray or
consultation with a specialist. The expert noted that the prison did not have a registry
to record injuries of the incoming detainees and kept no medical documentation
regarding sick or injured detainees.
Discrepancies in the number of killed and wounded
The Ministry of Justice report states that during the operation two special forces
members were wounded and 10 were injured. The report does not specify the types of
wounds or injuries, nor does it clarify the difference between wounds and injuries.
The report also states that two members of the Penitentiary Department suffered
gunshot wounds at the beginning of the operation. It is not clear whether the injuries
to the Penitentiary Department employees are counted separately or in the total
number for government agents wounded and injured.
The total number of inmates killed and wounded in the operation remains unclear.
According to official information provided to Human Rights Watch by the
Penitentiary Department, seven inmates were killed. However, initial reports indicated
that there may have been more casualties than officially recorded and that in at least
one case a death attributed to other causes was in fact a result of the operation. ...
The number of wounded is in even greater dispute. The government itself provides
conflicting information. In statistics provided to Human Rights Watch in May 2006,
the Penitentiary Department gives the names of 17 wounded inmates. In contrast, the
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KUKHALASHVILI AND OTHERS v. GEORGIA JUDGMENT
Ministry of Justice states in its May 2006 report to CAT, ‘After bilateral fire seven
prisoners died and 22 inmates received injuries of different gravity.’ Representatives
of the Office of the Ombudsman, including one physician, visited detainees in Rustavi
Prison No. 6 who had been transferred from Tbilisi Prison No. 5 following the March
27 operation. Initially, the staff of Rustavi Prison No. 6 told the ombudsman’s
representatives that eight of the prisoners transferred had been wounded during the
March 27 operation. However, the representatives found 15 patients with wounds,
including gunshot wounds, sustained during the March 27 operation. They stated: ‘For
lack of time we could not survey all the cells, so we can assume that the number of
[wounded] prisoners is even higher.’
Additionally, Human Rights Watch interviewed 14 other individuals who sustained
injuries during the March 27 operation. These included seven individuals who
suffered gunshot wounds and two detainees wounded by rubber bullets, as well as five
detainees who were injured as a result of beatings. Taken together, the information
collected by Human Rights Watch and the Office of the Ombudsman suggest that the
actual number of wounded may be higher than reported by the government.
Planning the operation
Very little information is available about what kinds of plans, required by law, were
in place for addressing the kind of disturbance that erupted in Prison No. 5 and how
those plans were executed. It is also unclear whether such plans addressed the
requirements for the use of force set out by the European Prison Rules [...].
According to the Ministry of Justice, the special operation ‘was carried out fully in
accordance with the Georgian legislation and prison rules,’ but does not elaborate on
the operation’s compatibility with international obligations or provide any evidence of
the planning that went into the operation. Information collected by Human Rights
Watch raises questions as to the actual plan in place for the operation. Prison Director
[G.][P.] told Human Rights Watch: ‘Of course there is a rule, and we know how to
deal with different situations. Plus, you just decide how to act as the events unfold.’
Deputy Director S[.]O[.] immediately added: ‘It’s like when you have to go to the
toilet-you just figure out how to do it and act.’ Although it is clear that special forces
of the Ministry of Justice as well as special forces from the Ministry of Internal
Affairs conducted the operation, most people interviewed by Human Rights Watch
could not state who was in charge of the operation. Even Prison Director [G.][P.], who
himself participated in the operation, stated: ‘I don’t know who was in charge of the
operation; I don’t know who controlled the special forces. The special forces all have
the same uniforms and masks. I can’t say from where they come.’
With respect to planning, E[.] T[.] told Human Rights Watch: ‘The minister of the
interior promised me they’d use only rubber bullets. They showed me the special
weapon that fires these bullets. They said they would do everything to ensure there
were no casualties. But the special forces started [the operation], and they were
already shooting real ammunition [...] It seems to me that it would have been possible
to avoid live fire and the loss of life. I think we could have escaped deaths.’
Investigation into the March 27 incident in Tbilisi Prison No. 5
According to information provided to Human Rights Watch by the General
Prosecutor’s Office, on March 25, 2006, the Investigative Department of the Ministry
of Justice opened an investigation into the alleged plotting of a riot in the penitentiary
system and pursued this investigation following the disturbance on March 27. After
March 27 the scope of the investigation expanded to include charges of membership
in a criminal society, but did not include any articles of the Criminal Code related to
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the death of seven inmates or the conduct of law enforcement agents during the
operation. The authorities claimed that in evaluating the March 27 events, the
investigation would nevertheless examine the actions of law enforcement agents. [...]
Four days after the March 27 incident, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Karel de Gucht
called upon the Georgian authorities to open an independent investigation, noting that
‘a lack of clarity exists’ following the March 27 incident and that ‘it would be
appropriate to set up an independent and public enquiry to investigate the events,
including allegations of a disproportionate use of force by government troops which
resulted in a large number of victims.’ The government refused to do so, saying that
the investigation into the causes of the riot that was already underway made an
independent investigation unnecessary. Yet, at that time, even members of the ruling
National Movement Party were unclear as to the exact nature of the investigation,
claiming that the General Prosecutor’s Office had opened the investigation into the
possibility that excessive force had been used, when in fact the investigation had been
opened by the Ministry of Justice and only into the facts regarding the organization of
the alleged riot, as described above by the General Prosecutor’s Office itself.
Publicly, the government has stated unequivocally that law enforcement agents
acted lawfully. Saakashvili hailed the Justice Ministry staff and the Georgian police
whom he claimed ‘acted extremely professionally.’ N[.]B[.], the speaker of
parliament, was quoted as having praised the police saying they used ‘adequate force’
to prevent a jailbreak.
The deputy prosecutor general, when asked why an investigation into the death of
seven detainees and whether the force used was absolutely necessary was not opened
immediately, told Human Rights Watch that these facts would be examined under the
investigation into the planning of the riot opened on March 25. The deputy prosecutor
general further stated that evidence suggesting that detainees had damaged the prison
was sufficient to explain the need for the use of firearms. She stated: ‘The assumption
from the beginning is that the use of force was justified because all evidence showed
there was clear resistance. The whole prison was destroyed. It was more than clear
because everything was destroyed, everything was burned. No single door was left.’
[...]”
111. In its World Report, published in 2010, Human Rights Watch made
the following conclusion regarding the anti-riot operation of 27 March
2006:
“The government has failed to conduct a thorough investigation into the March 2006
operation to quell a riot in Tbilisi Prison No. 5, which left seven prisoners dead and
dozens injured.”
B. Amnesty International
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Prison disturbance in March 2006: at least seven inmates killed by special forces
According to the authorities, special forces entered investigation-isolation prison
no. 5 in Tbilisi early on 27 March 2006 to suppress an armed riot and attempted
break-out that ringleaders had allegedly organized in advance. The same day the
Justice Minister of Georgia stated at a press briefing that the special forces had
urged the inmates to stop the riot several times in vain, before launching the special
operation. At a session of the National Security Council later that day President
Saakashvili was reported as thanking officials of the Ministry of Justice and the
police ‘who acted highly professionally in order to save the citizens of the country
from the misfortune that could have happened [...] Last night in Tbilisi more than
4000 dangerous criminals could have escaped [...] This would have meant hundreds
of stolen cars, hundreds of raped people, hundreds of robbed houses, hundreds of
murder cases and many other disasters and disorders.’
The Human Rights Protection Unit of the Prosecutor General’s Office informed
Amnesty International on 21 May 2007 that special forces officers called on the
inmates to ‘calm down’. Their request was ‘followed by the counter-reaction of the
inmates as they began to move towards the officers, throwing stones and pieces of
metal and wood at them. In response, the special task force used the guns with
rubber bullets. The prisoners responded with firearms. As a result two officers of the
Department of Prisons were wounded. The decision to open fire by the Special
Force was taken only after the inmates had used firearms.’
According to local human rights activists, the special forces operation was carried
out to put down a spontaneous protest by detainees against physical and verbal
abuse of inmates in the near-by central prison hospital by a senior official of the
Ministry of Justice and special forces earlier that night. Non-governmental sources
alleged that the special forces that entered the investigation-isolation prison did not
use alternative non-violent means to establish control of the prison, but instead fired
automatic weapons and rubber bullets, and beat detainees with truncheons.
According to G[.]G[.], the Head of the Department on Investigation and Monitoring
at the Office of the Ombudsman of Georgia, who was in the yard of the
investigation-isolation prison at the time, the authorities gave no warning before
they started shooting at the inmates. The Ombudsman alleged that special forces
were likely to have ‘continued to fire even when the revolt [had] actually ended and
the prisoners did not resist [...] anymore’.
At least seven inmates died and many others were wounded in this special
operation.
The Ombudsman of Georgia and local NGOs also raised concern at the lack of
adequate medical treatment of those injured as a result of the events both in the
central prison hospital as well as in investigation-isolation prison no. 5 on 27 March
2006. For example, according to a statement issued by the Ombudsman’s Office on
7 April, six men who allegedly sustained injuries as a result of beatings by officials
in the prison hospital were transferred to investigation-isolation prison no. 7 in
Tbilisi later that night without an authorization by prison doctors and were only
given access to medical personnel after the Ombudsman’s intervention. According
to information from the NGO Empathy received by Amnesty International on
9 April 2006, many detainees who had sustained bullet wounds on 27 March 2006
and were subsequently transferred to investigation-isolation prison no. 6 in Rustavi,
were left without immediate medical treatment and the wounds of some of them
started to fester. [...]
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THE LAW
113. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the
Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment, in
accordance with Rule 42 of the Rules of Court.
114. The applicants complained that the killing of their family members
was imputable to the State, in breach of the substantive limb of Article 2 of
the Convention, and that the authorities had failed to secure an effective
investigation into the relevant incident, in breach of the procedural
obligations contained in that provision and in Article 13 of the Convention.
The cited provisions read as follows:
Article 2
“1. Everyone’s right to life shall be protected by law. No one shall be deprived of
his life intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following his
conviction of a crime for which this penalty is provided by law.
2. Deprivation of life shall not be regarded as inflicted in contravention of this
article when it results from the use of force which is no more than absolutely
necessary:
(a) in defence of any person from unlawful violence;
(b) in order to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully
detained;
(c) in action lawfully taken for the purpose of quelling a riot or insurrection.”
Article 13
“Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in [the] Convention are violated
shall have an effective remedy before a national authority notwithstanding that the
violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity.”
A. Admissibility
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B. Merits
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for the investigation to have been effective within the meaning of Article
2 of the Convention. In particular, the applicants complained that the
investigation had failed to establish whether their relatives had individually
put up armed resistance to the anti-riot forces, or what the lapse of time had
been between the moment when their relatives had been wounded and the
moment they had died. Thus, it was still not known whether the two
detainees could have been saved if they had been provided with prompt
medical assistance. The third applicant further complained that there had
been no forensic examination of the piece of metal extracted from her son’s
skull (see paragraph 51 above). Noting that only one eyewitness, Z.D., had
stated that her son had called out for the inmates to resist (see paragraph 59
above), the third applicant pointed out that neither that particular witness
nor any other person had indicated that her son had been armed or that he
had physically resisted the State agents.
123. The applicants further complained that they had not been given any
opportunity to either get involved in the investigation or at least obtain
information about its progress. The mere fact that they had first learnt about
the prosecutorial decision of 23 October 2006 – which had opened a new
separate case concerning the purported murders of their family members –
from the Government’s observations produced before the Court was telling
as regards the extent of the information vacuum that they had previously
been in, and as regards the fact that the GPPO had been giving them
incorrect information about progress in the investigation. The applicants
submitted that the Prisons Department could not have conducted the
investigation independently and objectively, since the Minister of Justice
and his two deputies, together with B.A., had been personally responsible
for planning and conducting the anti-riot operation of 27 March 2006. That
hierarchical and functional incompatibility could be an explanation for the
fact that, at the outset, no investigative measures had been taken with the
aim of assessing of whether the use of force against the prisoners had been
proportionate.
124. As regards the part of the investigation conducted by the GPPO, the
applicants complained that it could not have been impartial either, as the
authority had been predisposed against the prisoners from the very
beginning. In support of those allegations, the applicants referred to the
comments made to Human Rights Watch by the Deputy General Public
Prosecutor. Those comments, which appear in the relevant report prepared
by the above-mentioned international organisation (see paragraph 110
above), read as follows: “The assumption from the beginning is that the use
of force was justified because all evidence showed there was clear
resistance. ...” The applicants emphasised that as the prosecuting authority
had had such a partial view, it was obviously not possible to expect that the
inquiry into whether the use of force by the law-enforcement authority had
been excessive would be effective. Lastly, the applicants also complained
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that there had been prohibitive delays in the investigation. Not only had the
investigation into the law-enforcement authorities’ possible abuse of power
started on 21 June 2006, almost three months after the fatal incident of
27 March 2006, but important eyewitnesses to the incident had been
interviewed only in October 2006. Moreover, no investigative act had been
undertaken since January 2007.
(b) The Government’s arguments
125. According to the Government, the criminal investigation into the
organisation of the prison riot had also included, as of 27 March 2006, the
investigation into the alleged use of excessive force resulting in the deaths
and injuries of detainees. It was in the light of that investigation having a
dual purpose that the investigating authority had requested, as early as
8 April 2006, that the Prisons Department produce the legal acts that had
served as the basis for the armed operation in question. The investigating
authority had also attempted to determine the precise moment at which the
order to intervene had been given to the anti-riot squad, and the moment
when the officers had opened fire on the detainees. The Government further
explained that the decision of the Deputy General Public Prosecutor of
19 May 2006 to relieve the Prisons Department of the Ministry of Justice of
the investigation (see paragraph 62 above) had been the result of increased
public interest in the case. The decision of 21 June 2006 to separate the
criminal case concerning the alleged abuse of power by the law-
enforcement officers (see paragraph 64 above) from the original
investigation had similarly been a result of increased public pressure and the
need to elucidate the circumstances surrounding the anti-riot squad’s use of
force. As to the decision of 23 October 2006 to initiate a separate case
concerning the deaths of Z.K. and A.B., this had been the direct result of a
recommendation given to the Government by Human Rights Watch.
126. The Government submitted that the investigating authorities had
undertaken multiple and comprehensive investigative measures. Thus, the
following people had all been questioned during the investigation: all the
prison officers who had taken part in the anti-riot operation of 27 March
2006, including the two people who had been injured by the gunfire coming
from the detainees’ area behind the barricades; the governors of Prison
nos. 5 and 7, as well as the chief security officers for all the relevant
dormitories of Prison no. 5; the head of the prison hospital; the head of the
Prisons Department; and the Minister of Justice. The Government
acknowledged, on the one hand, that the officers of the anti-riot squad had
not yet been questioned, but stated that the competent authorities were
planning to do so within the framework of the separate criminal
investigation into the possible abuse of power by the law-enforcement
officers. On the other hand, the Government submitted that the relevant
investigating authorities “[had known] from the very beginning” that the
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anti-riot forces had used only automatic rifles during the anti-riot operation
of 27 March 2006. That being so, the only possible inference that could be
drawn in relation to the discovery of the pistols during the inspection of
Prison no. 5 was that those weapons had belonged to the detainees.
127. The Government submitted that the applicants’ inability to have
access to the case material and participate in the investigative measures had
been due to the fact that they had not been granted victim status. They
further explained that the prosecutor’s refusal to grant them such status had
been conditioned by the fact that, at that early stage of the investigation,
there had been no evidence or circumstances capable of creating an
assumption that there had been a prima facie wrongdoing, such as an
excessive use of lethal force by the law-enforcement officers who had
participated in the anti-riot operation of 27 March 2006. As no potential
suspects had been identified at that time amongst the implicated State
agents, there had been no need to grant victim status to either of the
applicants. In that respect, the Government argued that the procedural
obligations contained in Article 2 of the Convention could not be construed
in such a manner as to require the domestic investigating authorities to grant
victim status by default to those who claimed to be directly or indirectly
affected by the commission of a purported criminal offence. On the
contrary, the investigating authorities should be given discretion in that
connection, in order to be able to act in the best interests of the investigation
at hand.
128. The Government pointed out that the anti-riot squad (a unit of the
Ministry of Justice) was not subordinate to the Prisons Department (another
unit of the same Ministry which was responsible for investigating the riot
case). In any event, as early as 19 May 2006 the riot case and the two other
cases that had emerged during the proceedings had been transmitted to the
GPPO, which was an independent and impartial investigating authority. As
regards the length of the investigation, the Government justified this by
referring to the particular complexity of the case: three custodial institutions
(the prison hospital, Prison no. 5 and Prison no. 1) had been implicated in
the riot, and several hundred witnesses (prisoners, prison guards and
members of the anti-riot squad) had needed to be interviewed. The
Government also stated that the investigation into the law-enforcement
agents’ abuse of force had largely depended on the factual findings
established in the course of the criminal case conducted against the six riot
organisers.
(c) The Court’s assessment
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and 2.45 a.m. The order to open fire had been given to the officers of the
anti-riot squad in the light of the real and imminent danger posed to the
prison officers by the gunshots coming from the prisoners behind the
barricades. The officers had started firing automatic rifles, and the detainees
had dispersed quickly to return to their cells. The anti-riot forces had moved
from dormitory no. 4 (which had thus been cleared) to dormitory no. 5,
where there had been no further need to open fire, as the inmates of the
latter dormitory had not put up any armed resistance.
143. With regard to the available legal framework on the use of lethal
force, the Government referred the Court to the relevant provisions of the
Criminal Code, the Weapons Act and ministerial orders nos. 60 and
212 (see paragraphs 93 and 96-101 above). They argued that it was on the
basis of those particular legal texts that the anti-riot squad was entitled to
deal with critical situations such as the prison riot of 27 March 2006. The
Government further claimed that members of the anti-riot squad were
trained to use firearms only in self-defence and in situations of absolute
necessity, within the meaning of Article 28 § 2 of the Criminal Code. The
Government pointed out that there had been no preconceived plan to
execute detainees, and that the anti-riot squad had received no order or
encouragement from superiors to shoot prisoners without justification. On
the contrary, there had been a clear and pre-approved plan of action, whose
implementation by the anti-riot officers had been managed by a chain of
command, so that the scope for arbitrary action would be minimal and the
officers’ conduct could be adapted to the evolution of the situation on the
ground. The Government concluded by stating that the lethal force used had
not been disproportionate to what was honestly considered to have been
absolutely necessary to quell the detainees’ riot, prevent the mass escape of
some 4,000 prisoners, and protect the lives and health of prison officers and
members of the anti-riot forces (in this connection, they made reference to
Huohvanainen v. Finland, no. 57389/00, §§ 97 and 98, 13 March 2007).
(c) The Court’s assessment
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avoid the risk. A duty to take specific measures arises only if the authorities
knew or ought to have known at the time of the existence of a real and
immediate risk to life, and if the authorities retained a certain degree of
control over the situation. Since a respondent State is only required to take
such measures which are “feasible” in the circumstances, the positive
obligation in question must be interpreted in a way which does not impose
an impossible or disproportionate burden on the authorities, bearing in mind
the difficulties involved in policing modern societies, the unpredictability of
human conduct, and the operational choices which must be made in terms of
priorities and resources (see Finogenov and Others, cited above, § 209, with
the references therein). In that context, it should also be remembered that
the use of force by State agents in pursuit of one of the aims set out in
Article 2 § 2 may be justified under that provision where it is based on an
honest and genuine belief that the use of force was necessary. In addressing
this question, the Court will have to consider whether the belief was
subjectively reasonable, having full regard to the circumstances that
pertained at the relevant time. If the belief was not subjectively reasonable,
it is likely that the Court would have difficulty accepting that it was
honestly and genuinely held (see Armani Da Silva, cited above, § 248;
Chebab v. France, no. 542/13, §§ 76 and 83, 23 May 2019; and also
McCann and Others, cited above, § 200).
(ii) Application of the above principles to the present case
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proceedings regarding the alleged abuse of power by State agents during the
anti-riot operation of 27 March 2006 are still ongoing. Nor has there been
any parliamentary probe into the matter, and in that regard the Court regrets
that the Parliament did not deem it necessary to set up a special body of
inquiry, after such a massive incident had shaken the country and attracted
significant international attention (see the briefing prepared by Amnesty
International, cited in paragraph 112 above). In such circumstances, when
the Court is prevented from having knowledge of the exact circumstances
surrounding the anti-riot operation of 27 March 2006 for the reasons
objectively attributable to the State authorities, it is for the respondent
Government to explain, in a satisfactory and convincing manner, the
sequence of events and to exhibit solid evidence that can refute the
applicants’ allegations, and if the Government fail to do so, the Court may
then draw strong inferences (see Mansuroğlu v. Turkey, no. 43443/98, § 80,
26 February 2008, with further references). Since it is ultimately for the
Court to make its own findings and reach its own conclusions on the
applicants’ allegations (see, for instance, El-Masri, cited above, § 167), it
will draw on all the material available, including the factual findings of the
relevant domestic and international human rights observers and the results
of the investigation launched against the six riot organisers. The following
principles, developed in relation to its task of establishing the facts of events
on which the parties disagree, will further guide the Court: the factual
findings reached should be based on the standard of proof “beyond
reasonable doubt”; such proof may follow from the coexistence of
sufficiently strong, clear and concordant inferences or of similar unrebutted
presumptions of fact; and the conduct of the parties when evidence is being
obtained may be taken into account. In this connection, the level of
persuasion necessary for reaching a particular conclusion and, in this
connection, the distribution of the burden of proof are intrinsically linked to
the specificity of the facts, the nature of the allegation made and the
Convention right at stake (see, for instance, Tagayeva and Others v. Russia,
nos. 26562/07 and 6 others, § 586, 13 April 2017).
149. Having regard to the relevant general principles underpinning the
use of lethal force by the State (see paragraphs 144-146 above), the Court
will firstly inquire whether the anti-riot operation of 27 March 2006 was
compatible with any of the grounds listed in Article 2 § 2 of the Convention.
If so, assuming that the use of force was justifiable, the Court will then, as a
second step, orient its scrutiny towards the question of whether the force
used in the present case was “absolutely necessary” within the meaning of
the same provision (as an example of the use of the same methodology, see
Kavaklıoğlu and Others, cited above, §§ 170-175 and 205-206, and
Finogenov and Others, cited above, §§ 226, 227 and 237).
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within the meaning of that provision. That conclusion is based on the fact
that the anti-riot operation of 27 March 2006 was not conducted in a
controlled and systematic manner, without law-enforcement agents
receiving clear orders and instructions aimed at minimising the risk of
casualties. The authorities did not consider less violent means of dealing
with the security incident, including the possibility of solving the crisis by
negotiations. The use of lethal force during the anti-riot operation was
indiscriminate and excessive and the relevant authorities failed to provide
adequate medical assistance to those affected. They also failed to account
for the individual circumstances of the deaths of Z.K. and A.B. Having
regard to all those factors, the Court concludes that the anti-riot operation of
27 March 2006 resulted in a violation of Article 2 of the Convention in its
substantive aspect.
A. Damage
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C. Default interest
168. The Court considers it appropriate that the default interest rate
should be based on the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank,
to which should be added three percentage points.
5. Holds
(a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three
months from the date on which the judgment becomes final in
accordance with Article 44 § 2 of the Convention, the following
amounts, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the
rate applicable at the date of settlement:
(i) EUR 40,000 (forty thousand euros) to the first and second
applicants jointly, and EUR 32,000 (thirty-two thousand euros) to
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the third applicant, plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect
of non-pecuniary damage;
(ii) EUR 5,400 (five thousand four hundred euros) to the first and
second applicants jointly, and EUR 3,400 (three thousand four
hundred euros) to the third applicant, plus any tax that may be
chargeable to them, in respect of costs and expenses;
(b) that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until
settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amounts at a
rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank
during the default period plus three percentage points;
58