The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association [GYLA] issued a statement on December 2 saying that according to lawyers from the Legal Aid Network, which unites several human rights watchdogs, most of those arrested on December 2 were severely beaten and subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment. The protests have been ongoing since November 28, following Georgian Dream’s decision to halt accession negotiations with the EU, and against a backdrop of unprecedented police violence.
The statement notes that some of the detainees are currently being held in a medical facility, adding that “they have bruises all over their bodies and facial injuries in the form of broken noses and jaws. All the detainees in the clinic have concussions, multiple bruises and haematomas, and have difficulty moving and speaking.”
The watchdog says that according to the detainees, the police used violence both during and after their arrest. The detainees describe in detail their treatment by the police: “They were mercilessly beaten by at least six members of the Special Branch in a detention minibus. During the beating, the police officers took turns and agreed in advance to break the arms or legs of the detainees. Their superiors instructed them to hit them in the liver and head. While being beaten, the detainees were spat on, cursed and shouted at. The detainees recall the following phrases being thrown at them by police “I’ll stick a baton up your ass”, “Did you like Gvaramia and Khazaradze? [You European, you’re a s***hole, I’ll stick a baton in your back”.
“After a long and continuous beating, the minibus was covered in blood”, the detainees recall. During the beating, one of the people was covered in blood. The torture was supervised by a relatively elderly man who made sure that no one died during the beating. Those who got out of the minibus were led one by one through the so-called riot police corridor before being taken to the patrol car.
According to the detainees’ testimonies, the riot police on some occasions removed the detainees’ shoes and many were taken barefoot to the medical facility. The riot police also confiscated the detainees’ mobile phones and asked them to unlock them.
The GYLA says: “We condemn this inhuman and degrading treatment and demand an immediate investigation into each and every crime.”