NGOs: It is clear that illegal practices are taking place against those detained at protests, including women - complete stripping, forcing them to squat - this contradicts Georgian legislation and international standards

As it turns out, illegal practices are being used against people detained at protests, including women - complete stripping, as well as forcing them to squat, which contradicts both Georgian legislation and international standards, - reads a joint statement issued by non-governmental organizations.

As stated in the joint statement by representatives of Transparency International - Georgia and the European Orbit of Georgia, the stories of the female victims, the scale and intensity of the practice indicate that degrading and humiliating treatment of women is used as a weapon of political repression, persecution, intimidation and suppression.

“One of the leaders of the Coalition for Change, Elene Khoshtaria, who was administratively detained by police during a protest in front of the Georgian Parliament on March 28, issued a statement from the detention center that she was subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment during her detention. According to her, female police officers handcuffed her hands behind her back, and then several police officers forcibly stripped her completely naked, which, she said, was extremely degrading and humiliating.

According to Elene Khoshtaria’s April 1 statement, journalists from state-run media outlets Rustavi 2 and Imedi insisted on her answering the question of whether she agreed to the publication of footage of the violence committed against her, which constitutes an attempt to inflict secondary trauma on the female victim. Such psychological pressure is the intimidation of the female victim that footage of her degrading treatment may be published publicly against her will for propaganda purposes, which has happened more than once.

It is worth noting that according to the internal regulations of the temporary detention centers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, complete undressing of a person during a personal examination is not allowed. Only examination or undressing of individual parts of the body is permitted during the examination. This process can only be carried out behind a curtain and not within the field of view of a video surveillance camera.

According to international standards regulating the treatment of detainees, such as the standards of the UN and the Council of Europe Committee against Torture - CPT, complete undressing of detainees, especially women, for the purpose of examination constitutes degrading and humiliating treatment. It should not be routinely applied to detainees under any circumstances; only in exceptional, legally and factually justified cases may a detainee be required to undress, in which case the dignity of the detainee must be protected.

It should be noted that several women have also spoken publicly about the practice of the police forcing them to completely undress and squat after their arrest (Kristine Botkoveli, Nutsa Makharadze). According to them, this process was extremely humiliating, degrading and intimidating.

We would like to remind you that after their arrest (both at the rally and during transportation and at the police station), several women detained during the pro-European protest rallies in November-December spoke publicly about the threats of rape, sexual harassment and physical abuse by the police. Not a single police officer has been held accountable for the above facts.

As it turns out, there is an illegal practice of forcing people detained at protests, including women, to completely undress and squat, which contradicts both Georgian legislation and international standards. The stories of female victims, the scale and intensity of the practice indicate that degrading and humiliating treatment against women is used as a weapon of political repression, persecution, intimidation and suppression.

We would also like to clarify that male detainees transferred to temporary detention centers or penitentiary institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs also speak of similar practices. However, such practices are much more traumatic and degrading towards women. It is noteworthy that, despite the statements of the Ombudsman and human rights organizations, the government has denied the existence of the practice of full body searches for years, noting that full undressing was voluntary and alternative means were used during the search,” the joint statement reads.