UN Watchdog Condemns Georgia Prison Scenes, Calls For Action

A guard tower at Tbilisi Prison No 8 in Tbilisi, where the abuses in the secretly made video were said to have taken place

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has condemned the torture and ill treatment of inmates at a prison and juvenile detention facility in Georgia.

The abuses were documented in four videos that were broadcast this week on private Georgian television.

In a statement, the UN rights watchdog called on the government in Tbilisi to ensure all allegations of human rights abuses against inmates -- "not only the ones exposed" in the videos -- are investigated "promptly, impartially and effectively."

It said concerns about ill treatment of prisoners in Georgia have been raised with the United Nations for years.

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The UNHCR also noted that international treaties signed by Tbilisi allow unannounced inspections of the country's prisons and detention centers by international monitors and independent rights monitors from Georgia.

Protests continued for a third straight day on September 21, with thousands of demonstrators demanding the prosecution of top officials implicated in the abuse scandal.

Georgian Interior Minister Bacho Akhalaia on September 20 became the latest official to step down over the images, which appeared to show the beating and rape of inmates at the hands of prison guards.