ECHR Finds Violation of European Convention on the Case of Special Operations in Kintsvisi

On June 27, 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) published a judgment in the case - Goguadze v. Georgia. The case concerns the so-called “Special Operation of Kintsvisi”, during which the officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs detained a 24-member group near Kintsvisi Monastery Complex. The reason for the detention was the preparation for an armed rebellion.
 
According to the decision of the European Court, violation of the essential and procedural parts of Article 3 of the European Convention (prohibition of torture and ill-treatment) was established.
 
The violation established by the Court in respect of the substantive part referred to the ill-treatment of the plaintiff (Nikoloz Goguadze). In particular, according to the applicant's statement, on May 26, 2011, after detention at Kintsvisi Monastery, he was transferred to Kareli police station where he was physically assaulted. In addition, he was physically assaulted at the Tbilisi Police Department during the six-hour interrogation.
 
According to the Court's assessment, objective evidence confirms that the applicant had a number of injuries on the face and body that had not been before the detention. The court, based on the testimony of witnesses collected by the Prosecutor's Office within the scope of the investigation, confirmed the applicant's version of the ill-treatment. The decision of the prosecutor on July 19, 2017, was also taken into account, according to which the prosecution found that there had been sufficient evidence in the case concerning the applicant's ill-treatment.
 
As regards to the violation of the procedural part, the Court emphasized the inefficiency of the investigation carried out before 2013. In particular, the applicant's interrogation was conducted only on September 2, 2011, in the first 18 months after the investigation (at the most important stage for obtaining evidence). In December 2012 the investigation was renewed and conducted a number of investigative acts, and since May 2016 the case was handed over to the Chief Prosecutor's Office of Georgia. Intensive investigative actions were carried out in June-September 2017 and April-September, 2018. In spite of the above, the European Court has found a violation of the procedural part of Article 3 of the Convention, as the investigation is not yet completed.
 
Under the decision of the European Court, the Government was obliged to pay 10,000 (ten thousand) euros in favor of the applicant.