Yelena Tevdoradze: “Two men established the repressive system in Georgia”

Interview by Georgy Kalattozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusive to Vestnik Kavkaza

Recently a recess was found in Western Georgia. It belonged to a half-official armed group which was formed by the previous government. The recess contained arms and a video recording which showed the tortures and rape of suspects. The video is so shocking and awful that it couldn’t be broadcast on TV.

The recess in Samegrelo became a powerful argument in the hands of the new authorities against President Mikhail Saakashvili and his team. Moreover, in the context of criticism by the USA and the EU for arrests of President’s supporters, including the former minister of interior affairs Vano Merabishvili.

Vestnik Kavkaza interviewed human rights activist, former MP of Georgia Yelena Tevdoradze about the shocking video which confirmed the violation of human rights in the law-enforcement system of Georgia under Saakashvili.

-    Georgia is shocked by the new facts regarding tortures. How could it happen in this democratic country?

-    I left politics in 2007 because since 2005 I had been dissatisfied with developments in the sphere of human rights. I felt that I, as the chairwoman of the Parliamentary Committee for Human Rights, couldn’t influence the processes and adequately react at events and facts which became known. In 1995 the chairman of the parliament delegated the power of visiting all penitentiary facilities to me. I did it unexpectedly for administrations of prisons, heads of the police, and without any authorization. I didn’t notice any problems with rape, tortures, and so on, which we discuss today. There were different complaints – beatings, threats to arrest other members of families, for a person to admit he was guilty.

I couldn’t say that heads of force structures were afraid of me, including the minister of interior affairs Vano Merabishvili or the general prosecutor Zurab Adeishvili. They knew my character and my method: I would speak about violations in the parliament or briefing.

After my resignation, they made amendments in the regulations, and the chairman of the parliament lost his desire to delegate the power of following human rights in all facilities to me. Why did they need the change in the regulations? I think by the time the repressive system began to function in full. It couldn’t be stopped. The authorities didn’t need an extra eye which could see what was happening and spread the information throughout society.

I am surprised that Vano Merabishvili is thought to be the main initiator of the repressive system, because the general prosecutor Zurab Adeishvili was as responsible for this as Merabishvili. He left Georgia the day after the parliamentary elections of October 1st, as he anticipated his inevitable punishment. These two men created the repressive system. I didn’t want to believe that President was involved in the system, but now I can see that it was approved by Saakashvili.

-    Will it be enough to conduct a criminal investigation on tortures of suspects in Samegrelo to bring the guilty to justice?

-    The position of the new government is clear: people who are guilty of carrying out tortures should be strictly punished. I don’t know whether we can call those who committed the crimes people. It is difficult to say who is guiltier: those who fulfill these awful orders or those who make the orders. Probably their guilt is equal. Recently Vano Merabishvili published a statement on his Facebook page. He tried to dissociate himself from tortures. At the same time, he said that he was responsible for all developments in the police. I think this statement is relevant.

-    There is information that the last case concerned suspects who committed terrorist attacks in 2009-2010, including the explosion near the American embassy. Is it true?

-    Yes, it is about them. I know well that one of them was tortured especially cruelly; they tried to make him take the responsibility for the terrorist attack, but he denied his guilt. And after all the torture, he was set free; he wasn’t even arrested. The other man didn’t recognize his guilt either, but he was sent to prison, but not for committing a terrorist attack, but for drug abuse. They couldn’t force them to admit their involvement in the terrorist attacks.