On 13-16 April 2018 the Council of Europe Office in Georgia organized training sessions for the doctors working in the temporary detention isolators of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia. 

During the training the participants received the comprehensive information on how to apply the screening tools to assess the mental health conditions of the inmates. The purpose of the assessment is to single out those who may be at significant risk for suicide, acute psychotic breakdown, or complications from recent substance abuse from the other prisoners, merely experiencing varying degrees of distress usually associated with arrest, conviction and detention and to place them for specific treatment; additionally the participants increased their knowledge about the following issues: how to assess the risk of self-harm and it’s management; how to document the injuries inflicted upon the alleged torture and other cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment according to the recently approved instructions for the doctors.

They have also learnt about how to fill particular forms, what are the main challenges while filling up the existing forms and  interpreting the results of the medical examination, how to ascertain the degree of compliance of the injuries with the circumstances described by the inmates. The participants were also equipped with the practical skills on how take proper photographs of the injuries and received the possibility for exchanging the ideas on all the problematic issues they encounter during daily work.  

In total, 27 medical staff of the temporary detention isolators were trained during 4 days.

Adoption of special form and instructions for documenting the injuries is of significant importance as proper and timely documentation will contribute to investigating allegations of ill-treatment and fight against impunity. Documents were developed with the assistance of the Council of Europe.