Transparency International Georgia: Media outlets should protect privacy of prison torture victims - საერთაშორისო გამჭვირვალობა - საქართველო
GEO

Transparency International Georgia: Media outlets should protect privacy of prison torture victims

21 September, 2012

Several victims of beatings and sexual abuse by prison guards have been identified based on the released video footage, according to media reports. There have also been reports about an attempted suicide by the father of one of the victims.

We are asking media outlets to disseminate these shocking videos in a responsible manner and to take necessary measures to ensure that the identities of the victims of abuse in prison Nr. 8 cannot be traced. This is necessary in order to prevent further humiliation and pain for the victims and their families.

In line with the Code of Conduct for Broadcasters, TV stations should ensure full protection of the privacy of victims, especially in cases of sex related crimes and when the victims are minors. In initial broadcasts of some of the videos, TV stations did not blur the faces of all victims.

On September 18, video footage from several TV stations was posted online, depicting guards of prison Nr. 8 sexually abusing, torturing and harassing inmates.

Media outlets did not conceal the identity of the perpetrators of what appears to be systematic torture in the penitentiary system. Several prison guards depicted in the videos have been arrested. 

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