**Georgian Authorities Used Systemic Torture on Protesters**
The Georgian government has been accused of using systemic torture and violence against peaceful protesters. Transparency International Georgia, the Georgian European Orbit, and the Rule of Law Center made a joint statement about the situation.
According to their analysis, the Ministry of Internal Affairs had planned to crack down on protesters in advance. They used special equipment like tear gas and unknown substances to make it hard for people to breathe and see. This caused panic and threatened to create chaos.
**Protesters Were Physically Abused**
Special forces physically abused detainees, taking away their clothes, shoes, phones, bags, wallets, glasses, and other personal belongings. They forced protesters to say bad things about themselves or praise a certain politician, Zviad Kharazishvili. In some cases, the head of the Special Tasks Department, Zviad Kharazishvili, personally recorded videos of the beaten detainees.
**Conditions in Detention Vehicles**
Detainees were taken to special vehicles where they continued to be physically abused. The interior of these vehicles was arranged to make it easy for the special forces to beat them. This included having groups of officers enter and exit the vehicles in turns, hitting the detainees over and over again.
The physical abuse was often supervised by one person who gave instructions on how and when the detainees should be hit. This caused injuries to the face, head, eye sockets, ribs, and kidneys. Many protesters also lost their personal belongings during the crackdown.
**Many Detainees Were Injured**
According to the Public Defender of Georgia, out of 327 detainees visited by his office, 225 claimed to have been ill-treated, with 157 showing visible physical injuries. This suggests that systemic torture was used against many peaceful protesters in Georgia.