Human rights defenders demand to suspend an orphan boarding school in Ninotsminda

Several criminal cases are under investigation in connection with violence against inmates of an orphan boarding school in the town of Ninotsminda, the Ombudsperson of Georgia reports. The brutal punishments of children at the orphan boarding school had been reported earlier, but the authorities did not react, human rights defenders note.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that in April, Public Defender (Ombudsperson) of Georgia Nino Lomdjariya claimed that her office personnel were not allowed to monitor the St. Nino Djavakheti orphans boarding school in the town of Ninotsminda, operating under the Patriarchate of the Georgian Orthodox Church. An official from the orphan boarding school explained the above refusal by the instructions issued by Archbishop of Skhalta, Reverend Spiridon, the rector of the orphan boarding school in Ninotsminda.

Although the Georgian Ombudsperson’s reports for 2015 and 2018 revealed serious incidents of violence against the children, the Georgian authorities did not open access to the orphan boarding school. Three cases of alleged violence and a rape case are currently under investigation.

The harsh punishments of the children at the orphan boarding school had been mentioned in the Ombudsperson’s reports in 2015, but the court found no evidence for them, said Anna Arganashvili, the executive director of NGO “the Partnership for Human Rights”. “The report states that prohibiting children from receiving food as a form of punishment can lead to developmental delays. The children were also forced to crawl on their knees along the corridor,” Anna Arganashvili said on the air of the “Rustavi-2” TV Channel.