Ninotsminda boarding school case in Georgia
The Georgian state has lost a court case brought by 11 former pupils of the Ninotsminda boarding school, which is under the supervision of the Patriarchate. Tbilisi City Court ordered the state to pay compensation of 30,000 lari (about $11,000) to each of them.
The court’s decision was based on a complaint filed by the organisation Partnership for Human Rights (PHR).
The complaint, in turn, relied on a ruling by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which found that children at the boarding school had in some cases been subjected to torture and inhuman treatment.
According to Partnership for Human Rights, the committee remains dissatisfied with the situation and intends to continue monitoring the case.
In a recently published report, the following concerns were raised:
- There has been no substantial progress in the criminal investigation and no one has so far been formally held criminally responsible.
- The state must conduct an investigation into the situation of children currently living in the Ninotsminda boarding school.
The organisation is particularly concerned that children who had initially sought compensation for abuse are still living in the orphanage and refuse to communicate with lawyers.
According to the committee, this may indicate that excessive pressure is being exerted on them.
The boarding school was established in 2012 in the town of Ninotsminda in southern Georgia, in the Samtskhe–Javakheti region, and is run by the Georgian Orthodox Church. At various times more than 100 children lived in the facility. The institution was partly funded from the state budget. According to publicly available information, the state allocated about 9.8 million lari (around $3m) to it between 2012 and 2021.
In 2021, reports emerged of physical and psychological abuse of children at the boarding school. It also became known that Georgia’s Public Defender had not been allowed to visit the facility to conduct monitoring. The incident caused widespread public outcry. Following the scandal, many children were transferred from the boarding school to other care institutions.
Court proceedings
The organisation Partnership for Human Rights represented 11 former residents of the boarding school in Tbilisi City Court. The first lawsuit was filed a year ago, shortly after the publication of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s findings.
According to a statement by Partnership for Human Rights, the organisation filed four lawsuits over the past year in total, seeking a timely court decision.
The organisation demanded 100,000 lari (about $35,000) in compensation for each child who had suffered abuse.
“It is practically impossible to fully repair the damage caused — no amount of money can compensate for violence and cruel treatment. However, the compensation must still be adequate and reflect the specific circumstances, including the age of the former residents, their particular vulnerability, and the forms and duration of the abuse,” the statement by Partnership for Human Rights said.
The organisation has now appealed the city court’s decision regarding the amount of compensation.
However, Georgia’s Ministry of Finance has also appealed the amount of compensation imposed, filing a case with the Court of Appeal.
“Violence, isolation, inadequate care” — what the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child report says
On 5 May 2021, a complaint was submitted to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child regarding the Ninotsminda boarding school. It alleged possible violence, abuse and isolation of children at the institution.
The case concerned 57 children who had lived at the Ninotsminda boarding school for many years.
The committee’s decision was published three years later, on 24 May 2024. It said the state had failed to ensure effective protection of children from physical and psychological violence.
The document described serious problems at the Ninotsminda boarding school, including cases of violence, isolation and inadequate care.
The report said children were systematically subjected to physical and psychological abuse at the institution. It gave the following examples:
- Children were subjected to humiliating punishments: they were forced to kneel for hours, left without food, locked in rooms and humiliated in front of other children.
- Older children were sometimes forced to beat younger ones.
- At least one child was given psychotropic drugs without the involvement of a doctor, and the child reportedly slept constantly.
- Children had no personal space.
- They were isolated from society and were not allowed to leave the boarding school.
- They received insufficient food.
- Children lived in unsatisfactory hygienic conditions.
- There were also problems with access to education.
- Amid the allegations, the boarding school refused access to oversight bodies. For example, the ombudsman was repeatedly denied entry.
Georgian authorities said monitoring had been carried out at the institution, cases of abuse had been investigated, some children had been placed under guardianship, some had returned to their families, and those who remained at the boarding school had done so voluntarily.
What is happening now
The Ninotsminda boarding school continues to operate. Following the high-profile scandals of 2021, the school’s head supervisor was replaced: Bishop Spiridon Abuladze was succeeded by Bishop Iakob Bodbeli.
Ninotsminda boarding school case in Georgia