The UN working group on arbitrary detention is starting its first visit to Georgia on June 15-24 to assess the institutional and legal framework regarding deprivation of liberty in the country.

During the ten-day mission, the panel of experts, led by El Hadji Malick Sow of Senegal, will visit various detention and prison facilities in Tbilisi, Rustavi, Kutaisi and Batumi and hold meetings with officials from the executive, judicial and local authorities, as well as with civil society representatives.

The working group, established in 1991 to investigate allegations of arbitrary deprivation of liberty, will deliver its preliminary findings of visit to Georgia at a press conference on June 24 and present the final report to the UN Human Rights Council in 2012.