The State Inspector’s Office urges everyone to show special caution in making each decision regarding a prisoner who is on hunger strike and to assess the risks of human rights violations in each individual case.

According to the Office, personal data related to health status, due to its sensitive nature, belong to a special category of data.

"Taking into account the high public interest in his health condition of the third President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili and measures taken to ensure the protection of his rights, the State Inspector’s Office explains:

On the one hand, the penitentiary institution is obliged to respect the desire of the prisoner to refuse food, but it also has a positive obligation to protect the life and health of the prisoner through effective and timely action. Otherwise, improper measures taken by the relevant authorities and/or persons may create a risk of human rights violations.

According to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, a person in a detention facility must be provided in a timely manner with the medical care necessary for life and health, with all reasonably possible medical examinations and treatment. Medical treatment in prison should be commensurate with the level that the state provides to the general population.

This does not mean that all persons deprived of their liberty should be placed in the best medical facility outside the prison. However, if necessary, an unjustified refusal to transfer a prisoner to a civil hospital for proper treatment may pose a threat of a violation of Article 3 of the Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The fact that the detainee's health deteriorates, taken alone, is clearly not sufficient to assess the treatment in a detention facility as ineffective, although a sharp deterioration in a detainee's health may raise doubts about the adequacy of medical care provided in the facility.

In addition to the above, the State Inspector’s Office notes that it is important to protect the privacy of the person on hunger strike, his personal data, especially information about his health status.

Personal data related to health status, due to its sensitive nature, belong to a special category of data. National and international law, in order to protect such information, establishes the principle of strict confidentiality. A person should have a sense and legitimate expectation that information about his or her health is confidential. Otherwise, he/she may refrain from receiving medical care, from providing important information to medical staff, which threatens to make a correct diagnosis and provide adequate treatment.

That is why the institution/person who holds information about the person's health is obliged to protect the confidentiality of the information and to disclose the data only in cases provided by law. In addition, the relevant institution/person should take measures to ensure the protection of data from accidental or illegal disclosure or any other form of illegal use.

Even when there is a high public interest in a person's health, it is essential to strike a balance between the public interest and the protection of a person's personal data. Providing general information about a person's health to the public may be justified in the public interest, although it may not be justified to disclose details of a person's health.

According to the law, disclosure of details about a person's health condition to third parties is allowed with the consent of the person (data subject). Even in this case, information must be disclosed in a minimal amount, without violating the dignity of the data subject and for a clearly defined legal purpose.

The State Inspector’s Office urges everyone to show special caution in making each decision regarding a prisoner who is on hunger strike and to assess the risks of human rights violations in each individual case," reads the statement.

source: IPN