Ombudsman reviews current state of human rights protection in Georgia
Public Defender Nino Lomjaria held a press conference on the state of human rights. Photo: Ombudsman.
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Public Defender of Georgia Nino Lomjaria held a press conference before releasing her office’s annual report on the state of human rights in Georgia.
During her speech, Lomjaria touched broadly on civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and focused on positive and negative trends identified in the field of human rights. Lomjaria ended her press conference by summarising her office’s key recommendations to further develop human rights in the country.
Protecting women’s rights, gender equality and children’s rights remains some of the biggest challenges facing Georgia", Lomjaria said.
Right to life
The report touched on the Khorava murder case, when two 16-year-old boys were killed in downtown Tbilisi on 1 December 2017 in the result of a street fight. Lomjaria says the case has not been effectively investigated.
The Ombudsman also mentioned Machalikashvili’s case, when a 19-year-old terrorist suspect was injured and later died after a counter terrorist operation in the Pankisi region.
The fathers of the boys, Zaza Saralidze and Malkhaz Machalikashvili, are holding demonstrations demanding the government probe the investigation of the murder cases.
Lomjaria reports that the government is obliged to conduct an adequate investigation and take into consideration the ombudsman’s recommendations.
Public Defender stated people living in Georgia’s occupied regions are deprived of a range of opportunities and their fundamental human rights, such as the right to health, life, education and free movement, are continually violated.
Rights of people with disabilities
Lomjaria touched on the rights of people with disabilities as well.
This year, the government allocated funds to improve living conditions for people with disabilities, however noted that it remains a pressing issue in the country.
Lomjaria said the quality of education and employment opportunities remain a great challenge for people with disabilities.
Gender rights
Gender-based violence against women, domestic violence, early marriages, honor killings, women’s reproductive health still remain major problems in Georgia.
However, the ombudsman noted, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has made important steps towards improving the situation for women.
Received complaints show that women, LGBT individuals and persons with disabilities experience discrimination more often than others. Women often face sexual harassment.
Children’s rights
Despite recent reforms, the Ombudsman’s office says that children’s rights issues are still widespread in the country. Poverty, poor family conditions, lack of education are also unresolved issues.
Conditions in prisons and psychiatric hospitals
In comparison to previous years, the government has improved conditions in prisons and temporary detention centres, Lomjaria said, although lack of rehabilitation activities still remains as a problem.
Lomjaria also mentioned psychiatric hospitals during her speech, where several incidents of inhumane treatment had been reported.
On the other hand, Lomjaria praised the government for restoring the Surami hospital and recommended that conditions in Khoni and Bediani psychiatric hospitals also be improved.
Work safety
Safety in the workplace remains a major issue as well – in 2018, 77 people were injured and 35 died as a result of poor safety standards. Lomjaria did mention that the government is working to fix the situation.
Socio-economic problems
Housing projects for refugees are moving with satisfactory momentum, Lomjaria said, though numerous people continue to live in precarious buildings and in poverty – providing refugees with accommodations should be the government’s priority.
Problems occur in health care too. High prices for medicines cause difficulties for citizens. The socio-economic state of old people is deprived in the report as ‘deplorable’. Most of them live in poverty and adequate accommodations and social services are unaffordable – the same can be said of mandatory military servicemen.
Environmental problems
Environment pollution and green space preservation is quite a sensitive topic for the country, Lomjaria said – the Ombudsman recommends the government pay more attention to this issue.
As of 11 months of 2018, the Public Defender’s office has received 7,350 statements, 8,089 calls and 3,395 people applied to the office for help.
The Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria has nominated Tamar Mearakishvili, a Georgian activist based in the country’s occupied Akhalgori area, for the United Nations Human Rights Prize and Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize for her "outstanding contribution to defending the rights of conflict-affected population”.
The delegation of the EU to Georgia says that Georgia’s Public Defender’s Office has presented the Special Report on Combating and Preventing Discrimination and the Situation of Equality, which assesses developments since 2014.
Georgia’s Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili and several leading NGOs have already released their assessments of the Election Day.
The report stated people living in Georgia’s occupied regions are deprived of a range of opportunities and their fundamental human rights, such as the right to health, life, education and free movement, are continually violated.
The recent Human Rights World Report by the Human Rights Watch summarises human rights problems in Georgia.
Officers of the Shida Kartli Police Department have arrested a person identified only as I.S., born in 1992, for domestic violence against a minor.
Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria says that less people addressed her office for help in 2018 regarding possible abuse by law enforcers.
The Georgian Public Defender has released its 2018 Human Rights Report, covering all the issues and controversial cases related to human rights of the last year.
The Georgian Interior Ministry has presented a bill to the government of Georgia which aims to prevent domestic violence and ensure better protection and further support for victims of violence.
Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria has drawn particular attention to ecology and healthcare issues in her 336-page report, presented in parliament earlier today.
Public Defender Nino Lomjaria has released a report on the rights of Tbilisi Mental Health Centre patients, which reads that poor sanitary-hygienic conditions, old infrastructure, violence between patients and overcrowding are identified as the main problems of the centre.
In her public statement, Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria writes that the risks of child poverty, abuse and neglect have increased during the coronavirus pandemic, and that access to education for some children is a problematic issue due to the lack of access to the internet and computer in the regions and highland villages of Georgia.
Challenges in human rights protection by Georgian institutions were discussed between the Interior Ministry and the Office of the Public Defender on Friday, the Ministry announced.