US Department of State report evaluates human rights protection in Georgia
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The Georgian government took steps to investigate some allegations of human rights abuse, but shortcomings remain, the US Department of State said in its country report on Human Rights Practices for 2017 published on April 20.
According to the report, the most significant human rights issues in Georgia included: the alleged participation by government officials in the reported kidnapping and forced transfer to Azerbaijan of an Azerbaijani journalist; arbitrary detentions and deprivation of life by Russian and de facto authorities of the country’s citizens along the administrative boundary lines with the Russian-occupied Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia; interference in judicial independence and impartiality; interference with privacy and violence against LGBT persons.
"Overall, if we compare the report to the previous ones, there are less critical assessments”, one of the leaders of the ruling party, Georgian Dream, Archil Talakvadze told reporters, adding that the situation in terms of human rights has clearly improved in prisons.
The report says that prison and detention facility conditions improved overall but conditions in some old facilities were inhumane and lacked sufficient ventilation, natural light, had minimum living space and adequate health care.
As for human rights violations in occupied territories, de facto authorities in the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia restricted the rights, primarily of ethnic Georgians, to vote or otherwise participate in the political process, own property, register businesses and travel. On the other hand the report underlines that Russian "borderisation” of the administrative boundary lines separates residents from their communities and livelihoods.
According to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs David Dondua, the report expresses a "positive attitude towards the environment regarding protecting human rights in Georgia.”
"It is important that the report reveals how Russia and its occupation regimes restrict the access of international humanitarian organizations to the occupied territories which further complicates the situation in terms of human rights,” David Dondua added.
As the report says, there were no reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings while the government continued to conduct investigations into several killings allegedly committed in prior years by former government officials.
On the other hand, there was an increase in complaints regarding mistreatment by police, according to the report referring to local NGOs who recommend the creation of an independent mechanism to investigate allegations of misconduct by law enforcement officials.
The government of Georgia has enforced a record number of 3,691 verdicts in 2017 issued by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Freedom House, a US-based, government-funded non-governmental organization for democracy, political freedom and human rights says in its Nation in Transit 2018 report that Georgia will not experience any political earthquakes in 2018.
The Council of Europe reported today that Protocol No. 16 to the European Convention on Human Rights is coming into play from August 1, 2018, which establishes dialogue between the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights and the higher courts designated by the Council member states
The Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili says that Freedom House’s latest report, Nations in Transit 2018, released yesterday is "extremely biased and based on unbalanced information” about Georgia. "I believe that Freedom House should think twice before it spreads such biased assessments about Georgia’s democratic development level,” the PM stated today about the report which lowered Georgia’s democracy score from 4.61 to 4.68.
The Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which is the principal decision making body of the organization, has hosted discussions on the occupation of Georgian territories yesterday.
Georgian Parliamentary Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze has addressed the members of the 138th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Geneva, Switzerland over issues concerning migrants and refugees.
The Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office has charged five former employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for exceeding official authority under the leadership of the United National Movement in 2005-2006.
Akaki Misireli kidnapped by so called border guards near the administrative boundary line in Gori municipality is currently in Tskhinvali’s police department.
Foreign Minister Janelidze plans to use high level meetings in the US to discuss human rights violations in the Russia-controlled breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The statement by the Spokesperson for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations was released following the 11th annual Human Rights Dialogue between EU and Georgia held on April 24 in Brussels.
European Union Special Representative for Human Rights Stavros Lambrinidis has held his first official visit to Georgia.
US Department of State reads in its terrorism report that the Georgian government is generally capable of detecting, deterring, and responding to terrorist incidents.
The US Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices says that the ‘unlawful or arbitrary deprivation of life by Russian and de facto authorities in the Russian-occupied Georgian regions’ is a ‘significant human rights issue.’
The US Department of State has released its 45th report on the observance of human rights in countries around the world in 2020, including Georgia.