Amnesty International calls for “thorough investigation” into June 20 developments
Last night rally in Tbilisi ended with police dispersing protestors. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Amnesty International calls for an immediate, thorough and independent investigation into the use of force during June 20 Tbilisi protests.
Amnesty International’s Senior Campaigner for South Caucasus Levan Asatiani, who was on the scene in Tbilisi, said that ‘the police fired rubber bullets indiscriminately into the crowd.’
Screenshot from the Amnesty International website.
Asatiani states the disturbing scenes show ‘a total failure to distinguish between the few violent protestors and the peaceful majority.’
The heavy-handed police approach has resulted in scores of injuries, including at least 31 journalists… We are calling for a prompt, thorough and independent investigation into these events”, he said.
Levan Asatiani has also highlighted the importance of the police being instructed “to exercise restraint and respect the right to peaceful freedom of expression.”
The 26th Interparlimentary Assembly on Orthodoxy which was to be held for the first time in Georgia was interrupted yesterday due to Russian MP Sergei Gavrilov’s appearance in the seat of the parliamentary speaker.
The Russian MP’s action was followed by protests from the public and opposition MPs and ended with police dispersing protestors.
People started gathering on Rustaveli Avenue at 7 p.m. today, after a rally was held and dispersed at the same place in front of the parliament yesterday. Many demonstrators have negatively reacted to the speeches of opposition leaders, stating that they came to protect the state interests and not to stand by any opposition force.
Georgian police have seized 12 Molotov cocktails in Tbilisi and arrested one individual, born in 1949. The Interior Ministry reports that the detainee planned to use the explosives during the protest rally which is currently underway at Rustaveli Avenue, Tbilisi.
Russian officials on Friday called for boycott of tourism and trade relations with Georgia following what President Putin's administration called a "Russophobic provocation" in Tbilisi clashes the previous day.
The official Kremlin response decried the events as a "dangerous display", while the State Duma's Tourism Committee head called for boycott of Georgian tourist resorts and trade goods, among reactions.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze and Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani have held a meeting with foreign ambassadors this evening. The foreign diplomats have urged political parties to rule out violence.
Amnesty International says that the attempts to physically demarcate a boundary between Georgia’s occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) and the rest of Georgia by Russia and the regions’ de facto authorities have led to severe human rights violations.
Russia and the de facto authorities of the Georgian occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions continue to restrict freedom of movement with the rest of Georgia, negatively impacting the economic and other rights of locals, Amnesty International’s annual 2019 report for Eastern Europe and Central Asia says.