EU special representative: Georgia's Human Rights plan is "exemplary"

Georgia’s Human Rights Action Plan has been described by a leading European Union Special Representative as "exemplary”.

The Georgian Government presented the Human Rights Action Plan and National Strategy at a press conference last night.

EU Special Representative and Human Rights Adviser Thomas Hammarberg assessed Georgia’s Human Rights Action Plan and said it was exemplary, even for many EU member countries. He said many EU member countries did not have a Human Rights Action Plan despite needing one or being capable of adopting one.

"This is not just something written on paper where there is rhetoric and people talk about what should be done. This is a very difficult job which has to be fulfilled by everybody in order to ensure all people are guarantees human rights,” Hammarberg said at the press conference.

He said it was very important for every member of society to recognize what the human rights were, in order for them to feel and be members of society. This was extremely important for people with people in minority groups and it was necessary to consider challenges facing people with disabilities and others in unfortunate positions, he said.

"Protection of human right is important to the entire community and offers integration, integrity assurance and more. [It does not matter] if community members are the minority, or if they are wealthy or poor. Their differences aside, everyone should feel like they are valued members of society and enjoy equal rights.”

Hammarberg said there needed to be daily monitoring of conditions promised by the Government, to allow society to recognise what steps were being taken.

"In the human rights complex there is an important direction of social and economic rights which guarantee that people have a proper level of life,” Hammarberg said.

He added these were "not easy days for Georgia right now” and the country still faced many challenges. Despite this, it was positive the Georgian Government was working to ensure human rights was guaranteed in the country, he said. He also believed there should be a separate Children’s Rights, where everyone should have the right to education and proper nutrition.

"This is a very good start and the country can certainly be proud of the work that has already been performed. But we should not get complacent and we must be willing to monitor how this plan is being implemented. Do not be afraid of confessing to our mistakes but we should search for ways to improve them,” he said.

Hammarberg expressed his confidence in the Action Plan and said implementing it was a big responsibility of Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili but the Government would succeeded if it had support of society.

He said Georgia had a "very strong” Public Defender’s Office, which had already created a personal data protection mechanism, which together, supported the protection of human rights in Georgia.