Discrimination charges triple, Georgian police say on International Day Against Homophobia
The International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia held today worldwide.Photo: Tbilisi pride.
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The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs says that the number of people charged with crimes of discrimination tripled in 2018 compared to 2017.
The defence of human rights and equality, including the fight against crimes committed based on discrimination and effective investigation thereof, are the priorities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia,” the ministry reports.
The ministry says that in 2018-2019, its Human Rights Protection and Investigation Quality Monitoring Department carried out various measures to combat hate crimes, in particular:
Investigators and police managers were trained to identify the motive of discrimination and effective communication with victims.
- A special guidebook and guidelines were created on the issues of identification of the motive in the crimes committed based on discrimination.
- A special training programme was provided in close cooperation with OSCE/ODIHR on the issues of investigation of the crimes committed based on discrimination.
- Currently, work is ongoing in partnership with the Council of Europe to further develop criminal law regarding the crimes committed based on discrimination.
- The process of gathering statistical information was further improved.
Ahead of the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia today, the Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland urged for justice and full protection against discrimination for all persons, irrespective of their sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics, in all the Council of Europe member states.
There must be no discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, and this prohibition must be clearly spelled out in the law and implemented in practice in all our member States,” Thorbjorn Jagland said.
ILGA-Europe, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, says in its most recent report that Georgia takes the 25th place among 49 countries regarding the protection of the LGBT population.
See the infographics by the ILGA Europe:
See the annual review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex People in Georgia covering the period of January to December 2018 here.
Ambassadors of the EU, US, UK and UN, in addition to other high-ranking foreign officials, have ‘welcomed the efforts’ undertaken by the Georgian government to help the LGBTQI+ community and other vulnerable and marginalised groups 'weather the pandemic', urging them ‘to heed their voices and address their needs without bias or discrimination’.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that a police raid on an LGBT NGO office in Tbilisi back in 2009 under the United National Movement government was motivated by homophobic or transphobic hatred and constituted a breach of human dignity.
Reforms for ensuring an effective anti-discrimination policy in Georgia were in focus of a meeting between Georgia’s deputy interior minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze and representatives of the OSCE chairperson-in-office on combatting racism, xenophobia and discrimination on Wednesday.