European Court finds police raid on LGBT NGO office in Tbilisi in 2009 motivated by hatred
The incident took place in Tbilisi in 2009, at the office of IF NGO. Photo: Tbilisi Pride-Instagram.
Tweet 
Share
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.
In the case Aghdgomelashvili and Japaridze v Georgia, two applicants said they were ill‑treated by the police (on the grounds of their actual and/or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity) and there was no effective, domestic investigation into the case.
The first applicant is a co-founder of a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Georgia – the Inclusive Foundation (IF).
The incident took place on December 15, 2009, when approximately eight to ten women gathered in the IF office in Tbilisi to make preparations for an upcoming art exhibition.
The @ECHR_CEDH finally gave a name to this shameful episode in modern #Georgia history. #Police actions during raid on #LGBTQI #rights #NGO in 2009 had #discriminatory, #homophobic intent & breached human #dignity. Police also failed to investigate the ill-treatment effectively. https://t.co/3hiXkA8uGo
— Kety Abashidze (@Abashidze_Kety) October 8, 2020
The same evening about 17 men and women, all dressed in civilian clothing, rushed into the office, presenting themselves as police officers.
The police officers announced that they were there to conduct a search of the IF office. However, they did not show a search warrant or any other judicial order, despite the repeated requests which were voiced by the women present in the office.
At the beginning of the search the police did not know about the specific nature of the NGO. When they learnt about it the police officers started referring to the women in the meeting room as “not Georgians”, “sick people” and “perverts who should receive medical treatment”.
The applicants claimed 2,000 euros (EUR) each in respect of non‑pecuniary damage.
The government submitted that the claim was excessive.
- In its judgement the court rejected the government’s request to strike the application out of the list and declared the application admissible.
- The court ruled the applicants were ill-treated and their rights were violated.
- The state will have to pay EUR 2,000 to each of the applicants.
The Georgian March civil movement, known for its anti-LGBT rallies, has created a political party called Georgian March - National Movement earlier today.
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’.
Tbilisi Pride, which was scheduled to take place earlier today, has been cancelled “due to increased threats”, as clerics, nationalist groups and their supporters have gathered at different locations in Tbilisi to prevent the march from taking place.
The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs says that the number of people charged with crimes of discrimination tripled in 2018 compared to 2017.
Civic platforms No to Phobia, Coalition for Equality and other civic organisations have responded to statements by Irakli Kobakhidze, the chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party and David Sergeenko, member of the same party, which concern the pride parade planned by Tbilisi Pride and partner organisations to take place on July 5.
The United Nations and the European Union representation in Georgia, along with 28 foreign embassies in the country, on Wednesday welcomed the increased public support for the protection of minority rights in Georgia but expressed concerns of “stalled progress” in ensuring their protection.