UNDP welcomes law enforcement work ensuring Tbilisi Pride Week safety in hope event will mark “step forward”
The importance of a “proper follow-up” on last year's events, when right-wing activists assaulted and injured over 50 journalists who had gathered to cover the eventually cancelled Tbilisi Pride march in Tbilisi, was also highlighted in the statement. Photo:
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The United Nations Development Programme issued a joint statement signed by diplomatic representations on Wednesday that welcomed the successful completion of the Tbilisi Pride Week and expressed hope the event would mark a “step forward” in ensuring LGBTQI+ community’s rights.
The statement expressed solidarity to the community and support for its right to exercise Constitutional rights, including freedom of assembly, while also thanking the Interior Ministry for ensuring safety for participants during Pride Week events.
It also urged the Government to take “further steps” to reinforce national commitments in the human rights area, including the adoption of a “robust National Human Rights Strategy and Action Plan”.
The importance of a “proper follow-up” on last year's events, when right-wing activists assaulted and injured over 50 journalists who had gathered to cover the eventually cancelled Tbilisi Pride march in Tbilisi, was also highlighted in the statement.
The release also noted the “growing number” of Georgian citizens who welcomed diversity and acknowledged the importance of LGBTQI+ rights protection.
Issued by the UNDP, the statement was signed by the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia, and embassies of the Czech Republic, France, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Police arrested 17 participants of a right-wing rally against the ongoing Tbilisi Pride Week in the city on Saturday for non-compliance with law enforcement officers, with the development following arrests made earlier during the day.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry on Saturday issued a call for groups opposing the ongoing Tbilisi Pride Week events to abide by the law, and pledged to ensure public order, safety and freedom of expression and assembly of “each individual”.
Police arrested 26 participants of a right-wing rally against the ongoing Tbilisi Pride Week in Tbilisi on Saturday for “disorderly conduct”.
Georgian Interior Ministry has launched an investigation into threats issued by the right-wing organisation Alt-Info ahead of the planned Tbilisi Pride Week, organised by the LGBTQ+ community and set to start in the capital on Tuesday, Interpressnews reported on Monday.
The Patriarchate of the Georgian Orthodox Church and several other religious denominations in the country on Friday claimed Tbilisi Pride, the LGBTQ rights group that organises the annual festival of the same title, was engaged in “changing the cultural code” rather than protecting the rights of sexual minorities, and called for legal changes to address the “propaganda” and “prevent threats” to “civil peace”.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry on Friday pledged to ensure safety for the ongoing Tbilisi Pride Week, ahead of the concluding event of the queer community festival in the Georgian capital on Saturday.
Police arrested several participants of a right-wing rally against the ongoing Tbilisi Pride Week in the city on Saturday, the local media announced.