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Rule of Law and Human Rights During the COVID-19 Crisis

This document provides an overview of the international standards related to the rule of law and human rights protection in time of emergency as well as analyses key challenges regarding the following fundamental rights: the right to a fair trial, freedom of expression/access to information and the right to privacy.

The Anti-Vaccination Movement and Russian Propaganda

In the times when the world is fighting against the Coronavirus pandemic and looks forward to creating vaccine, the increase of public trust toward the vaccination has a paramount importance. Throughout the centuries, the vaccination has helped the mankind produce immunity against such diseases as measles, rubella, mumps, tuberculosis, tetanus, etc. However, since the day of the invention of vaccine, there have been some people who have been opposing the fighting against diseases through this method due the different reasons. 

OGP Campaign - Building Trust through Openness

Coronavirus pandemic and socio-economic as well as political crisis associated with it has become one of the defining and biggest challenges of our time. In order to prevent the spread of the virus, most states continue to live in a lockdown. Although strict quarantine regulations and restraints to normal economic, civil or political activities in frames of the state of emergency reduce infection rates, “this virus will be with us for a long time” World Health Organization (WHO) .

Prevention and control of COVID-19 in Georgian prisons and places of detention

International organizations such as WHO/Europe, UNODC, CPT and the Commissioner for Human Rights assert that reducing the prison population is one of the key necessary measures for preventing widespread of COVID-19 in prisons and other places of detention. This recommendation is especially noteworthy for Georgia in the light of the monitoring reports of the National Preventive Mechanism.

Perceptions of the Prosecutor’s Office

On January 19, 2020, Studio monitor and Radio Liberty released an investigative journalism film called “The Winner’s Justice.” It focused on accusations that prosecutors had not investigated the seizure of a luxury watch shop, the Albatros, from businessman David Begiashvili in 2011.  

The Overview of the Censorship of the Georgian Press and Print Media

The fight against censorship and for the freedom of speech counts centuries. One of the most ancient cases of censorship is related to the philosopher, Socrates who was sentenced to death in 333 BC for spreading the ideas among the youth that opposed his contemporary moral and political code. 

The Parliament of Georgia has Postponed Adoption of Amendments Necessary for Ensuring Access to Court Decisions

Based on the appeals of “Institute for Development of Freedom of Information” and “Media Development Foundation” the Constitutional Court of Georgia, by its decision of June 7, 2019, ruled that the provisions of the Law of Georgia on Personal Data Protection, specifically Article 5 and paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 6 were unconstitutional as they prohibited access to the full text of court decisions delivered within the scope of public hearings by Common Courts of Georgia. The Court held that the disputed norms would be void from May 2020 and thus gave the Parliament of Georgia time to harmonize existing legislation with the requirements of the Constitution.

The Statistics of Social Assistance for the Victims of Political Repressions

On 24 April 2020, IDFI published the article “The Mechanisms for Restoring the Rights of the Victims of Political Repression in Georgia and Their Assessment”. It is emphasized in the article that the amount of subsidy for the social support and daily living needs of the victims of political repression is not enough for satisfying the minimal daily needs.

Russian Propaganda and COVID-19 – Should Georgia Expand Trade Relations with Russia?

IDFI’s Recommendations for the 2021-2022 Open Government Georgia Action Plan

Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), as the member of the Open Governance Inter-Agency Coordination Council, and together with the other representatives of the civil society, presented the draft version of commitments to the Secretariat of the Open Governance Inter-Agency Coordination Council. These commitments were distributed to the relevant state agencies.