The US Department of State published the 2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. The reports are based on data provided by US embassies and international missions and review the human rights situation in 200 countries, including Georgia.

IDFI has been referred to in the Country Report on Georgia every year since 2012. The case of IDFI director Giorgi Kldiashvili’s detention has been mentioned in two latest reports as well. The 2015 report mentions IDFI in six different contexts:

1. Access to Freedom of Information - the country report refers to IDFI’s December 2015 report, according to which, from January until November 2015 IDFI sent 8,297 freedom of information requests to 307 public institutions, of which 86% were satisfied, and 8 public institutions refused to respond.

2. People with Disabilities - the country report uses IDFI’s finding that Georgia’s 100,000 public servants include only 24 persons with disabilities as an indicator of discrimination on the bases of disability.

3. Secret Surveillance - the country report refers to IDFI’s May 2015 report on surveillance statistics. IDFI continues to publish annual update reports on the regulation of secret surveillance in Georgia. The latest report was published in April 2016.

4. Internet Freedom – the country report refers to IDFI’s finding that there have not been any cases of government pressure on online news agencies in 2015. It is also stated that the internet in Georgia is ranked “free” by Freedom House, which bases its ranking of internet freedom in Georgia on the analysis provided by an IDFI analyst since 2014. IDFI has been publishing its own reports on internet freedom in Georgia since 2013. The latest report was published at the end of 2015.

5. Detention on Georgian Citizens by Russian Occupation Forces – the country report refers to IDFI’s analysis of public information provided by the State Security Service in 2015, according to which, in 2009-2015 the occupation forces have arrested a total of 2,481 Georgian citizens for “illegally” crossing the border. 1,641 citizens were arrested on occupation border with Abkhazia and 840 on the border with Tskhinvali region.

6. Illegal Detention of Giorgi Kldiashvili – the county report mentions the January 15, 2015 decision of Tbilisi City Court to terminate Kldiashvili’s detention due to lack of evidence of criminal activities. The report also mentions the June 23, 2015 decision of Tbilisi City Court obligating the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Chief Prosecutor's Office to pay GEL 2,000 to Giorgi Kldiasvili as compensation for moral damages and GEL 1,180 as compensation for material damages.

The Country Reports on human rights and freedom prepared by U.S. Department of State are often used in the decision making process in the US and by other governments, NGOs, human rights workers, lawyers, journalists, researchers, etc. Therefore, the inclusion of IDFI’s reports and research activities in these annual reports indicates a high level of trust towards IDFI on both local and international levels.

IDFI in US Country Reports of previous years:

2012: IDFI Data in the Report of the U.S. Department of State

2013: IDFI was mentioned in the annual Country Report on Human Rights Practices by U.S. Department of State for the second time

2014: IDFI in the Report of U.S. Department of State