On March 12, 2024, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders published a report on Georgia. In addition, she spoke about the challenges in terms of the situation of human rights defenders in Georgia at the fifty-fifth session of the UN Human Rights Council. 

The report of the Special Rapporteur, along with the challenges, identifies specific subsequent recommendations addressed to the Government of Georgia, the Parliament, the State Security Service, the Public Defender, the Prosecutor's Office, the Personal Data Protection Service, the Special Investigation Service, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (report, p. 16-18).  It should be mentioned here that the final recommendations reflected in the report are based, among other things, on the level of implementation of the recommendations given by the Special Rapporteur at the end of her visit to Georgia (report, p. 16).

The report on Georgia focuses on a number of issues, including the challenges that fall within the scope of  IDFI’s work.  

1. The impact of the attempt to adopt the "Russian law" on the activities of human rights defenders - The Special Rapporteur notes that although the law was not adopted, it still had a negative impact on the activities of human rights defenders (report, para. 19). Although government officials have told the Special Rapporteur that this law “would not be revived”, this is not a sufficient guarantee to eliminate the negative consequences caused by this legislative initiative (report, para. 20).

2. Imposing the responsibility on the participants of peaceful assembly based on the Code of Administrative Offenses - The Special Rapporteur notes that she was informed by human rights defenders, regarding the “misuse of articles 166 and 173 of the Code of Administrative Offences” during the peaceful gatherings, “coupled with … the systematic issuing of fines by administrative courts, often based solely on police statements” (report, Para. 23). “The Special Rapporteur welcomed the acknowledgment by the State of the need to bring the Code of Administrative Offences in line with international standards” (report, Para. 23). Although the challenges associated with the Code are “well-known”, including that they have been “repeatedly laid out by the Office of the Public Defender,” UN Special Rapporteur raises the question on why the code has not been brought into line with international standards yet (report, Para. 23). Upon discussing the issues related to freedom of assembly, the Special Rapporteur also draws attention to the changes that were planned to be adopted in an accelerated manner in the Law of Georgia  On Assemblies and Manifestations (report, Paras. 21-22).

3. The practice of secret surveillance - in the report prepared regarding Georgia, the Special Rapporteur draws attention to the ongoing investigation and secretly filmed footage of training organized by the non-governmental organization CANVAS that was released by the State Security Service (report, Paras. 24-32). The Special Rapporteur considers that “there is nothing in the video that in any way substantiates the allegations made against the organizers and participants” (report, Para. 25). Considering the events surrounding this issue and their sequence, the Special Rapporteur sees a direct link with the events of March 2023 (report, Para. 25). 

As for the practice of secret surveillance, the Special Rapporteur notes that there are “significant doubts as to the proportionality of state surveillance” (report, Para. 32). While discussing this issue, the report draws attention to the abolition of the State Inspector’s Service in December 2021 and the amendments introduced to the Criminal Procedure Code in 2022, based on which, among other things, the range of crimes on which covert investigative measures can be conducted was expanded (report, Paras. 33-34).

4. Hindering the professional work of journalists - The Special Rapporteur notes that “impunity for attacks against journalists and other media workers covering human rights issues … is also a significant and persistent problem in Georgia” (report, Para. 51). The Special Rapporteur considers that the State is not taking sufficient measures to ensure the work of journalists free from fear of retaliation. (report, Para. 51).  

While discussing other circumstances of hindering the professional work of journalists, the report focuses on challenges in terms of access to public information. Referring to reports prepared by the IDFI, the Special Rapporteur notes that the responses of public authorities to requests “have been in serious decline since 2022, reaching their lowest levels since 2010 in that same year” (report, Para. 52). At the same time, the report notes that “out of 1,255 requests sent to Government ministries and agencies under their control by the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information in the first 5 months of 2023, only 7% were answered, with many requests being completely ignored” (report, Para. 52). The existence of this challenge was reaffirmed by journalists and other stakeholders in meetings with the Special Rapporteur (report, Para. 52). The Special Rapporteur indicates that “the issue is most present within Government, with particular issues reported within the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure” (report, Para. 52).  

5. Strategy and Action Plan - Although the Special Rapporteur considers the adoption of the National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights a positive step, she expressed “great concern” about the fact that the strategy does not mention human rights defenders (report, Para. 13).  In addition, the Special Rapporteur considers the exclusion by the state from the text of the strategy any reference to the rights of LGBTQI persons, discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, or LGBTQI rights defenders to be a “serious concern” (report, Para. 15). During her visit in Georgia the Special Rapporteur saw a draft of the Action Plan. According to the Special Rapporteur, this document “included only a single reference to human rights defenders, on the collection of statistics on crimes against human rights defenders and journalists by the Ministry of Interior” (report, Para. 16). While the Special Rapporteur considers this “to be an important measure” she notes that “much more attention to the situation of human rights defenders is needed” (report, Para. 16).

6. Human rights defenders at high risk - Taking into account the discussions throughout the meetings, during her visit to Georgia, the Special Rapporteur considers that “there is a substantial feeling of insecurity among human rights defenders in the country” (report, Para. 37). It is stated in the report, that developments that took place in March 2023 have “undoubtedly contributed to this”, however, “the fear felt by many human rights defenders predates these events” (report, Para. 37).  

According to the report, the insecurity is particularly increased among defenders who face intersecting risks, notably based on gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity or religion, disability, and living in a rural area (report, Para. 38). 

At the same time, the Special Rapporteur points out that impunity for the organizers of the violence of July 5, 2021, played a decisive role in continuing attacks against LGBTQI persons and “contributed to the climate of insecurity” (report, Para. 43-44).

7. The challenges of foreign human rights defenders in Georgia - Although human rights defenders from Russia and Belarus can enter Georgia without a visa, the report discusses the challenges faced by some human rights defenders when seeking to re-enter Georgia after traveling to third countries in relation to their human rights work (report, Para. 73). The Special Rapporteur points out that “in some cases, re-entry for foreign HRDs has been refused on the vague, catch-all grounds provided in Article 11 of the Law of Georgian on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons, with no specific reasons given” (report, Para. 73).  At the same time, it is stated in the report that some human rights defenders were allowed to re-enter Georgia after being “interrogated about their human rights work, participation in events abroad and future plans” (report, Para. 73).

Conclusion 

A non-exhaustive list of the Special Rapporteur's recommendations, that address the challenges discussed in this document given its thematic scope, is presented below. The recommendations of the Special Rapporteur are:

- To cease stigmatization of human rights defenders and the delegitimization of their work through public statements;

- To cease stigmatization and discrediting of journalists;

- To ensure  the compliance of the Code of Administrative Offences with international standards;

- To amend national legislation concerning surveillance with the involvement of relevant stakeholders, including human rights defenders to increase oversight over secret surveillance and to ensure the compliance of the legislation with regional or international standards; 

- To include the issues of human rights defenders as one of the priorities in the National Action Plan on Human Rights;

- To conduct a review of all ongoing surveillance of human rights defenders and journalists to assess compliance of any such surveillance with regional and international law and standards;

- Opening of an investigation on the legality of the surveillance of human rights defenders participating in the training organized in September 2023;

- Intensifying efforts concerning investigations into the organizers of the violent demonstrations in July 2021 and July 2023 including in relation to all persons who publicly called for violence;

- To ensure the  fulfillment of the right of access to information, public participation, and access to justice in relation to environmental issues;

- To ensure Belarusian and Russian human rights defenders are able to re-enter Georgia in line with existing  visa-free regimes;

- To amend the Law of Georgia on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons to remove the overly broad clause from the grounds for denial of entry to the state (“in other cases provided for by the legislation of Georgia"). Provide “clear and transparent reasons for the denial” in cases where there are legitimate reasons for denying entry to Georgia.

During the presentation of the report on Georgia at the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur called on the state agencies to take into account the defined recommendations, and at the same time, she noted that the process of their implementation will be followed by her.

IDFI calls upon the state authorities, who are the recipients of the recommendations developed by the Special Rapporteur, to take effective and prompt steps to improve the situation of human rights defenders in Georgia. Recognition of the importance and legitimacy of the work of human rights defenders is a crucial prerequisite in the process of ensuring the protection of human rights and freedoms.