Civil society organisations reacts to the detention of human rights defenders


We, the civil society organisations, strongly support the human rights defenders detained in the Georgian Parliament, who are courageously fighting against restrictions on freedom of expression. Overnight, the police arrested 7 peaceful protesters near the Parliament in a completely arbitrary, illegal and extremely aggressive manner. Those detained include the lawyer of the Institute for Tolerance and Diversity, Shota Tutberidze (who has now been released on signature), the Chairperson of the Georgian Democracy InitiativeEduard Marikashvili, Open Society Foundation employee Saba Brachveli, activist Nika Romanadze and others.

It is concerning that Georgian society is seeing a negative trend that damages the core principles of democracy and undermines the fundamental right to freedom of expression. Through the arbitrary practice of administrative arrests, the system is trying to subject the participants and organisers of peaceful assemblies to police control, with the aim of weakening civic self-organisation, intimidating the public and harassing activists.

We call again on

The Ministry of Interior to immediately release the detainees and stop the practice of illegal arrests;

The Special Investigation Service - to investigate the facts of illegal detention of peaceful activists and abuse of authority by law enforcement officers;

The Public Defender of Georgia, as the person supervising the protection of human rights on the territory of Georgia, should act with the mechanisms provided by its mandate and, inter alia, monitor the freedom of assembly and expression, the legal status of detainees on the ground;

the Georgian Bar Association - to respond to cases of violations of the rights of lawyers.

 

Signatory Organisations:

The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association

The Georgian Court Watch

The Democracy Defenders

The Social Justice Center

Salami

International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy

Open Society Foundations

Women Engage for a Common Future (WECF) – Georgia

Transparency International – Georgia 

The Governance Monitoring Centre (GMC)

Rights Georgia

The Georgian Democracy Initiative

Media Ombudsman

Partnership for Human Rights

Institute for Tolerance and Diversity

Georgia’s Reforms Associates (GRASS)

The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics

Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI)

Women's Initiatives Supporting Group, WISG

Georgian Centre for Psychosocial and Medical Rehabilitation of Torture Victims - GCRT

Media Development Foundation

Alliance of Regional Broadcasters of Georgia

Journalism Resource Center

Source: Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association