15.05.2005 - Source: UK Home Office

Human Rights Treaties ("Georgia bulletin 5/2005") [#37885], [ID 4845]

"Georgia is party to the following international human rights treaties:
Committee Against Torture (CAT)
Human Rights Committee (CCPR)
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)
Georgia became a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 1994.

Georgia abolished the Death Penalty for any crime in 1997.

In September 2003 Georgia became a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). However, it entered into an impunity agreement with the USA not to surrender US nationals accused of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes to the ICC. Such agreements are in breach of states` obligations under international law."

Document(s): Open document

16.04.2005 - Source: Civil Georgia

Ratification of 3 conventions, concerning social and minority rights, are among most urgent steps Council of Europe (CoE) expects Georgia to undertake before September, 2005 ("CoE Calls Georgia to Ratify Social, Minority Rights Conventions") [#43255], [ID 4846]

Document(s): Open document

31.03.2003 - Source: US Department of State

US State Department: Human rights record remains poor in 2002 ("Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2002") [#11848], [ID 4847]

"The Government's human rights record remained poor; although there were a few improvements, serious problems remain. Numerous serious irregularities in the 1999, 2000, and June elections limited citizens' right to change their government. Numerous nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported that police brutality continued. Security forces continued to torture, beat, and otherwise abuse detainees. Corruption in law enforcement agencies was pervasive. NGOs also blamed several deaths in custody on physical abuse, torture, or inhumane and life-threatening prison conditions. Arbitrary arrest and detention remained a problem during the year. The Government took no concrete steps to address these problems, and lack of accountability remained a problem. The judiciary was subject to pressure and corruption and did not ensure due process. Reforms to create a more independent judiciary were undermined by failure to pay judges in a timely manner. There were lengthy delays in trials and prolonged pretrial detention remained a problem. Law enforcement agencies and other government bodies occasionally interfered with citizens' right to privacy. The press generally was free; however, occasionally security forces and other authorities intimidated and used violence against journalists. Journalists practiced self-censorship. Government officials infringed upon freedom of religion. The Government continued to tolerate discrimination and harassment of some religious minorities. Violence and discrimination against women were problems. Trafficking for the purpose of forced labor and prostitution was a problem. Georgia was invited by the Community of Democracies' (CD) Convening Group to attend the November 2002 second CD Ministerial Meeting in Seoul, Republic of Korea, as an observer."

Document(s): Open document

13.09.2001 - Source: Council of Europe - Parliamentary Assembly

Council of Europe: Georgia joined the Council of Europe on 27 April 1999 ("Honouring of obligations and commitments by Georgia [Doc. 9191]") [#10653], [ID 4848]

"1. Georgia joined the Council of Europe on 27 April 1999. It accepted the obligations incumbent upon all member states under Article 3 of the Statute: respect for the principles of pluralist democracy and of the rule of law and enjoyment by all persons within its jurisdiction of human rights and fundamental freedoms. It also entered into a series of specific commitments, to be honoured within concrete deadlines, which are listed in Opinion 209 (1999)."

Document(s): Open document

13.09.2001 - Source: Council of Europe - Parliamentary Assembly

Council of Europe: Some progress regarding the human rights situation has been noted ("Honouring of obligations and commitments by Georgia [Doc. 9191]") [#10653], [ID 4849]

"165. During its first year of membership of the Council of Europe, Georgia went through both parliamentary (in October 1999) and presidential (in April 2000) elections. The country has thus been continuously in a period of electoral campaign. Moreover, following the recent presidential elections, political tensions between President Shevarnadze and the parliamentary majority delayed the formation of the government. These factors, combined with a serious economic crisis, go some way to explain some delays in the elaboration or implementation of legislation to honour Georgia’s commitments.

166. Even so, the fact remains that Georgia has only honoured some of the commitments it undertook upon accession: the transfer of the responsibility for the prison system from the Ministry of the Interior to the Ministry of Justice, legislative changes concerning the ombudsman, ratification of the European Convention of Human Rights and of the Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and so on. No other law that had to be adopted within one year after accession has been adopted, the results of judicial reform and of the reform in the Procuratura are yet to be seen, the conduct of the police has not been improved and ratification of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities has been refused. Moreover, reform of the electoral law, promised after the poor conduct of the last presidential elections, has started but not yet produced any concrete results.

167. To sum-up, some progress has been noted, but many initiatives need still to be taken before Georgia’s record in honouring its commitments is satisfactory. We call on the Georgian authorities to accelerate their efforts and on the Parliamentary Assembly to ensure that the Council of Europe provides; all possible assistance to the Georgian institutions concerned."

Document(s): Open document

13.09.2001 - Source: Council of Europe - Parliamentary Assembly

Council of Europe: Ombudsman ("Honouring of obligations and commitments by Georgia [Doc. 9191]") [#10653], [ID 4850]

"127. Georgia has honoured its commitment “to amend the law on the Ombudsman within six months after its accession, so that a report on the Ombudsman’s activities shall be presented to Parliament and made public every six months”.

128. In October 1999, the former ombudsman resigned after complaints of inefficiency, since less than 2% of the complaints addressed to his Office had been successfully concluded. There was in general great disappointment with regard to the functioning of this institution which could have a very important role to play in Georgia.

129. We met the new ombudsperson, Mrs Nana Devdariani, who was actually a member of the parliamentary opposition (Revivals’ Group) and had been appointed that summer. She would present her first report to the Parliament by the end of November. Her budget limit was US$ 60 000 from which she had to pay salaries for 44 staff members, twelve of whom were lawyers. She had made several recommendations to the former Minister of Justice concerning treatment and occupation of detainees but she had received no positive reply. She hoped things would improve under the new Minister of Justice.

130. At parliamentary level, the committee on human rights and ethnic minorities has continued to play an important role of extra-judicial guarantor of human rights in Georgia.

131. The Chairperson of this Committee, Mrs Tevdoradze, told us that as a consequence of the public hearings by the Committee and her insistence, several criminal investigations against policemen (including cases where detainees died under suspicious circumstances) which had been closed shortly after they had started, were re-opened. Some of these policemen had been accused and kept in detention.

132. The largest number of human rights complaints that the committee had received recently concerned non-execution of court judgements in civil cases.

133. As regards abuses by the police, Mrs Tevdoradze told us that she was not satisfied with the level of training that was organised for policemen; it was almost exclusively organised by non-governmental organisations. The former ombudsman had initiated two training courses but no follow-up was given after his resignation.

134. Recently, the Committee has conducted hearings regarding police attitudes towards perpetrators of acts of violence against representatives of minority religious groups (see also below).

135. For our part, we told Mrs Tevdoradze that in a democratic country governed by the rule of law, human rights violations do occur, but that perpetrators of such violations are brought before the courts and are punished according to the law. Therefore, the work of the parliamentary committee she chaired, to inform the prosecution of such violations and demand that criminal investigations be properly conducted against their perpetrators, was extremely important for the human rights record of the country and we encouraged her to continue her efforts despite the difficulties she encountered."

Document(s): Open document