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Tbilisi. According to information released by the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), the European Court of Human Rights has reaffirmed in its important decision of January 21, 2021 once again that restriction of access to information of public interest while carrying out journalistic activities breaches freedom of expression. “The case was about providing a Ukrainian journalist with information regarding purchase of state property by Viktor Yanukovych, former President of Ukraine. A subject matter of the dispute was also a refusal of the Constitutional Court to provide the applicant with a copy of a constitutional claim of Members of Parliament, which challenged the Law on Language Policy adopted in Ukraine in 2012. The court should judge whether the refusal of public institutions to provide information to the applicant constituted an unlawful interference with freedom of expression or not. The court decided unanimously that it was breach of freedom of expression. A fair balance between two conflicting interests in the case - protection of personal data and access to public information was ruled out in favor of the latter”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) responds to parliamentary review of the bill initiated in regard to determining narcotic drug quantities. The organization calls on representatives of the ruling political team to stop rhetoric that misleads society while stating as if inaction of the state over the years in regard to introduction of a humane drug policy is the fault of civil society organizations, activists and experts. “Proposed version of the bill improves current legislative order, however, its content does not completely reflect principles of a humane drug policy that meets human rights and the reason for this is again a punishment oriented Georgian drug policy and its repressiveness”. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. IDFI published a policy Document – “The Concealed Beneficiaries behind Fictional Characters”. „Beneficial ownership has become one of the most hotly debated topics globally. Governments, as well as international and civil society actors, are trying hard to implement new regulations tackling problems associated with beneficial ownership“, - Is mentioned in the document, - “Though Georgia became a member of the Open Governance Partnership and pushed for more transparency, the government largely ignored the recommendations of non-governmental organizations and, particularly, of the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), for creating a registry of beneficial ownership. It should be noted that the Government of Georgia took the obligation to consider creating such a registry in 2016, during the Anti-corruption Summit in London, but never fulfilled it. Additionally, on the Anti-corruption Summit, Georgia undertook the following commitments: ensure that law enforcement agencies have access to information about the beneficial owners of offshore companies; sign bilateral agreements with partner countries for the purpose of exchanging this information; take necessary steps in order to ensure the transparency of ownership of companies taking part in public procurement; form public-private information sharing partnerships aimed at detecting, preventing and disrupting money laundering. Though overall, it can be argued that Georgia has implemented positive measures towards the fulfillment of the obligations undertaken at the Anti-corruption Summit in London, it failed to execute any significant actions in achieving the transparency of the beneficial ownership. Therefore, the problems in the sphere of beneficial ownership still remain”. Read more…  Source: The web-page of the organization

Tbilisi. International Holocaust Remembrance Day is marked on January 27. The purpose of marking this day is to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust, to think about the threat of anti-Semitism, and to reaffirm the importance of tolerance. On January 27, 2021, the Public Defender of Georgia, the Tolerance Center of the Public Defender, the Council of Europe Office in Georgia, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) organized an online meeting to discuss the historical path of the Holocaust and its consequences, to recall the interesting and important facts about the coexistence of the Jewish people and to talk about the possibility of condemning each expression of anti-Semitism. Read more…  Source: The web-page of the organization

The Eastern Partnership Civil Society Facility invites all civil society organizations based in to join the Webinar & Workshop on Human-centred Design on January 25 and 26.  The Workshop will be held in English only. To join Register here  Read more... Source: The page in the social network

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) responds to the religious controversy, occurred in the village of Buknari, and calls on the state to de-escalate the conflict and to take effective steps aiming at ensuring unwavering protection of human rights.   “The analysis of these conflicts shows that the state did not provide a proper legal response to any of the cases, which fact, in general, resulted in encouraging impunity and turning it into a rule. Furthermore, in some cases, police representatives themselves were directly involved in large-scale violent actions organized against local Muslim communities”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. Myth Detector publishes a blog post: How do different vaccines work and is any of them dangerous? The article is about disinformation, according to which the Pfizer vaccine is a technical virus and contains danger, while Russian (meaning Sputnik V) and Oxford (meaning AstraZeneca) vaccines are considered exemplary. As false information states, the Pfizer vaccine can alter DNA, egg, and sperm cells, which change reflects also on the fetus. “Published posts about the threat of the Pfizer vaccine and termination of the vaccination process in Greece contain disinformation: 1. All COVID-19 vaccines that are in use have passed all necessary stages of testing; 2. The European Commission and the European Medicines Agency have recommended using Moderna and Pfizer vaccines throughout Europe. 3. The principles of the impact of the Pfizer/Moderna vaccine, on the one hand, and the AstraZeneca/Sputnik V vaccine, on the other hand, are different, however, none of them contain an artificial virus. 4. Vaccines cannot cause changes in human DNA, sperm, and egg cells. 5. The vaccination process has not been terminated in Greece”, - is stated in the blog post. Read more… Source: mythdetector.ge

Tbilisi. TDI responds to statements of the Patriarchate of Georgia and Kutaisi-Gaenati Eparchy about the anti-Semitic sermon of the Orthodox clergy. „The statement reads, that Archpriest Ilia Karkadze's sermon of January 4, "represents completely groundless accusations against the Jewish people or its individual representatives. It is not based on the teachings of the Church and is inspired with the anti-Semitic pathos". As the Metropolitan notes, Archpriest Karkadze received a warning and he is sorry for what he has said“, - is mentioned in the document, - “We welcome the critical assessment of the anti-Semitic statements of Archpriest Ilia Karkadze by the Church and consider it as the first step forward. However, this response is insufficient to address the problem of anti-Semitism and intolerance within the Church. It was the December 20 sermon of Metropolitan Ioane Gamrekeli that created a ground for a new wave of anti-Semitism, which was followed by the statements of Archpriest Ilia Karkadze. Therefore, it is important from the side of Metropolitan to assess the problematic nature of his own sermon and to apologize for the anti-Semitic rhetoric”. Read more…  Source: The web-page of the organization

Tbilisi. GCSD is presenting the first thematic guidebook in the Georgian language on dealing with violent extremism - “Countering Violent Extremism – An Introductory Guide to Concepts, Programming, and Best Practices”. The guidebook covers the multifaceted and advanced approaches in the field of combating violent extremism and radicalization. Accordingly, it is intended for public officials as well as representatives of civil society, media and academia. The publication was developed in collaboration with the Hedayah Center, Search for Common Ground, and the European Union, translated by GCSD and adapted to the Georgian reality. The guidebook can be found here... Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. Today the whole world is focused on containing the second wave of COVID-19 outbreak. In these challenging times accurate information is crucial but pro-Kremlin disinformation is trying to undermine the trust in vaccines. The list of disinformation about vaccines is very long. See below some of the recent disinformation narratives compiled by EU vs Disinformation and check out an infographic with the full list here... Source: eu4georgia.ge

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) critically appraises an action of the Government to demand lists of clergy and parishioners from non-dominant religious organizations. As EMC considers, with this decision, the state actually forces people to reveal their religious affiliation. “Besides, the state will obtain access to the number of clergy and parishioners, as well as to their places of living. In the circumstances when the trust of religious organizations and communities in the State Agency for Religious Issues is very low and it is considered as an agency connected with security services, it is problematic that the Government attempts to use again control techniques and methods to communicate with religious organizations and interfere in their autonomy”. Read more… Source:emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia welcomes the adoption of Technical Regulations for National Accessibility Standards by the Government of Georgia on December 4, 2020. “It is important that the document is based on universal design principles and defines technical criteria of accessibility of buildings, land and other elements. In addition, the needs of persons with various disabilities are taken into account. The Public Defender continues to monitor issues related to accessibility, as well as the oversight of the introduction and practical implementation of the national accessibility standard”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. IDFI participated in the webinar organized by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The event provided a platform to generate open discussions and build capacity among relevant stakeholders on the potential of open data in enhancing good governance in public procurement. During the event IDFI discussed the system of public procurement in Georgia and the remaining challenges in regards to the availability of procurement-related information in open-data format. Read more… Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) publishes a collection: Extractive crossings: Politics, ecology and social justice. “Authors of research articles worked using history, anthropology, social geography or political ecology methods, where the specifics of a local context and its connection with global processes were the main focus of the research. Taking into account the fact that the research direction of extractivism is itself based on interdisciplinary methodology and is not brought down to field or scientific specialization, knowledge, gathered also under this umbrella, is qualitatively rich and multifaceted”. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia publishes the blogpost: Is Georgia a Captured State. “Georgian civil society organizations have talked about the problem of informal governance in Georgia for years. In 2018, this assessment was made even graver when international organizations also began to raise concern about democratic backsliding and signs of state capture. Evidence accumulated by the end of the second term of the Georgian Dream’s governance is sufficient to argue that corruption in Georgia has assumed the form of state capture. As it stands today, a single person keeps a firm grip on Georgia’s executive government that has been made free of democratic checks and balances through weak Parliamentary oversight and an unofficial pact of no interference and mutual support with an influential group of judges in complete control of the judiciary. Without holding any official position of public accountability, Bidzina Ivanishvili has successfully managed to place key Georgian public institutions, including ones supposed to be independent by law, in the service of his private business interests and security”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies publishes a blog post of Ani Zirakashvili, an intern of the organization: Energy policy of Russia in the Tskhinvali region. “As a result of the policy implemented in recent years, the Tskhinvali region, unlike Abkhazia, has become completely dependent on Russia in the field of energy. At this stage, due to the financial and technical support of Russia, gas and electricity are supplied to the Tskhinvali region only from Russia. The purpose of Moscow is to ensure energy stability of the Tskhinvali region on the basis of implemented and planned projects”. Read more… Source:www.gfsis.org

Tbilisi. To mark the International Volunteer Day, Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC) will organize the Volunteer Week on December 7-14 within the EU funded project “Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative”. During the week, animations about volunteering, posts about successful volunteer campaign initiators and infographics highlighting the major achievement within CSSIGE project will be published. Also, 5 cinema sessions will be arranged and online discussions with involvement of famous public figures will be held from December 10 to December 14. Read more… Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. The First International Congress on Deaf blindness in Georgia It is a great honor for us to invite you to the First International Congress on Deaf blindness in Georgia: "I can See and Hear through Touch" December 4, 5, 6 of 2020.  Registration is already opened… “Congress's goal is to raise the awareness of decision-makers and the public about deaf blindness and draw their attention to the importance of creating and implementing an adequate management standard for dual sensory loss. For three days, within the framework of planned lectures, discussions, and seminars led by Georgian and foreign experts in this field, the problems faced by deafblind people in Georgia and other countries will be discussed. It will also be an opportunity to exchange international experiences and best practices”. Read more…  Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. Consul is an electronic platform for decision-making, civic dialogue and joint initiatives, created for 5 cities of Georgia: Tbilisi... Gori... Telavi... Kutaisi... Batumi...  Get registered at the website for your city, set up your own initiatives and introduce them to general public to gain support in their implementation process.  Read more… Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) and the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) release a joint statement in regard to development of policy documents on public administration. In line with expiry of the Public Administration Reform Guide and the 2019-2020 Action Plan, the administration of the Government has started working on a new strategy and action plan. The process has been initiated with engagement of representatives of civil society. The organizations appreciate the fact that engagement of civil society in the process of development of an action plan in ensured and, at the same time, emphasize necessity of addressing shortcomings related to previous strategic documents. Read more… Source: gyla.ge