Tbilisi. Member organizations of ''No to Phobia!'' make a statement regarding attempt of the State Agency for Religious Affairs to obtain personal information of clergymen from religious confessions. ''We consider that collecting this information, for the purpose of processing it, is illegal and violates requirements of the law of Georgia ''On Personal Data Protection'' – is noted in the statement. Reade more... Source:gdi.ge

Tbilisi. On Thursday, April 27, a consultation day will be held in the office of the ''Open Society Georgia Foundation''. Program Managers of the Foundation will answer your questions. Read more… Source:www.osgf.ge

Tbilisi. The Law Program of German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation (GIZ) in Georgia publishes a Civil Code general part book (Case Book). The book... Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. IDFI continues to offer the examination of the documents from the US Department of State, CIA and WikiLeaks about Georgia. The fully or partially unclassified documents from CIA and Department of State present interesting insights into Georgian political process of late Soviet/early independence period. ''This time IDFI published second report prepared after Poloff’s visit, which is available at the WIKILEAKS Public Library of US Diplomacy. The document describes political situation in Georgia at the beginning of 1991'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: idfi.ge

The web portal www.csogeorgia.org releases a weekly newsletter of grants competition, contests, vacancies, fellowships and tenders for civil society organizations and for any interested person. E-Bulletin 203...

Tbilisi. April 9, 2016, marks 27 years after the tragedy of 1989, when Soviet forces raided a peaceful demonstration in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi.  ''To mark this day, we decided to publish related intelligence documents recently unclassified by the United States. These documents include analytical reports on the events of April 1989 in Georgia prepared by relevant US state agencies (Directorate of Intelligence, State Department, US Embassy in Moscow). Not only do the documents cover the events of April 9, 1989, but they also analyze the underlying political tension. This is one of the first occasions when classified documents on Georgia’s recent history kept in US state archives have been made public'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: idfi.ge

The web portal www.csogeorgia.org releases a weekly newsletter of grants competition, contests, vacancies, fellowships and tenders for civil society organizations and for any interested person. E-Bulletin 202...

Tbilisi. On April 5, 2017, the representatives of Government of Georgia, Parliament of Georgia, Tbilisi City Hall, civil society and international organizations met with the OGP Support Unit Deputy Director Joe Powel and Director for Civil Society Engagement Paul Maassen. ''The meeting was to discuss Georgia’s vision, plans and expectations as the country assumes the chairmanship of the OGP Steering Committee in October 2017'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Society and Banks conducted a training on ''Advices for the customers'' for students. ''Representatives of the organization talked to the audience about terms and conditions of bank products and services. The main topic of the training was credit products, at the training, attention was also focused on encouragement of saving culture'' – is stated on the website of the organization. Read more... Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. ''Transparency International – Georgia'' publishes a video clip, in which the organization, together with Lasha Bugadze, a writer, attempts to explain what obstacles Tbilisi inhabitants face every day when passing pedestrian crossings. Read more… Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) publishes a video: "Orientalism and representation of Muslim women”. "What is orientalism and how is an orient produced? How does representation of Muslim women look and what context does create an image of Muslim women? What consequences do policies, led under the name of protecting rights of Muslim women, entail? Do Muslim women need to be saved or not? The video is an attempt to answer the question about how we may think of those ways, which will facilitate creation of a fair and equitable universe and what our role in this process is” – is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC), on behalf of T. Beridze, a Muslim pupil of the Mokhe public school, has contested a report of the internal audit department at the Minister of Education and Science as a supervisory administrative authority. ''EMC considers that an action, confirmed with evidences of applicants, was at least restriction of religious freedom of an applicant without a legal basis. Moreover, other actual facts, submitted to the Ministry by EMC, meet preconditions for determining discriminatory harassment'' – is stated on the website of the organization. In full… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. IDFI continues to publish declassified documents kept in US archives. ''This time, we are publishing a letter of the Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia to US Secretary of State James Baker dated December 12, 1991. This letter is a response to the criticism expressed by the US towards President Gamsakhurdia. It is probably also a response to the US diplomatic protest note delivered to the permanent representative of Georgia in Moscow on November 23, 1991regarding the political situation in Georgia (arrest of opposition leaders and armed conflict in South Ossetia)'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Russian Propaganda is still a prominent topic in Georgia as well as on the international scene. The eminence is all the more striking as Russian interference in US elections, which most probably had an influence on election results, was confirmed. European countries now fully understand the threats of Russian information operations and are trying to take appropriate measures against them. ''Of course, it is relatively difficult to measure the effects of Russian propaganda in Georgia. However, the fact that Russia has a mixed strategy of soft/hard power tactics, makes Georgian society vulnerable to disinformation efforts. We should never underestimate Russian propaganda, as the way it can affect the masses is unpredictable. As Georgia’s capacity to restrain Russia’s hard power is weak, we believe it is necessary to proactively counter Russia’s soft power activities. European countries are already starting, and Georgia should also concentrate its capabilities (security sector, political figures, ministries, the media, CSOs and academic circles), in order to be ready for potential propaganda narratives'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. The European Parliament has officially published the regulation that envisages shifting Georgia into the list of those countries, citizens of which do not need a visa to cross borders of the European Union. In full... Source: infocenter.gov.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender is echoing the statement of the Minister of Justice released by one of the media outlets on 1 March, 2017, according to which, Ucha Nanuashvili served as a witness for Ivane Merabishvili in the Strasbourg Court. We’d like to note that this statement clearly distorts the real picture and aims to mislead the public. ''It is likely that Ms. Minister wants to ascribe the blame to others for her mistake. If the Prosecutor’s Office had taken into account the Public Defender’s recommendation as early as in 2013-2014, our country might have not lost a case in the European Court and neither would it be needed to appeal against the decision in the Grand Chamber'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: www.ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International – Georgia presents a video recording: "What barriers citizens face when moving in the streets of Tbilisi”. This time the video captures the Khiliani street. In full… Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics expresses the sorrow in regard to decease of the daughter of Maia Asatiani, a journalist of the TV Company "Rustavi 2. "It is categorically unacceptable to speculate with the tragedy and to raise the rating of a publication through this. The Charter addresses the media sources to respect relatives of the deceased and to refrain from manipulating private life of a person” – is noted in the statement of the organization. In full… Source: qartia.org.ge

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) conducts a survey. Topic of the current week is: Activities of the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia. "Get involved in our activity, go to the link and point out your opinion about those issues, on which you would be interested to get public information from the Prosecutor’s Office” – is stated on the website of the organization in a social network. In full… Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. The U.S. Embassy condemns the decision to conduct an illegitimate "referendum” in Georgia’s South Ossetia region, planned for April 9. „Such provocative actions erode trust and confidence and undermine the Geneva International Discussions. The United States will not recognize the results of an illegitimate referendum that is conducted in Georgian territory without the explicit consent of the Government of Georgia. Both the South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions are integral parts of Georgia, and we reiterate our strong support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. The United States supports the Geneva International Discussions as the forum to address the situation in Georgia's Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions. We urge all participants to avoid actions, including the proposed referendum, which undermine these discussions", is noted in the statement. In full… Source: Social network