Tbilisi. From March 1, 2021, ”Rights Georgia” implements a new project in support of human rights defenders and activists – “Support human rights defenders and activists at risk”. The goal of the project is to provide legal assistance to human rights defenders/activists, tend to increase guarantees for their safety and protection, enhance their professional skills and raise awareness of legal issues that are relevant to their activities. Along with various activities, the project envisages the creation/audit of a network of human rights defenders and activists across the country. This should facilitate the formation of a swift and effective communication system of support and mutual assistance in the future. “Rights Georgia” requests organizations to urge activists, human rights defenders, or community leaders, affiliated with them, to fill out the registration form  Besides, provide information to all activists with whom they have communication. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center (formerly EMC) appraises the final position of the Government of Georgia in regard to the case of deprivation of life of Temirlan Machalikashvili presented to the European Court of Human Rights and points out that even at the International Court the Government continues to try to discredit the victim and his family and refers to clearly unsubstantiated and fabricated information. “Social Justice Center once again reiterates that justification of accusations against Temirlan Machalikashvili is not a subject of the dispute in the Strasbourg court and this reasoning goes beyond the scope of the application of the Machalikashvili family. That is why we consider that it was fundamentally inappropriate for the Government to present extensive arguments on this issue and form the defense strategy mostly by attempts to discredit Temirlan Machalikashvili”, - is stated in information released by the Center. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information has prepared a study – “Staff employed at municipal N(N)LEs and LLCs and labor costs”. It is stated in the document: “The imbalance existing among amounts of labor remuneration of staff employed at municipal legal entities is particularly noticeable between the Tbilisi municipality and regions. The highest-paid positions are concentrated in Tbilisi. Besides, the pay gap in similar positions is often disproportionate to the pay gap existing in general among average wages of those hired not as staff. Respectively, the practice of current wage policy at municipal N(N)LEs contributes to deepening of social inequality between regions and the capital”. Read more…  Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association presented a report to the public – “Results of a four-year monitoring of criminal trials”. The report serves to identify practical and legislative shortcomings, including positive trends, as a result of attendance of criminal trials and analysis of identified cases. There are reviewed in the report issues related to criminal proceedings carried out within the period from March 2016 through February 2020, as well as key trends from the beginning of monitoring to the present. Main findings of the report touch upon - preventive measures, implementation of proper judicial control over investigative actions and a plea agreement, shortcomings existing at various stages of a process. The report pays special attention to crimes preconditioned by family, drugs, and social backgrounds. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia presents the information regarding the expenditures of Kutaisi municipality from 2017 to December 2020, that amount to GEL 22,551,848 in total. The research compiles the information on remunerations, rewards/bonuses, additional pays as well as on the communication costs of the administrations, business trips, fuel, vehicle repair/diagnostics, and representative expenditures. Read more…  Source: The web-page of the organization

Tbilisi. Signatory organizations respond to developments that occurred yesterday in the Rioni valley and consider it inadmissible to resume construction works of Namakhvani HPP on the background of mobilization of police forces, grossly violating human rights and disregarding demands of the population. “Instead of the state assuming the role of a moderator, focused on the protection of sustainable public interests and goodness, which is based on constitutional principles of a social and legal state, the government office today is entirely on the side of private interest. During the last months, we observed maximum mobilization of police, information, and administrative resources by the Government aiming to neglect and discredit opponents of the construction of Namakhvani HPP. However, today, breaching fundamental rights and applying repressive tools aggressively, the Government refuses to resolve the existing crisis with community groups through democratic dialogue and legal means“, - is noted in the joint statement. Read more… Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. On March 31-April 1, 2021, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), Center for Training and Consultancy (CTC) and Management Systems Development Center (MSDC) held two-day online training on the Local Self-Government Index for regional organizations. “The Local Self-Government Index is a joint initiative of these organizations, which evaluates accountability and transparency of municipalities. The aim of the training was to introduce an evaluation methodology to the representatives of partner regional organizations. In the future they will evaluate the executive and representative bodies of municipalities based on this methodology. The assessment of municipalities will be launched on April 5, 2021. The training participants received both theoretical information and practical experience of the assessment of municipalities' accountability and transparency. They were provided with the details of the index methodology and discuss particular circumstances of the assessment process. The participants also got familiar with the information of quality assessment criteria and the methods to verify the information reliability”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Media Advocacy Coalition member organizations consider it inadmissible to restrict access to the Internet in Namokhvani. “We would like to remind the government that access to the Internet and the right to free usage of the Internet is protected by the Constitution of Georgia. While on the background of high public interest in the ongoing protest rally in Namokhvani, it is unacceptable to restrict the constitutionally guaranteed right unjustifiably. According to the spread information, “the Ministry of Internal Affairs has jammed also the Internet connection in Namokhvani today, due to which fact it is impossible to stream live”.  As the local population state, such a failure of Internet transmission has not been observed in Namokhvani before.  We call on the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia to: Make a statement in regard to the fact of unlawful restriction of freedom of expression;  Take immediate measures to ensure access to the Internet so as to enable people in Namokhvani to exercise the right to receive and transmit information, while journalists have adequate working conditions for their professional activities. We urge the Communications Commission to investigate the Internet disruption in Namokhvani and provide us with information regarding currently existing indicators”, - is noted in the statement of the coalition. Read more…  Source: The website of the Coalition on a social network

Tbilisi. Georgian Center for Strategy and Development (GCSD) publishes another study: “Digital advocacy of the United States of America: Public diplomacy of the pandemic period to strengthen Georgia”. Visit the link to see the full version of the study. "The study examines communication-related issues during a crisis on the example of the coronavirus pandemic. The author of the work is Mariam Khatiashvili. The study has been prepared within the framework of an Alumni Grant Program of the US Embassy in Georgia". Read more… Source: The website of the organization on a social network

Guria. Through the joint efforts of the Human Rights Secretariat of the Administration of the Government of Georgia, the UNFPA Georgia Country Office and the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia, Women’s History Month was celebrated in the municipalities of Chokhatauri, Ozurgeti and Lanchkhuti, in cooperation with the Office of the Governor of Guria, with the support of the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Georgia and the European Union. Within the framework of the events, there was a meeting held between Giorgi Sakhokia, Governor of Guria, and Lela Bakradze, Head of the UNFPA Georgia Country Office, to discuss future cooperation in the field of human rights, promotion of gender equality and youth empowerment. Read more… Source: georgia.unfpa.org

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center (former EMC) publishes a new study on “Participation right of minorities and standards of the Framework Convention of the Council of Europe”. “The study contains an analysis of standards defined by Article 15 of the Framework Convention of the Council of Europe and recommendations made by the Advisory Committee to up to 20 European countries. The study allows us to see what standards the Council of Europe sets for minority groups to exercise their right to effective participation in cultural, social, economic life and public activities”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day. According to information released by the Ombudsman, within the framework of celebration of this day in the current year, the United Nations focuses on a clearly visible inequality in the world in the conditions of the pandemic, which has a negative impact also on people with autism. “On the background of the situation entailed by the corona virus, people with autism, living in Georgia, faced a number of challenges. It became even more complicated to exercise their rights properly. The state still does not provide these people with programs tailored to their individual needs. It is problematic to access health care facilities and services, as well as non-adapted medical services. The challenge is the difficulty of communication with medical staff. There are no social or psychological support measures for people with autism and their families”. Read more… Source: The website of the organization on a social network

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia presents an evaluation of activities of the Parliament of the 9th convocation and relevant recommendations. “The parliament of the 9th convocation implemented a constitutional reform and the country completely moved to the model of parliamentary governance. The Parliament had to perform its legislative and supervisory functions during also the state of emergency and on the background of tense political developments, which fact further highlighted the shortcomings that show up in the process of activity of the Parliament during a number of years. Improvement of legislative norms has a positive impact on the parliamentary control practice. However, despite the progress, a problem still remains to be the role of the opposition in the parliamentary control process, as well as issues related to accountability and responsibility of members of both the Parliament and the Government”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC) releases a petition to prevent the third lockdown. “We, signatories of the appeal, share recommendations that have been provided by professionals, united on the healthcare platform at the Economic Policy Research Center, and sent to the government on a regular basis. At the same time, at this stage, we consider it urgent to have the government: Launch a large-scale and diverse target groups oriented, systematic and intensive information campaign highlighting the risk of COVID-19 infection and the necessity of response actions (wearing a facemask, social distancing). Provide evidence based justification of the impact of current regulations on control of spread of infection and ensure consistent enforcement of existing regulations that have an essential importance in order to prevent spread of infection. The petition is open and can be signed by anyone”. Read more... Source: The website of the organization on a social network

Tbilisi. FactCheck releases information regarding a post about the Pfizer vaccine published on a social network. “On February 26, 2021, a Facebook user published a post with an audio recording. The audio recording was accompanied by a Russian inscription - Cрочно !! Всем Услышать !!! (Urgent !! Everyone must listen !!!). There is a woman, speaking in the record, who introduces herself as Yulia Gaponyuk and says that she is a general practitioner. The doctor talks about Pfizer vaccine and human infection after vaccination in Israel. The information spread on the Internet in the form of an audio recording does not correspond to the truth and is a false story”, - is stated by FactCheck. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia has prepared a survey about which televisions were used by parties to place their political advertisements during the elections 2016-2020 years. “Political parties spend a considerable amount of money on TV political advertising during the pre-election period, which is a significant part of income of broadcasters. Within the framework of the present survey, we studied data related to TV political advertising carried out by political subjects during pre-election periods as part of 4 elections held in 2016-2020 years. In particular, we analyzed data submitted by political subjects to the Audit Office and the Central Election Commission. The practice of advertising by parties also shows the polarization that the Georgian political and media space is distinguished with”, - is stated in the introductory part of the survey. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

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Tbilisi. The European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) continue inviting Georgian companies of the packaging value chain to apply for co-funding that will assist them in increasing sales, boosting employment, improving production quality, and creating new products and services.  The grant initiative is part of a broader EU-funded program “The Innovative Action for Private Sector Competitiveness in Georgia” implemented by the UN agencies in cooperation with private companies and business associations. Drawing on an overall budget of up to USD 6 million, the initiative aims to assist Georgian entrepreneurs, improve the legal environment and access to finance, and strengthen ties with the EU.  Read more…   Source: The web-page of the organization

Tbilisi. According to media reports, law enforcement agencies of occupied Abkhazia have launched an investigation against Alyona Tania, who says in a video posted on the social network that “Abkhazia is Georgia”. Law enforcers of the occupation regime forced Alyona to apologize to the public for her action. “Rights Georgia” considers that beginning the investigation by the occupation regime against Alyona Tania contradicts definitions and standards of the European Court of Human Rights. Read more... Source: rights.ge

Tbilisi. MDF Georgia published a new study “Infodemic in Georgia – 2020”. The study, which involves monitoring of traditional and social media in 2020, aims at identifying key messages and false information concerning the pandemic as well as mapping sources, including anti-vaxxer groups and channels of dissemination of information. Read more…  Source: The web-page of the organization

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center (former EMC) has published a research document: Employment policy for ethnic minorities. The research has published within the framework of a project - “Strengthening ethnic minority integration and rights protection via research, education, advocacy, and confidence-building activities”.  “Current reality brings double damage to the employment of ethnic minorities because poor access to education, public services, including economic support programs, weak language competencies and radical omission of minority languages in the language policy - a discriminatory environment make it difficult for them to engage and participate in social and economic life. The purpose of this document is to review relevant experiences of ethnic minority employment policies, which may become an interesting resource for the state in the process of considering special needs of ethnic minorities in the employment policy and pursuing additional supportive policies”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. On March 17, 19 and 26, 2021, the Public Defender’s Office, in cooperation with the Council of Europe Office in Georgia, held meetings with representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Prosecutor’s Office and Lawyers’ Association on issues relating to the administration of justice on sexual violence against women. “Recommendations and key findings of the Administration of Justice on Sexual Violence against Women in Georgia, a report drawn up by the Public Defender’s Office (with the assistance of the Council of Europe) were introduced to the prosecutors, investigators and lawyers. Participants talked about their practices and challenges relating to the investigation of cases of sexual abuse, criminal prosecution and consideration of such cases in the court”. Read more… Source: www.ombudsman.ge