Tbilisi. Georgian Democratic Initiative has released a statement concerning the "detention of three citizens by the police on the night of June 28. TV story aired by TV company "Tabula" and the statements of eye-witnesses makes it clear that during and after the detention the police officers have probably exceeded their powers and violated the law. The Georgian Democratic Initiative urges the Chief Prosecutor's Office of Georgia to launch investigation into this fact without further delay", says the organization's web page. For the full text. Source: gdi.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia released a blog post - "Detailed regulations needed for public sector bonuses”. "Encouraging civil servants with bonuses in exceptional cases is a normal practice, butcurrent legislation of Georgia fails to ensure that bonuses are given in exceptional cases indeed. Instead, bonuses in the public institutions of Georgia are in fact used to increase monthly salaries of civil servants. Further, current systemrenders the link between the volume/quality of performed work and the received bonus totally unclear". For the full text Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The School of Liberalism has hosted on June 28 Tamar Kordzaia's public lecture "Hate speech as a factor deterring development". The School offers a video recording of the lecture for those who were unable to attend.Video recording of the lecture. Source: web page of the LibCenter. 

Tbilisi. Georgian Young Lawyers‘ Association released Evaluation of the June 15, 2014 Local Self-Government Repeat Election Day. The voting, vote counting and vote summarizing processes were conducted in a peaceful environment and there were no grave violations. The violations mostly had technical nature and GYLA has submitted 2 (1) complaints and 8 logbook remarks on those violations. In all eight cases the remarks of GYLA observers were taken into consideration, so the complaints were not filled. For the full text Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. A discussion was organized over children's rights as part of the joint project of the Frontline Club and the Liberal magazine. Head of UNICEF's Social Welfare Program Keti Melikadze and representative of the Ministry of Education and Science Nino Kvitashvili have participated in the discussion moderated by the psychologist of the Center for Psychosocial and Medical Rehabilitation of Torture Victims Maia Tsiramua. The project is being implemented with support from UNICEF. The discussion. Source: liberali.ge

Tbilisi. The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) monitored the June 29, 2014 repeated local self-government elections in all 9 districts. The ISFED’s observation mission consisted of 14 accredited and trained observers who have been deployed to 14 precincts, whereas 9 observers have been deployed to district commissions. There were also 4 mobile teams throughout the electoral districts. For the full text Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. Member organizations of the Tbilisi Human Rights House have released a statement on Georgia's Association Agreement with the EU. CSOs welcome the signature of the Association Agreement and Georgia's aspiration towards democratic development."The Tbilisi Human Rights House believes the signature of the Association Agreement will strengthen Georgia's democratic values and facilitate the formation of state governance focused on protection of rights of a human as a fundamental value. We hope the signature of the Association Agreement will reinforce rule of law and the respect of human rights in Georgia...", says the statement. For the full text. Source: web page of Article 42 of the Constitution in the social network.

Tbilisi. Institute for Development of Freedom of Information released a statement about the EU-Georgia Association Agreement. "No doubt, signing of the Association Agreement is a historical moment for Georgia. Hence it is important for every citizen to be informed about the main topics included in the treaty". For the full text Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Constitutionalists' Association has welcomed the signature of the Association Agreement by Georgia and released the statement."The organization expresses hope that the accession to this Agreement will be for the Georgian state another essential step forward for approximation with Europe", says the statement released on June 27. For the full text. Source: gyca.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia welcomes signing of Association Agreement. "The Association Agreement is a most important step on Georgia’s road of European integration and marks the beginning of a new phase in the relations between the European Union and Georgia. ...At the same time, the Association Agreement imposes great responsibility on the Georgian authorities, civil society, business sector, media and other groups, since only a collective effort of the entire society will make it possible to implement the agreement’s commitments and move closer to European standards". For the full text Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The "Tourism Geoinformation Center" has completed working on the mobile application for tourist routes. The application called "TravelGIS" is available on Google Play and all interested persons can download it in their mobiles. The application is an information-search trilingual (Georgian, English, Russian) system of the tours, in which one can choose a tour by a tourist company, type, tour duration, transport and other criteria and parameters, as well as to get familiar beforehand with the cultural heritage and natural monuments available on the selected route. The "Tourism Geoinformation Center" will continue adding its and other tourist companies' tours to the mobile application. Source: travelgis.ge

On 26th of June 2014, Public Defender of Georgia presented to the Council of Europe the Report of the Public Defender of Georgia on the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms in Georgia for the year 2013.  At the meeting with representatives of the Council of Europe and members of Parliamentary Assembly, particular attention was paid to the Anti-discrimination Law, penitential system and situation of people affected by conflict. The representatives of the Council of Europe expressed their will to hold further meetings in order to be systematically updated on the situation of human rights and freedoms in Georgia. Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. "Young Barristers" will organize meetings in the Marneuli and Akhaltsikhe Municipalities for youth representing ethnic minorities living in Georgia, as part of the project "Together for the European Choice".The organization will hold meetings in Akhaltsikhe on July 1, and in Marneuli on July 3. CSO will organize a public lecture on the Georgia-EU relations and will demonstrate the institutional sustainability and advantage of Georgia's European choice through a broad dialogue with the region's civil groups. The local meetings will start at 15:00 in the Civic Engagement Centers. For the full text. Source: cspinfo.ge

Samegrelo. CSO "Atinati" has organized a study tour to the Constitutional Court of Georgia on June 25. Youth Center "Ortus", established as part of the project "Advancing National Integration in Georgia", as well as clubs founded as part of the project "Youth Participation and Development", have participated in the event.During the tour youngsters have visited the Constitutional Court and met with the Chairman Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. The Civil Society Institute has presented the book "Civil Society" on June 26. The publication includes the articles, op-eds and essays on the civil society by the Georgian and global thinkers. Along with presentation of the almanac, discussion over "Civil Society in Georgia" was organized. CSO representatives, students and other interested persons have attended the event.The Civil Society Institute has presented guests with the book. Online version of the book "Civil Society".

Tbilisi. The Public Defender released a statement about International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Public Defender of Georgia "stressed the importance to set up independent mechanism which ensures investigation of the facts of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment committed by law enforcement officers. It is also important for states to ensure the protection and rehabilitation of victims of torture and to take effective measures for effective prevention of torture". For the full text Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. June 26 is the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. GYLA expresses its solidarity to the victims of torture and calls on the State to implement effective measures with a view to restore rights of victims, prevent torture and bring offenders to justice. For the full text Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Georgian edition of manual "No to Barriers, No to Borders" was presented in the Children and Youth National Center. State agencies and CSO representatives focusing on inclusive groups and practical works related to them have attended the event.The manual is a practical guide for CSO representatives, trainers, youth workers and other interested persons who would like to plan and implement inclusive projects - with joint participation of youth with and without disabilities.English version of the manual was developed at the initiative of the European Commission's resource-center "Salto-Inclusion". The Children and Youth National Center has translated the book in Georgian in 2014 and published it as part of the project "Social Inclusion for Active Youth Participation". Source: the Children and Youth National Center.

Tbilisi. Observers of the Election Environment Development Center have filed complaints in the District Election Commissions. The complaints concern the responsibility of authorized persons of Precinct Election Commissions during the 15 June 2014 election of representative and executive authorities of local self-government, because the summary protocols of polling results of the Precinct Election Commissions were filled in by breach of law.The District Election Commissions have examined issues formulated in the complaints and factual circumstances. The Center's observers have in some cases attended the examination of complaints and expressed the organization's position on submitted complaints.The Center's observers have challenged the summary protocols of polling results (55 in total). Source: the Election Environment Development Center.

Adjara. On June 24 CSO "Step Forward" has presented the study of needs to set up a special initial class for teaching gestural language in Adjara.The study was carried out as part of the project – "Promoting Realization of a Child's Right to Education", implemented within the framework of the East-West Management Institute (EWMI) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. Representatives of the Committee for Diaspora and Caucasus Affairs of the Youth Parliament of 2014 calling have met with the State Minister for Diaspora Affairs on June 25. The meeting was also attended by the First Deputy Minister and the Parliamentary Secretary Zaal Sarajishvili and the Head of the Executive Council of the Youth Parliament Marekh Gvaramadze.Meeting participants have discussed draft laws that the Committee of the Youth Parliament works on, and have offered to the Minister's administration cooperation in various respects. It was agreed to execute the memorandum between the Committee and the Minister's administration. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Adjara. The Zugdidi-based Youth Club "Ortus" has visited Batumi on June 25. As part of the joint event, youngsters have attended the final stage of the campaign - "Advocacy for Road Safety" and participated in the peer educators' training delivered by a member of the "Batumi Youth Center".The Batumi and Zugdidi Youth Centers are the representatives of the Youth Civic Activism Network.The visit was carried out as part of the project "Advancing National Integration in Georgia".Source: the organization's page in the social network.