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Tbilisi. The Georgian Democracy Initiative responds to materials about personal life broadcasted on the air of various channels. “Information about facts of alleged unlawful covert surveillance and eavesdropping, performed by the State Security Service against clergy, journalists, teachers and representatives of diplomatic corps, and broadcasted on the air of various TV Companies, has further strengthened existing public suspicions about the presence of a heavy practice of unlawful interference in the sphere of personal life in the country. Publicized information indicates that no group, circle of people, the individual is protected from the control and surveillance of the State Security Service in the country”, - is noted in the statement released by the organization. Read more…  Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center responds to alleged facts exposing unlawful work of the State Security Service and considers that the publicized material demonstrates the hardest practice of unlawful, regular, and total wiretapping and surveillance of people. “In our opinion, this fact is a rough encroachment on the inviolability of private life and undermines opportunities of the country for its democratic development”, - is noted in the statement released by the organization, - “Social Justice Center calls on the Parliament of Georgia to establish a commission, which will investigate alleged facts of mass illegal wiretapping and gross violations of human rights committed by the State Security Service; initiate discussions regarding the fundamental reform of the State Security Service, deconcentration of its excess authority and increase of accountability mechanisms; while on the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia to launch a timely, effective and independent investigation into current facts as soon as possible and inform society about the progress and results of the investigation”. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia presents updated data on election irregularities and responses. The information covers the period from 1 to 14 September. Read more…  Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. On September 13, 2021, Nino Lomjaria, Public Defender of Georgia, and Lyudmila Denisova, UkrainianParliament Commissioner for Human Rights, visited the village of Khurvaleti during the occupation line. The Public Defender informed her Ukrainian counterpart about the rights situation of the population living in the occupied territories. They talked about general problems, including restrictions on movement, medical and other services. "It seems that the occupation force is acting according to one and the same scenario and plan, but the situation in Georgia is aggravated by the lack of communication at the human and departmental levels, which is obviously the result of Russian pressure. Read more…  Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) presented today its first interim report on social media monitoring from the perspective of the 2021 self-government elections.  The report contains an analysis of the main trends that take place in the social media space in Georgia in the run-up to the 2021 local self-government elections. It describes the activity of official pages of political parties and local self-government bodies participating in the elections, as well as results of observations on anonymous and open pages operating for political purposes and other important trends. The report covers the period from August 2 through August 22, 2021. Within the reporting period monitors of ISFED thoroughly examined 1,126 posts. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. The European Court of Human Rights accepted one more lawsuit submitted by the Human Rights Center, which is related to June 20-21, 2019 developments. The case named Berikashvili vs Georgia has already been registered by the court. A citizen affected at the demonstration raided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs demands acknowledgment of violation of Articles 3, 10, 11, and 13 of the European Convention. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia studied the asset declarations of up to 45 officials in Tsageri and Lentekhi municipalities’ City Halls and City Councils and found that 15 had incomplete declarations. ‘It should be noted that according to Article 18 of the Law on Conflict of Interest and Corruption in Public Institutions if an official does not indicate an enterprise that has not had a turnover in the last 6 years, the Civil Service Bureau will not find a violation. Transparency International Georgia lacks the ability to check whether the companies mentioned in the research had a turnover or not. Accordingly, the study provides information on undeclared enterprises, and turnover verification is the prerogative of the Civil Service Bureau’, - we read in the information published by TI. Read more…  Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. TDI believes that regulations enacted by the Georgian government against Indian students are again discriminatory and contain signs of corruption as well. ‘Indian students studying at Georgian universities have not been able to return to Georgia from India for months. The restrictions for the prevention of the spread of coronavirus that is imposed on Indian students coming to Georgia are still disproportionate, unreasonable, and discriminatory, - is mentioned in the statement of the organization.  Read more…   Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. Fair Labor Platform responds to an initiative of the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs of Georgia to use the assistance of the Labor Inspection Service and inspect the status of labor and wage rights of healthcare workers employed in the hospital sector. “Despite the delayed response from the agencies, we welcome this initiative and hope that it will be followed by effective steps resulting in improvement of working conditions of medical personnel”, - the platform states, - “The COVID-19 pandemic significantly worsened already tough working conditions of healthcare workers (especially nurses and attendants). In the circumstances of the pandemic, they appeared to be unprotected. According to data of “Georgian Trade Unions Confederation”, 23 nurses died of COVID-infection while on duty, and the named number reflects only the data available on their database. Both the state and private hospital sectors, which for years were focused on shifting the health care service from public good to business profit logic, confronted the coronavirus pandemic completely unprepared. This was especially evident in the personnel and labor policy”. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Within the framework of the “First time at the self-government elections” campaign, an online meeting with young people living in Batumi, Shuakhevi, Khelvachauri, Ozurgeti, Chokhatauri, and Gori municipalities was held on September 9 and 10. The purpose of the meeting was to clarify the essence of self-governance, competencies, forms of citizen participation, and electoral procedures for young people, especially those for whom the 2021 self-government elections are the first elections. The “First time at the self-government elections” campaign consists of various stages and serves personal development of young people, enhancement of their role, and encouragement to participate in local self-government activities. The campaign is implemented by the Civil Society Institute (CSI) within the framework of the project - “Building a Robust Alliance of Local Development Actors in Georgia” (Phase II), with the support of a German organization - “Bread for the World” and in partnership with youth centers operating in target municipalities as well as with Innovation and Civil Development Center - “Progress House”. Read more…  Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. Georgian Democracy Initiative considers that the Tbilisi City Court found an activist Giga Makarashvili as an offender without any evidence and fined him GEL 2000. “Common courts continue to persecute, prosecute and strictly punish peaceful civil activists. In particular, on September 10, 2021, Lela Tsagareishvili, a judge of the Tbilisi City Court, found Giga Makarashvili as an administrative offender for disobeying police demand and imposed GEL 2000 fine to be paid by him”, - is noted in the statement, - “Giga Makarashvili did not resist policemen either before or after his detention and this fact was confirmed also through the video material presented by representatives of MIA themselves at the trial. It becomes obvious from videos taken by cameramen of various TV stations that Giga Makarashvili stands peacefully while police officers detain him without any warning or call”. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center considers that results of the selection of a private law firm at the Ministry of Justice to re-evaluate the Namakhvani agreement eventually confirmed the unreliability of this government-initiated process. “Risks, which, according to our assessment, accompanied unlawful and non-transparent selection of a law firm through simplified procurement have turned to be true”, - is noted in the statement released by the organization, - “More specifically, the local consultant of “CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP”, the selected international law firm, is going to be MKD, a law firm closely associated with the name of Tamar Tkeshelashvili, current First Deputy Minister of Justice, which fact does not serve the basis for trust in an impartial and independent evaluation. The evaluation itself will be carried out in accordance with standards of FIDIC (“International Federation of Consulting Engineers”), which means evaluation based on legal relationship regulating standards that are completely different from the Namakhvani agreement and does not meet the initial need or purpose of the evaluation”. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. GYLA presented №15 criminal trial monitoring report. This is the first annual report that assesses the impact of restrictions introduced due to the Covid-19 pandemic on pending court trials in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi, Rustavi City Courts, and Zugdidi and Telavi District Courts.  The report discusses the trends identified as a result of monitoring court hearings held without courtroom attendees and analyzes the pros and cons of remote litigation. The compliance of the decisions of parties and court rulings with the law is assessed as well as the challenges the court, parties, and penitentiary institutions were exposed to due to the Covid-19 pandemic are analyzed. The pandemic-induced changes in the criminal court proceedings and their consequences are also evaluated.  The report analyzes the impact of the decisions made at different stages of the pandemic on the litigation process and provides the necessary recommendations for improving the current situation. The report presents the results of the criminal court monitoring conducted from March 2020 through March 2021, as well as the key trends identified at different stages of the monitoring.  Read more…   Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. The US Embassy in Georgia published the highlight how the United States works with Georgia to develop its tourism industry... This summer, USAID brought a group of travel influencers to Georgia to promote the country as a tourist destination, reaching 4 million potential travelers around the world.  Have you already seen the beautiful ceramic tile mosaic in Gori? It was created by artist Irina Shotadze after USAID helped her purchase a ceramic oven. The new oven enabled her to create 1,001 tiles for public display, which has already become a popular destination in Gori.  USAID also supported new infrastructure at 15 rural museums in Shida Kartli, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, and Tusheti in line with the U.S. government's emphasis on creating jobs in Georgia's regions while maintaining the country's unique cultural heritage.  With USAID support, roughly 300 "Digital Missionaries" have listed tourism businesses and landmarks on Google platforms, promoting growth of the rural tourism industry. So far, they have "digitized" more than 3,000 locations across the country.  Last but not least, USAID supported the establishment of the Tourism Industry Alliance comprising 15 business associations in the tourism and hospitality industry. Read more…   Source: The page in the social network

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia updates reports of election disruption and response. The new information refers to the facts observed from August 1 to September 8. Read more…  Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia presents a short analysis of the 6-month implementation of the 20201 state budget. The recommendations issued by the organization are as follows: Although the amendments to the 2021 state budget have reduced the budget deficit from 7.7% to 6.9% of GDP, the deficit remains very high and the government must make savings on unnecessary spending by the end of the year. Reducing the deficit will have a positive effect on macroeconomic stability, decrease price levels, and negative pressure on the GEL exchange rate; In the budget performance reports, the Ministry of Finance should provide information on how many non-staff contractor workers are employed in each institution and how much is spent on their remuneration. When government debt is significantly increased and there is a pandemic in the country, doubling the expenses on temporary workers raises questions about inefficient spending and nepotism, as hiring such employees is less regulated by law. Read more…  Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia studied the performance of Batumi City Council in 2020. The research also covers the main findings and recommendations. This information will support the City Council, formed after the 2021 Local Self-Government elections, in its future activities. The report is based on the information requested and received from the City Council, on observations of the organization, and on the materials of the media outlets. Transparency International Georgia published the 2017-2019 performance evaluation of Batumi City Council in March 2020. Read more…  Source: The webpage of the organization

The web portal CsoGeorgia.org releases a weekly newsletter of grants competition, contests, vacancies, fellowships, and tenders for civil society organizations, and for any interested person. Newsletter...

Tbilisi. GDI releases a statement in response to the September 7, 2021 decision of the Chamber of Criminal Cases under the Supreme Court of Georgia. With this decision, the Chamber reversed the verdict imposed by courts of first and second instance and sentenced Davit Kezerashvili, the owner of the TV Company “Formula” and former Minister of Defense, to 5 years in prison. “It should be noted that the Cassation Chamber, reviewing the case, was chaired by Shalva Tadumadze, who held the position of Prosecutor General during both the second instance hearing of the case and the prosecution appeal of the case to the Court of Cassation. The Public Defender responded to the mentioned fact and pointed out the possible conflicts of interest. As she stated, “I am not familiar with this case, however, if Tadumadze served as Prosecutor when Kezerashvili was charged and such a fact is revealed, I assume it is a conflict of interests. I noted it in the case of Ugulava too, so if such circumstances emerge also in this case, then there is a high probability that the Strasbourg court will find a violation of the right to a fair trial, provided that this case goes there””, - is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

UNDP Accelerator Lab conducts a behavioral experiment to support waste separation in Batumi and Tbilisi... UNDP signed memorandums of understanding with the Batumi and Tbilisi municipalities, to assist the two largest Georgian cities to introduce plastic waste separation practices and promote sustainable lifestyles. Read more…  Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. IDFI has issued a statement regarding the change in the rules for electing the Prosecutor General. ‘On September 7, 2021, the Parliament of Georgia passed the constitutional amendments in the first reading, with 126 MPs voting in favor. Unfortunately, the issue of appointing a Prosecutor General by a qualified majority was dismissed from the draft constitutional law, which would reduce the risk of only one party appointing her/him in the future and would be a step forward in strengthening the Office's independence and neutrality. According to the current legislation, the Prosecutor General is elected by the majority of the total number of the Members of the Parliament upon nomination by the Prosecutorial Council’, - is mentioned in the statement. Read more…  Source: The webpage of the organization