Tbilisi. Public Defender assesses refusal of reappointment of school principal as discrimination on political grounds. “The applicant had been working as a principal of one of the public schools in the Mtskheta municipality since 15 October 2014. In October 2020, she was not reappointed as acting principal and was replaced by another person. In the applicant's view, the refusal of the Ministry of Education to reappoint her was conditioned by the political activity of her husband and son, who were supporters of an opposition party. According to the Public Defender, given the increased risks of politicization of the education system and dismissal of persons on discriminatory grounds, the fact that the refusal of reappointment of the applicant coincided with the political activity of her spouse and son raises suspicions. In addition, the respondent failed to present a justification that would have refuted the suspicion of discrimination”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. As the Institute for Tolerance and Diversity (TDI) informs, by the order of the Minister of Health, from July 22, there came into force a regulation, which allows foreigners, residing in Georgia, to benefit from the state immunization program and get vaccinated against COVID-19. However, the order envisages specific conditions and it applies only to a certain group of foreign beneficiaries. According to the regulation, vaccination will not be available for foreigners residing without documents, as well as for those who are legally present in Georgia but had to cross the Georgian border and re-enter during the last three months in order to ensure their legal stay in Georgia. Meanwhile, restrictions against Indian students still remain unchanged. They can enter Georgia only by charter flights. On the other hand, charter flights are either canceled or limited and students are unable to return to Georgia for their studies. The organizations call on the Government of Georgia and the Interagency Coordination Council on Pandemic Issues to lift above-mentioned restrictions, which limit human rights, endanger their lives and increase the risk of spreading the virus. Rights Georgia joins the statement. Read more… Source:tdi.ge

Tbilisi. ISFED will provide a legal assistance to those dismissed from work on alleged political grounds during the 2021 pre-election period. The organization has filed several lawsuits in common courts in order to protect interests of people fired from their jobs on discriminatory motives. ISFED will continue to provide free legal assistance to those dismissed from work on discriminatory grounds. “If you consider that you have been fired based on your political beliefs: Call - 0 800 100 143 or Write to us at - info@isfed.ge Lawyers of ISFED will provide a legal assistance and consultation to you throughout the country”. Read more… Source: The website of the organization on a social network

Tbilisi. On August 3, in cooperation with the State Inspector's Service, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) held the opening event of the joint summer school on personal data protection. “The 3rd and 4th year students, as well as the Master's students of the Law School students of the universities authorized in Georgia participate in the summer school. Within the scope of the summer school, participants will learn about current issues related to personal data protection”. Learn more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Public Defender of Georgia publishes a special report: “The Administration of Justice on Crimes of Sexual Abuse and Sexual Exploitation of Children”.  “The study of Public Defender’s Office revealed that, State does not have services specifically focused on rehabilitation or provision of support to child victims of sexual abuse, which would allow relevant professionals to plan long-term work with both children and their families. The currently available state services are drastically inconsistent with the needs existing in the country”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Civil society organizations consider that the Government uses the State Security Service as a tool for total control. "The material related to activities of the State Security Service and broadcasted on the air of Mtavari Channel once again indicates the gravest practice of mass control and violation of human rights existing in the country. On the background of a fragile democracy and severe political crises, the State Security Service has emerged as a strictly politicized agency protecting interests of influential political figures, which attempts to retain political power of the particular group through surveillance, intimidation and blackmailing tools”, - is noted in the joint statement. Read more... Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. With the support of the Open Society Georgia Foundation, the Georgian Democracy Initiative, the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, Social Justice Center, Rights Georgia and the Human Rights Center have launched a joint project – “Activists support network”. “A short-term goal of the project is to protect civil activists from unlawful persecution, which in turn provides more conducive environment to exercise civic activism as well as freedom of assembly and expression”. Read more... Source: The website of Rights Georgia on a social network

Tbilisi. TDI releases the report: The Legal Status of Migrants in Georgia - Amid and beyond the Covid pandemic. See full report in English… The report covers the period of January 2020 - May 2021. Main topics of the report: Migrants’ Rights and Challenges amid the Covid-19 Pandemic; Issues, legislation, and practice of obtaining a residence permit; State policy towards asylum seekers in Georgia; Problems of the State Security Service’s Competence to Investigate Crimes of Racial Discrimination; Statistics on the refusal of a state residence permit; Statistics on crimes committed with racial intolerance;  Read more… Source: tdi.ge

Tbilisi. On July 28, 2021, a Report on the Rights Situation of Aliens and Stateless Persons in Georgia was presented as part of the joint project of the Public Defender's Office and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. “The report reviews the situation of aliens, including migrants, asylum seekers, internationally protected persons and stateless persons in Georgia and reflects the findings of the monitoring conducted by the representatives of the Public Defender of Georgia, as well as the positive trends and challenges identified during the monitoring”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Part of civil society organizations and political parties of Georgia address a letter to Kakha Kuchava, the Chairman of the Parliament. “We, the organizations working on human rights and activists have been fighting for gender equality for many years. The violence, committed by Shalva Papuashvili and Irakli Zarkua against women politicians on July 18, 2021, renders the success achieved in the fight for equality meaningless. The silence and inaction of the Chairman of the Parliament in regard to this issue is unacceptable, furthermore, it encourages violence. We urge you to use all available mechanisms in order to respond adequately and make sure that the abusive Members of Parliament - Shalva Papuashvili and Irakli Zarkua are held accountable for insulting and violent actions taken by them against female Members of Parliament”, - is noted in the joint statement. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Rights Georgia presented draft legislative changes related to freedom of expression to lawyers. “Developed proposals on legislative changes are related to revision of the term of an interested person in the Law of Georgia on Broadcasting, as well as expansion of the criminal composition of unlawful interference in professional activities of journalists and additional guarantees for protection of confidentiality of a journalistic source”. Read more... Source: rights.ge

Tbilisi. UN Women and the ISET Policy Institute release the research on the labor rights of employed mothers. “Only 3 per cent of the employed women in Georgia are legally entitled to enjoy fully compensated maternity leave. Exceptions occur when employers pay additional compensation voluntarily. The state compensation for maternity leave is GEL 167 per month, which is less than the minimum subsistence level. The results of the research show that Georgian labour legislation sets different standards for different groups of employees. Paid maternity leave is also unequally available to women and men, which is why most women give up their professional activities. Women are typically also responsible for family affairs, so during their childbearing years, they are seen as unproductive, less valued employees. In the long run, these circumstances negatively affect women’s participation in the labour force”. Read more… Source: georgia.unwomen.org

Tbilisi. Nino Kviria, the head of the primary structural unit of the Healthcare and Social Support Service of the Rustavi Municipality, says that in order to be fired, she was deliberately persecuted and the grounds for her dismissal were artificially created. On July 16, he was fired by order of the mayor. ISFED is defending Nino Kviria’s interests and plans to use legal protection mechanisms to determine her dismissal on political grounds. Read more… Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. On July 19, 2021, the Public Defender of Georgia met with the Ambassador of the United States of America to Georgia Kelly Degnan. “Today's visit by the Ambassador was a confirmation and expression of the United States' respect for the Public Defender’s Office. Today we focused on the appointment of Supreme Court judges and the problems we see in this process. I also spoke about the events of July 5-6, stressed the responsibility of the State and law enforcement agencies and noted that, unfortunately, despite a number of evidences and indicators, no one has been prosecuted for these violent actions yet,” - said the Public Defender. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) offers a free service of legal assistance for the 2021 local self-government elections.                                    Source: The website of the organization on a social network

Tbilisi. The Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC) condemns the recent violent attacks on the civil activists, the members of the society and the journalists, as they contradict the organization's values such as: justice, the right to make free choice and equal opportunity. “EDEC strongly disapproves the violent calls and acts and calls on the relevant authorities to uphold justice and the constitutional rights of every citizen”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center publishes a blog post of Guram Imnadze: Drugs, police and death. “Nowadays we rarely see mechanisms of obvious violence against drug users, such as street drug testing or drug “planting”, however, it does not mean that drug policy is no longer applied to use people merely as means in the run-up to elections, for police purposes, or to justify personal unlawful actions”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. Myth Detector publishes a blog post prepared by Tamar Kintsurashvili and Keti Khutsishvili: Strategy of violent groups of Kremlin: Burning of Western symbols should become a norm. “Disruption of the Pride March of Tbilisi Pride and violence against journalists committed by violent groups were inspired by aggressive and threatening statements of “Alt-Info”, a TV Company connected with the party of Levan Vasadze – “Unity, Identity, Hope”. TV hosts of the Company were even among organizers of the violent contraction carried out on July 5”. Read more… Source: mythdetector.ge

Tbilisi. According to information released by International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), a version of overdose death of Lashkarava was posted on the Facebook page of “Marshalpress” about an hour earlier than the Ministry drew our attention to this information at its first briefing. “There was mentioned Ioseb Khimshiashvili, some politician, in the material as a source of it. Soon the online edition disseminated the news via open groups in an organized manner. Otar Stepanishvili, the founder of “Marshalpress”, was among those who shared the post”.                                                              Source: The website of the organization on a social network

Tbilisi. On July 12, 2021, Public Defender Nino Lomjaria met with President Salome Zourabichvili. “According to the Public Defender, the events developed on and after July 5, as well as shortcomings in the ongoing investigations, were discussed at the meeting; In this regard, the Public Defender stressed the need to bring the organizers of violent actions to justice, which has not happened so far”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Rights Georgia publishes a blog post of Nana Mchedlidze, an expert in international law and a board member of the organization: Hate speech and dangers it poses. The blog post contains a review of “hate speech, its forms of expression, who the hate speech is directed against, and best practices of combating it in conformity with European standards of human rights, as well as dangers that might be posed by lack of response to hate speech”. Read more… Source: rights.ge