Today is the World Children's Day. „To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF organizes the activity called "Kids Take Over" in more than 130 countries across the globe. Several schools in Tbilisi also joins the activity. Older school pupils held a demonstrational lessons for the little ones, showed interesting experiments and taught them the first aid. Read more… Source: Social Network

Tbilisi. Public Defender responds to trials of persons detained on 18 November 2019. “At this stage, according to the information available to us, some of the detainees were detained on November 18, during working hours. Consequently, the maximum term of their detention is 12 hours, according to the Georgian legislation. After this period expires, it is necessary to release them. We would also like to emphasize the fact that only one judge is considering the cases of administrative detention, which naturally complicates the administration of swift justice. It is necessary to involve additional judges in the process in order to prevent violation of the detainees' procedural rights. We urge Tbilisi City Court to comply with the requirements of the law and conduct trials timely and fairly”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. In light of the ongoing tense political developments in the country, CSOs call on the government: “To reject the use of any type of force against the demonstrators and avoid the escalation of the situation, which could potentially result in a state of full-fledged political instability and transform into events that could go beyond all legislative frameworks”. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. In order to protect life and ensure safety of Vazha Gaprindashvili, a doctor, the European Court of Justice should apply a provisional measure, - the organization “Article 42 of the Constitution” states about this. “The organization “Article 42 of the Constitution” considers it expedient to appeal immediately to the European Court of Justice requesting to apply a provisional measure against the Russian Federation as stipulated by Article 39 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court. The mentioned article envisages imposition of an obligation on a state within a tightened deadline to avoid irreparable damage”, - is noted in the statement released by the organization. Read more… Source: article42.ge

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) published annual hate crime database for 2018.  ODIHR’s hate crime database is the largest of its kind worldwide. It is updated each year with information from both official and civil society sources and includes data on hate crime legislation, recording, prosecution and sentencing, as well as best practices from throughout the region.  Read more… Source: http://tdi.ge

Tbilisi. GYLA calls on state authorities to work promptly and actively to release Vazha Gaprindashvili, an unlawful detainee of the occupational regime of so called South Ossetia. “Reportedly, the purpose of arrival of Vazha Gaprindashvili at the so called administrative border was also to provide proper medical care to a resident of Akhalgori. In particular, the family of Vazha Gaprindashvili considers it as one of the versions that a Georgian doctor departed for occupied Akhalgori to assist a local resident who fell into a deep well and was refused to be transported to Tbilisi in order to receive qualified medical care”, - is noted in the statement released by the organization, - “GYLA calls on the government of Georgia to take all possible measures promptly and effectively in regard to release of Vazha Gaprindashvili from unlawful detention; use all available international legal instruments as much as possible to overcome the humanitarian crisis existing on the occupied territories and enable people living there to receive access to basic needs, including high quality medical care”. Besides, it also urges the international community and relevant international organizations to assist the Georgian side in resolving these problems; intensify efforts in order to combat massive violations of human rights in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region and to carry out monitoring activities of their missions on the occupied territories”. Read more… Source: https://gyla.ge/ge

#Happeningnow UN Women is presenting The Progress of the World's Women report 2019. The report presents the realities the families living in a changing world taking into consideration global economic, demographic, political and social changes. The progress report offers in-depth analysis in the areas of family laws, income and labour, unpaid work, violence against women, families and migration etc. Read more… Source: Social network

#Happeningnow With the support of UN Women a Training of Trainers on the issues of Violence against women and domestic violence is ongoing at the Georgian Bar Association Training Center. „The course aims at building capacity of the trainers on the latest legislative regulations as well as covering psychological aspects of VAWG/DV primarily aimed at preventing secondary victimization. The trainers will conduct learning sessions for lawyers in different regions of Georgia“. Read more… Source: Social network

Tbilisi. On behalf of the Human Rights House Tbilisi, member organizations respond to the incident of physical and verbal abuse against the human rights defenders Ana Subeliani and Tamaz Sozashvili near Amirani cinema on November 8, 2019, as well as to the fact of thwarting the films screening at Amirani cinema, perceived as a restriction of freedom of expression, and call the government of Georgia as well as the law enforcement agencies to ensure the effective protection of human rights defenders and to guarantee a safe and free environment for them to implement their activities without any intervention. Read more… Source: hrht.ge

Tbilisi. The “No to Phobia!” civil platform responds to developments occurred on November 8, 2019 in regard to the premiere of the film “And then we danced”. “We consider that measures taken by law enforcement agencies were not sufficient to eliminate actions of violent groups and threats coming from them. It is important for the state to demonstrate respective efforts and strong political will while struggling against hate-motivated crimes”, - is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: www.gdi.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) has filed a lawsuit in the Constitutional Court. EMC considers unconstitutional those legal norms, which determine boundaries of the right to strike, on the one hand, as well as grounds and procedures for its restriction, on the other hand. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) demands passing of an active policy by the state in order to address problems that exist in the country and are related to gambling games. “According to available studies, engagement of population, including children, into gambling games is alarmingly high in Georgia. Both spreading of gambling games and socioeconomic vulnerability are closely intertwined phenomena and, in certain cases, they even condition each other”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. On the initiative of the Public Defender of Georgia and with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the General Comments of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will be available in Georgian from November 5, 2019. ‘The Public Defender hopes that availability of the aforementioned international documents in Georgian will significantly help persons with disabilities and their representative organizations in their daily activities, to actively use the definitions and approaches of the Committee in order to improve the quality of protection of the rights of persons with disabilities in the country’, - Is mentioned in The Public Defender’s Office’s information. Read more… Source: http://ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) responds to media reports regarding the raid on a local Christian shrine near the village of Khulgumo (Akhalkalaki municipality). The organization calls on the Ministry of Internal Affairs to conduct a swift and effective investigation into the case of the alleged hate-motivated crime. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender addressed the Prime Minister and the Minister of Internal Affairs with a general proposal to discuss individual cases of violation of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly of the LGBT+ community in the recent years at the state level and to plan preventive and reactive measures in this direction.  ‘In the general proposal, the Public Defender reviewed the situation of realization of freedom of expression of LGBT+ community in the country, referring to the cases that took place from September 2018 to July 2019. In particular, she focused on the prohibition of LGBT+ symbols at the football stadium on 9 September 2018, the developments around the pride march scheduled for 18-23 June 2019 and the enhancement of homophobic ultra-right-wing groups. According to the Public Defender, it is clear that the measures taken by the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the protection of LGBT+ people’s freedom of expression are vague and do not prove the existence of a systemic view relating to the protection of human rights or analysis of potential consequences of the cases’, - Is said in the information.  Read more…  Source: http://ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia calls on the Ministry of Internal Affairs to take proactive preventive measures with regard to the intention of the Georgian March to block the entrances to the Tbilisi and Batumi cinemas during the premiere of a movie - And We Dance. ‘The Public Defender explains that the right to assembly protects only the right to peaceful assembly and not the acts aimed at restricting the rights and freedoms of others. For this purpose, the Law of Georgia on Assemblies and Demonstrations imposes certain obligations on the organizers and participants of such actions; inter alia, it prohibits the blockage of the entrances to the premises during assemblies and demonstrations’, - Is mentioned in the statement. Read more…  Source: http://ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia publishes a blog post: The Challenges That Female Public Figures Face in Georgia. “The subject of women's social life and participation in politics has recently been widely discussed in the public. The majority of the population in Georgia hold a positive view on women’s participation in public life. According to public opinion polls, 65% of Georgians support the introduction of a mandatory gender quota in the parliament. Important legislative changes have been adopted in recent years to strengthen women's rights, including through the efforts of the Gender Equality Council of the Parliament of Georgia. However, from a legal point of view, the progress loses its value if there is no effective response from the state and the ruling political groups on the instances of psychological terror against women on the basis of their political and public activism and critical positions”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Civil society organizations demand to grant a legal status to those affected as a result of June 20-21 developments and release a special statement. “We call on the General Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia: to grant immediately a status of victim to all those people, who have been injured as a result of actions taken by law enforcers during June 20-21 developments; conduct an effective and impartial investigation in the current case in a timely manner; taking into account high public interest, periodically inform public about the progress of the investigation in the current case”. Read more… Source: article42.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia has found sexual harassment committed by the head of a private company. According to the case materials, the applicant was working as an intern in the company.  The applicant alleges she was subjected to verbal and physical actions of undesirable sexual nature his her supervisor, causing a degrading work environment, as a result of which, the applicant was forced to quit.  The applicant's interests were represented at the Public Defender's Office by the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association.  Read more…  Source: http://ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On June 19, Giorgi Tabagari, Tamaz Sozashvili and Mariam Kvaratskhelia, organizers of “Tbilisi Pride”, received bullying messages, in which they were threatened to be killed due to their activities. “Partnership for Human Rights (PHR) considers that in the circumstances when the indicator of committing violent crime against LGBTQ+ on discriminatory grounds in Georgia is alarmingly high, ineffective response of the government to such cases creates a sense of impunity for hate-motivated crimes and encourages people or groups acting against human rights”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: phrgeorgia.wordpress.com

UN Women, in the frameworks of its support to private sector partners conducted a workshop on Sexual Harassment complaints mechanisms with 15 representatives of Socar Georgia Petroleum. “The workshop aims at informing company’s management on the recently adopted legislative amendments on sexual harassment as well as finalizing the complaints mechanism which SOCAR Georgia Petroleum will soon introduce. Sexual Harassment Complaints Mechanism is part of the Action Plan on Women’s Empowerment Principles (#WEPs) which Socar is implementing since 2018“. Read more… Source: The web page of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) publishes an article of Tornike Gerliani: Migrants of unrecognized war, i.e. who and how fights against HPPs. “Present article contains a review of methods and strategies of fight and resistance carried out by anti-HPP movements around the world. Subject issues include grounds, practices and their interaction while using different political frameworks. Along with evaluation of implementation of large-scale hydroelectric projects, as well as their severe impact on the environment and population, there will be demonstrated those prevailing political and economic visions, which predominantly define contemporary models of development”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge