Mtskheta-Mtianeti. On March 29-30, there was conducted a training on ''Issues related to human rights and gender equality'' in Mtskheta. ''The purpose of the training was to inform public servants of a local self-government about issues related to human rights and gender equality, to get them familiarized with local and international obligations'' – is stated on the website of the organization in a social network. Read more… Source:The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. On March 30, 2018, Nino Lomjaria, Public Defender of Georgia, submitted a report on the situation of human rights and freedoms in 2017 to the Parliament of Georgia. ''The 347-page report discusses the challenges and progress in the protection of human rights and freedoms enshrined in the constitution and names the state agencies and local self-governmental bodies that violated human rights and freedoms. The document also provides information about the implementation of the recommendations issued by the Public Defender'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day. The world supports the rights of people with autism and speaks out against discrimination. ''Proper protection of the rights of people with autism is still problematic in Georgia. The lack of health care for children with autism, lack of necessary programs and services for them, limited number of habilitation/rehabilitation services, territorial inaccessibility, poor quality of services provided, lack of staff and low level of their qualifications are still challenges in the country. The Public Defender once more urges the state to promote realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms of all persons with autism and duly support them so that they can fully participate in the community on an equal footing with others'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers' Association (GYLA) publishes a blog post: Lawsuit of Kamran Mamedov against the International Education Center has also been satisfied by the Supreme Court. In 2015, Kamran Mamedov was enrolled in the University of Malmö and applied to the International Education Center for financing. After passing all three steps of a competition, his points did not appear sufficient to obtain financing. On the second stage of the competition, one of the members of the commission gave him zero points in all components without justification. The court found the decision of the Center unlawful and ordered to re-examine the issue. Read more... Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Part of civil society organizations release a statement regarding necessity of investigation of discriminatory motives in actions of persons detained in connection with developments at ''Rustavi 2''. ''...we call on the Chief Prosecutor's Office of Georgia to investigate discriminatory motives of committed actions and consider them as aggravating circumstances'' – is noted in the statement. Read more… Source:www.gdi.ge

Tbilisi. On March 21, 2018, the Legislative Herald of Georgia published the Law of Georgia on Safety at Work and the attached amendments. Adoption of the mentioned law should be assessed as a step forward. ''The above mentioned law establishes a mechanism for enforcing the obligations in the field of safety at work. In particular, the supervisory body (the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs) is granted the authority to inspect safety norms and use sanctions in case of detection of violations in the high-risk, hard, harmful and hazardous workplaces'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) has submitted an application to the Prosecutor's Office of Tbilisi and demanded to start an investigation based on facts of humiliating and disgraceful treatment of Machalikashvili family members during a special operation conducted by the State Security Service on December 26, 2017 at their house in the Duisi Village. Read more... Source:The website of the organization

Kvemo Kartli. First Deputy Public Defender of Georgia, together with Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia and Director of the Temporary Detention Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, visited a temporary detention isolator in Tsalka, which was rehabilitated on the basis of the recommendation of the Public Defender. According to First Deputy Public Defender of Georgia, the rehabilitated isolator is in full compliance with the temporary detention standards of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture. In full  Source: The organization’s webpage

Tbilisi. World Down Syndrome Day is marked on March 21, which is aimed at raising public awareness of people with Down syndrome. The theme of the World Down Syndrome Day 2018 - ''What I Bring to the Community'' - emphasizes the equal contribution of people with Down syndrome to social, public, political, cultural and other areas of life. ''The Public Defender calls on the state to make more efforts to protect the rights of people with Down syndrome in order to ensure their participation in the public life'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On March 20, 2018, Rosa Kornfeld-Matte, UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, visited the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia. Ekaterine Skhiladze, Deputy Public Defender of Georgia and Rusudan Kokhodze, Deputy Head of the Department of Persons with Disabilities, discussed the rights situation of older persons in Georgia and the challenges related to aging. The discussion touched upon the important role and activities of the Public Defender in the field of protection of the rights of older persons. In full  Source: The organization’s webpage

Tbilisi. According to the statement of the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association (GYLA), there is the first session regarding the case of 12-year-old Salome Tatishvili, dead at the ski track in Gudauri, held at the Tbilisi Court of Appeals. ''It is unclear on what grounds the judge supposes that it was particularly skiing of Salome, which facilitated the outcome to take place, moreover, in a way that it would become impossible for the defendant to avoid the outcome'' – is noted in the statement of the organization. Read more... Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. With the help of Magda Jimsleyishvili, a lawyer of ''Transparency International Georgia'', a citizen Maia Makhachashvili has won her dismissal related legal case against a Tbilisi kindergarten #144. ''The defendant’s side was ordered to reinstate Makhachashvili and to reimburse GEL10000 to her as a compensation of loss'' – is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source:The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. According to reports, on March 12, an unidentified person (persons) burned Catholic literature and icons near a temple in the town of Vale. ''A representative of the Public Defender met with the population of the town, as well as the leaders of local religious communities, and received detailed information from them. It is known that both Orthodox and Catholic Christians use the temple for worshiping. The Public Defender will not spare efforts to ensure that the principles of freedom of religion and tolerance are protected in Georgia'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On March 14, 2018, member organizations of the Council of National Minorities of the Public Defender released a statement calling on the Russian and Tskhinvali communities and all responsible individuals to apply all levers available to immediately transfer the body of Archil Tatunashvili to his family. ''We call on the representatives of the Russian and Tskhinvali communities to urge everyone having the relevant authority to immediately transfer the body of Georgian citizen Archil Tatunashvili to the family. We also urge the Russian Federation, as a country exercising factual control on the territory of former South Ossetian autonomous district, and the de-facto authorities of former South Ossetian autonomous district to immediately transfer the body of Georgian citizen Archil Tatunashvili to the family'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On March 5, 2018, the Public Defender of Georgia addressed Tianeti Municipality Mayor Tamaz Mechiauri with a recommendation to eliminate hard working conditions in which the Mayor's representatives and specialists have to work in the Tianeti municipality and to provide timely supply of firewood. ''The employees of administrative units of the Tianeti municipality have not been supplied with firewood since November 2017, since the incumbent Mayor regards them as supporters of a different political force, due to which, the employees are in difficult conditions and are unable to work properly'', is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Public Defender and First Deputy Public Defender met with the head of European Union Monitoring Mission. The main topic of the meeting was the death of Archil Tatunashvili on the occupied territory. They also discussed the rights of the people living along the dividing line and on the occupied territories, both the security and social aspects. The issues of IDPs and ethnic minorities were also discussed. In full  Source: The organization’s webpage

Tbilisi. By the decision of the Kutaisi Court of Appeal, Zestafoni Educational Resource Center was ordered to appoint Nona Babuadze as the Chief Specialist and reimburse her wage loss of 8000 GEL. The lawyers of our organization’s Kutaisi office defended Nona Babuadze’s interests in court. ''In 2017 Nona Babuadze participated in the competition announced for the position of Chief Specialist of Zestafoni Resource Center. She successfully passed all the stages and the majority of the members of the competition commission supported her candidacy, but the Head of the Resource Center did not consider the opinion of the commission members and appointed another person as the chief specialist'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: The webpage of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia got acquainted with the open letter of the twelfth-grader students of Iakob Gogebashvili School, in which students express concern about the aggression of the public following the Public Defender’s general proposal issued in relation to their school. ''First of all, the Public Defender would like to note that the proposal was related to a specific fact, namely, a scholarship announced for the eighth-grader boys of the school for the 2017-2018 academic years, and that it did not evaluate the general situation of equality at the school. In addition, it is important for the Public Defender not to harm child’s interests and calls on all parties to act in accordance with the best interests of the students'', is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: www.ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On March 5, 2018, Public Defender Nino Lomjaria visited A. Kajaia Surami Psychiatric Hospital. The Public Defender is extremely concerned about the infrastructural and therapeutic environment in the institution, due to which, patients have to live in unbearable and degrading conditions. ''The Public Defender considers that the entire building of the Surami Psychiatric Hospital, both residential and common-use areas, are old and out of order, the inventory is also old and sanitary-hygienic conditions are extremely grave. It should be emphasized that there is in fact no therapeutic environment'', is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: www.ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Based on a statement of Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC), on a Zviad Ratiani case, the Personal Data Protection Inspector has recognized the Ministry of Internal Affairs as an offender. Read more... Source:The website of the organization

Tbilisi. On February 28, 2018, Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs, Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons, Refugees and Accommodation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture and Sports, Ministry of Environment and Agriculture, Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure, Central Election Commission and Public Broadcaster of Georgia presented reports on the implementation of Public Defender's recommendations at the Parliament’s Committee on Human Rights and Civil Integration. ''Public Defender Nino Lomjaria talked about the new strategy of the form and content of an annual report, pointing out that it would mainly be focused on underlying systemic problems. In addition, the Public Defender considers that the Parliament of Georgia should start discussion of Public Defender's special reports in a similar format in order to pay proper attention to the thematic problems in the field of human rights. The Public Defender also spoke about the importance of elaborating the methodology for monitoring the implementation of the recommendations. She thanked the agencies which implemented the recommendations and expressed willingness to continue close cooperation and communication with them. The Public Defender hopes that in the future the Parliament of Georgia will also present information about the implementation of the Public Defender’s recommendations since part of them concerns the Parliament's legislative work'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: www.ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On February 27-28, 2018, the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Civil Integration is discussing the situation of implementation of the recommendations issued by the Parliament of Georgia in its Resolution on the 2016 Report of the Public Defender of Georgia on the Situation of Human Rights and Freedoms in Georgia. The resolution was passed by the Parliament of Georgia on July 14, 2017, and it reflects up to 240 recommendations of the Public Defender. The Parliament instructed the Government, Ministries and various agencies of Georgia to implement the recommendations. In full  Source: The organization’s webpage