Tbilisi. On March 19, 2021, Public Defender of Georgia Nino Lomjaria participated in the 5th Conference on the World Down Syndrome Day. This year's message for World Down Syndrome Day is "Connect", which responds to the pandemic situation in the world. “The online conference was dedicated to the importance of promoting the development of children with Down syndrome aged between 7 and 18 years. In Georgia, this age group still does not have adequate support in the form of public services. Current programmes are scarce, outdated and unable to meet modern challenges and individual development needs of such children”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Center has been implementing a “Mitigate impact of the pandemic for lonely elderly people in Shida Kartli” project since January 20, 2021. Within the framework of the project, volunteers interviewed more than 100 lonely/living alone elderly people in all four municipalities (Gori, Khashuri, Kareli, Kaspi) via direct visit. According to statements of the vast majority of them, they do not benefit from the state program for provision of medicines for treatment of chronic diseases, even though the program envisages provision of medicines for treatment of chronic cardiovascular diseases, chronic lung diseases, diabetes (type II), thyroid diseases, epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia published information about the member of Batumi City Council and his son-in-law.  Transparency International Georgia found out that the former company of Batumi City Council public official received GEL 228,388 from electronic tenders and simplified procurements during 2019-2020, out of which GEL 143,426 comes from the Garden Association of Batumi Municipality. According to the decree, this association is supervised by the commission that is chaired by Irakli Pataridze - “It controls the activities of the city hall and its structural units in the field of action, and will submit a relevant report to the city council upon request”1. Accordingly, the commission should not only execute quality control of the municipal service but should investigate the purpose of the costs and corruption risks.  Read more…   Source: The web-page of the organization

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) has submitted its conclusion on changes in the Election Code to the Parliament. “The initiative envisages abolition of the election registration of the subject, a political leader participating in the pre-election campaign of which is a person who does not meet any of the censorships stipulated by the Constitution. Norms restricting freedom of parties require more rigorous test of accuracy and predictability than the one applied in regard to other, non-political unions. It is essential to make sure that the measure of liability, selected for the breach, is restraining, proportionate and directly related to the breach. Abolition of the election registration of a party without any alternative is not such a measure. GYLA calls on the Parliament to avoid appearance of those norms in the code, which impose blanket, disproportionate restrictions on political unions and contain threat of their unjustified and arbitrary disqualification, as well as to refrain from adoption of this bill”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Batumi. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara did not satisfy the request of EMC and “Society Batomi” to suspend construction of a 19-storey (3 underground) hotel on the territory of the cultural heritage monument of Batumi Boulevard. “With this decision, the Ministry has not taken into account that construction entails irreversible damage to the cultural heritage monument, the importance and benefit of which is invaluable for the city. Art historians Tamar Amashukeli and Tatia Gvineria talk about Batumi Boulevard as a cultural heritage monument”. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. On February 22-25, 2021, the Public Defender’s Office monitored 21 public schools of Tbilisi,[1] in order to check the readiness of educational institutions for the educational process in the context of the pandemic and to identify the safety needs. “The monitoring revealed a lot of challenges, the prevention and elimination of which is important for ensuring the safety of the educational process. It should be noted that the inspected schools largely meet the necessary conditions for the virus prevention, however, some problems were identified with sanitation-hygiene, infrastructure, access to drinking water, toilet arrangement and distance protection. In some of the inspected schools it is necessary to put the sanitary system and infrastructure in order so that to make it possible to properly observe the hygienic norms”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC) publishes a document: “Strategic vision for development of a social security system”. The document contains main provisions that are agreed among authors. In the opinion of the organization, development of an optimal social security model for the country and society should be based on these provisions. Read more... Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) publishes a video story: Women’s work – indoor and outdoor. “Women in Georgia spend three times more time on family affairs than men. Nadi tradition is still preserved in Zemo Adjara. Mutual aid was initially based on the principle of voluntary assistance, without any obligations or remuneration. Women share work with each other for free”. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. According to the assessment of the Transparency International Georgia the pandemic has "naturally" reduced Georgia's economic dependence on Russia. After the end of the pandemic period, Georgia will have the opportunity to structurally transform its economy and become less dependent on Russia. “At present, the high dependence of wine exports on the Russian market and wheat imports from Russia remain the main challenges for Georgia's economic security. The goal of the Georgian government should be to minimize economic dependence on Russia. Therefore: In the post-pandemic period, Georgia should work even more actively to diversify its export markets, especially in terms of wine exports; Local production of wheat and diversification of wheat imports should be promoted as much as possible; Unlike previous years, after opening the borders, Russia should not be the target market for attracting tourists”.  Read more… Source: transparency.ge

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Tbilisi. On March 17, “Rights Georgia” presented results of monitoring of activities carried out by an independent inspector and the High Council of Justice during disciplinary legal proceedings. “The study report, prepared as a result of the monitoring, contains a review of current legislation and practice in the field of disciplinary responsibility of judges, analysis of compliance of legislation and practice with international standards, as well as recommendations for elimination of shortcomings in the disciplinary system”. Read more… Source: rights.ge

Tbilisi. On March 15, society came to know through means of media that there was established a Scientific Advisory Council for National Minorities on the grounds of the Diaspora and Caucasus Issues Committee at the Parliament of Georgia. “We, the signatory organizations, generally welcome the idea of establishing an advisory mechanism for national minorities at the Parliament, however, it is categorically unacceptable for us to set up an advisory council for minorities on the grounds of the Diaspora and Caucasus Issues Committee, which strengthens an impression of connecting ethnic minorities with other countries and essentially damages, as well as pulls back the process of building an inclusive, equal and democratic society. CSOs call on the Parliament of Georgia to: Cancel its decision regarding establishment of the Advisory Council on Minority Issues on the grounds of the Diaspora and Caucasus Issues Committee in a timely manner; Plan the issue of a mandate, competencies and composition of the Advisory Council within the framework of the democratic consultations process, in which there will be involved representatives of communities of ethnic minorities, organizations, as well as other experts and human rights actors; Take into account international standards and requirements, set by the Council of Europe Advisory Committee, as well as best practices of other countries while setting up the Advisory Council”. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) publishes a concept of a reform of the judicial system developed by non-governmental organizations. “The purpose of the concept is to facilitate institutionalization of the judicial system, its liberation from informal influences, promotion of its internal democratic processes and establishment of highest standards”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. EWMI-PROLoG is appalled by the threats and abuse of women human rights defenders that has taken enormous scale in recent days. „Women activists have been particularly persistent and committed, despite often having it harder than their male counterparts. The bullying and threats that they get is further exacerbated by the gender-motivated and specific overtones. We have been supporting defenders of human rights, including the rights of women and children, for years, and we are very proud of the work and achievements of our partners over the years. We believe that this hard, tireless and often unappreciated work and dedication is what drives progress by way of restoring rights and dignity of those who have been wronged. We stand by the brilliant women lawyers of PHR, Sapari and other partner organizations and offer our support”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. According to information released by the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), on January 21, the European Court of Human Rights announced its decision in the case of Georgia v. Russia (II). The decision touches upon violations of human rights that took place during the August 2008 armed conflict between Russia and Georgia. “The purpose of this document is to briefly overview important legal aspects of the decision and provide society, as well as other stakeholders, with information about questions posed in regard to the content of the decision”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC), on behalf of the civil society organization Batomi, applied to the Public Defender requesting to study legality of a permit, issued for construction of a 19-storey hotel complex on Batumi Boulevard, and release a relevant recommendation. Batomi and EMC consider that the decision made by the Adjara Cultural Heritage Protection Agency (“Agency”) is unequivocally unlawful and irreversibly and substantially damages the immovable cultural heritage site - Batumi Boulevard. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) expresses its solidarity with women human rights defenders. “We would like to express our solidarity with women human rights defenders, who became targets of extraordinary aggression and attack after the victory gained by Nikoloz Basilashvili, a Georgian tennis player, in one of the tournaments. The fact was followed by a campaign of organized aggression on social media against both non-governmental organizations and human rights defenders, and it took place due to their public stance in regard to the case of domestic violence proceeded against the tennis player. Targeted attack, carried out on gender grounds against women human rights defenders indicates ingrained misogynistic attitudes within society and hinders the process of public disclosure of facts of violence”, - is noted in the statement. Read more… Source:isfed.ge

Tbilisi. On March 1, “Rights Georgia” has launched a new project - " Support Human Rights Defenders and Activists at Risk”. “The aim of the project is to provide legal assistance to human rights defenders / activists, to increase their safety and security guarantees and to raise awareness of legal issues that are relevant to their activities”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia and Fair Elections (ISFED) publish joint evaluations and recommendations in regard to amendments elaborated on the bases of a memorandum signed between political parties “Georgian Dream” and “Citizens” and meant to be made to the Election Code. “Besides, for election legislation and practice refinement purposes, there have been expressed opinions about solution of those problems, which had negative impact on an equal and free election environment during the entire election cycle. Attention is also paid to issues that are not addressed in the proposed draft legislative amendments, but are crucial in terms of improvement of an electoral environment and increase of credibility of election results in the country”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. An online training course has been developed on sexual and reproductive health and rights of women with psychosocial needs through cooperation between the Public Defender of Georgia, UNFPA Georgia Office and Tbilisi State Medical University. “The innovative course will help certified doctors working in the field of obstetrics-gynecology and psychiatry deepen their knowledge in the direction of health management of women with psychosocial needs, their rights and the commitments undertaken by the State”. Read more… Source: www.ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) interviewed one of the miners employed at the Tkibuli mine in regard to hard working conditions in mines. ”Today, main concern of Tkibuli miners is lack of assurance that they will return safe and healthy back home after they go out. Security is a major challenge. There is not much difference compared to previous periods. No fundamental changes have been made to eliminate causes of numerous tragic accidents. The only thing the new company has come up with is to install gas appliances and evacuate people when the “lava” explodes. Nothing is changed in terms of both coal mining and processing. The problem that leads to so many tragic cases is extraction of coal through a “camera” system”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. The study revealed that there are significant challenges in terms of transparency of the judiciary. In particular:  "The Parliament has not yet adopted necessary legislative amendments for ensuring the accessibility of court decisions, which significantly undermines the rule of law in the country; Incomplete publication of public information by the courts and the High Council of Justice is problematic; There are some challenges related to the production and publication of statistics in the system of common courts, creating difficulties in terms of the accessibility of statistics". Read more… Source: idfi.ge