Tbilisi. Disabled Peoples’ Organizations (DPOs) voice their concerns about the way in which the Government of Georgia is treating people with disabilities (PWDs), providing free medical care without any co-payment only to those who have severe disabilities. “According to the statement issued by 30 DPOs, this differentiation is open to interpretation and leaves many PWDs without the needed healthcare. In an open letter addressed to the Prime Minister of Georgia and the Minister of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health, and Social Affairs, the DPOs request that all children and adults with disabilities be provided full medical coverage without the 20% co-payment, as the latter often exceeds the amount of monthly social assistance these individuals receive and leave them and their families facing an incredible financial burden to stay safe”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: www.epfound.ge

Tbilisi. On November 5/6 online training was conducted for Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti police staff on the topic GBV, domestic violence and legal mechanisms, led by Mari Meskhi and Nodar saalashvili. The training was conducted within the frame of the project "Safe Environment for Women" which is implemented by the Anti-Violence Network of Geotgia in partnership with Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB). Read more… Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Imereti. LDA Georgia within the framework of the project “Civil Society Development Initiative", has held a summary meeting with civil society organizations in Kutaisi municipality. “The attendees got information about total quantity of the meetings and activities, which were implemented during the project. Also, the final meeting focused on the importance of implementing the project for the development of civil society in Imereti region. This project is implemented in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), Civil Society Institute (CSI), Training and Consulting Center (CTC), Georgia's Strategic Research and Development Center (CSRDG) and the Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC)”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. During the ad hoc visit of the Special Preventive Group of the Public Defender's Office to the polling station opened at Ksani Establishment No 15 on October 31, 2020, the aim of which was to check both the general situation and the free realization of prisoners’ right to vote, several convicts obstructed the fulfillment of duties by representatives of the Public Defender and verbally abused them. Representatives of the prison administration, including the director of the establishment, witnessed the incident, but did not respond properly. After the summary protocols of the polling station protocols were published, non-governmental organizations filed a complaint against the majoritarian protocol of the polling station opened at Ksani Establishment No 15, as 641 prisoners participated in the majoritarian elections, but allegedly not all of them were constituents of the Mtskheta election district. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

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. Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) releases the visualization on case statistics of the European court of Human Rights Concerning Georgia. “The European Court of Human Rights heard a total of 104 cases against Georgia in 1999-2019. In 83 cases the Court delivered a judgement against the state, finding at least one violation of the convention and in 17 cases the court found no violation”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. As the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) considers, there are significant questions regarding constitutionality of fines to be applied in case of violation of COVID-19 related restrictions, however, the recent amendment to the rule of wearing a face mask has entailed a completely different problem of constitutionality and legality of punishment of a person. “In particular, the Parliament of Georgia has determined breach of the rule of wearing a face mask to be a separate violation, however, it is quite clear that Article 4211 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Georgia does not require wearing a face mask in the open space and neither it grants the Government of Georgia the authority to broaden content of the restricted action”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Civil society organizations of Georgia evaluate the 2020 parliamentary elections. “On October 31, the parliamentary elections in Georgia were carried out with a renewed electoral system. Citizens of Georgia had the opportunity to elect a legislative body by a model close to the proportional system, which fact should be assumed as an important step forward. Despite this change, we consider that the Government of Georgia has failed to ensure conduct of the elections in accordance with democratic standards. Moreover, according to our appraisal, the 2020 parliamentary elections were the least democratic and free among those carried out within the period of governance of the “Georgian Dream””. The organizations demand to recount results of those polling stations, in protocols of which there have been detected imbalance, as well as to review submitted complaints lawfully and impartially. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia intends to challenge a proportional summary protocol of the polling station N08.10.99 of the Gldani district, as there is an imbalance of 63 votes between the number of incoming voters and votes received by parties as well as invalid ballots. “Our attention was drawn to the obvious difference between two signatures of the same member of the election commission put on a summary protocol of voting results of the polling station N08.10.99 and a correction protocol of the same polling station uploaded on the CEC website. We consider that the investigative body should get interested in the issue of different signatures of the same person on two documents and, in the circumstances of an objective investigation, determine whether or not these signatures are falsified”. Read more… Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association has filed 304 complaints on the polling day and in the post-election period. “The GYLA demands the invalidation of summary protocols and recounting of votes in 177 precincts. In the majority of appealed protocols, we have observed cases of imbalance and/or modification of data. The district election commissions are supposed consider to the filed complaints within two days”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is one of the world's leading international initiatives aiming to increase the accountability of government agencies in the Member States, to raise standards of openness and transparency, and to strengthen citizen involvement in decision-making processes. “IDFI has been actively involved in OGP activities since 2011. The organization advocates various initiatives directed at raising government openness and increasing citizen engagement. Giorgi Kldiashvili, executive director of IDFI, one of the faces and global supporters of the OGP, was elected as the member of the Steering Committee in June 2017, representing civil society. Giorgi Kldiashvili was nominated as a candidate for the Steering Committee membership by Nils Scott, UN Ambassador to Georgia. Giorgi’s nomination was also recommended by the representatives of local and international organizations. The membership term of IDFI Executive Director Giorgi Kldiashvili in OGP Steering Committee expired in October 2020”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Mtskheta-Mtianeti. On November 1, 2020, within the “Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative” project and with the support of the Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC), Caucasus Cycling Network held a cycling competition “Zhinvali XC Adventure 2020” in Dusheti Municipality. The competition aims to promote a healthy lifestyle and encourage volunteering. “Zhinvali XC Adventure 2020” is one of the winning initiatives of the Contest for Volunteering Initiatives announced by the Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC). The Contest for Volunteering Initiatives is implemented within the ”Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative” project. The contest aims to support the promotion of volunteering, raise awareness of civil society, and increase their participation in civic activities through volunteering.  ”Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative” was developed and is implemented by the consortium lead by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in cooperation with four Georgian Civil Society Organizations: Civil Society Institute (CSI), Center for Training and Consultancy (CTC), Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG) and Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC). The project is funded by the European Union and co-funded by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Read more… Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association calls on the Ministry of Internal Affairs to respond effectively to facts of violence against media. “At the polling station N79 in Gldani district, a journalist of “Publika” was attacked by one of the people standing on the perimeter of the polling station. It is also noteworthy that this person confronted other media representatives too and publicly swore them”. Read more… Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. European Union releases the statement by the spokesperson on the parliamentary elections.  "According to the joint statement of preliminary findings and conclusions of the international observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the Parliamentary Assemblies of the OSCE, Council of Europe and NATO, the elections were competitive and, overall, fundamental freedoms were respected. The observers noted, however, that the conduct of the elections was impacted by pervasive allegations of pressure on voters and blurring of the line between the ruling party and the state throughout the campaign and on election day, reducing public confidence in some aspects of the process". Read more… Source: eeas.europa.eu

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia is trying to examine all possible criticisms concerning the vote tally protocols. At this point, a review of the vote tally protocols supplied by our observers from the electoral precincts has shown that there is the so-called excessive imbalance in approximately 7% of the total number of protocols, i.e. the sum of the votes cast for electoral entities and the invalidated ballots are larger than the number of voter signatures, which should not be the case if all procedures were conducted correctly. The imbalance is significant in one-third of these cases. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The U.S. Embassy welcomes the high voter turnout during yesterday’s parliamentary elections and applauds the people of Georgia for their dedication to democracy even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands of responsible election workers and professional observation groups around the country deserve recognition and thanks for their work supporting voters’ right to be heard through the ballot box. “The U.S. Embassy shares OSCE/ODIHR’s initial assessment that “Georgia’s parliamentary elections were competitive and, overall, fundamental freedoms were respected. Nevertheless, pervasive allegations of pressure on voters and blurring of the line between the ruling party and the state reduced public confidence in some aspects of the process.” We call on all parties to address these deficiencies in advance of the second round and in future elections. These efforts to corrupt the electoral process through voter intimidation, vote buying, interfering with ballot secrecy, blurring of party and official activities, and violence against election observers and journalists, while not sufficient to invalidate the results, continue to mar Georgia’s electoral process and are unacceptable”. Read more… Source: ge.usembassy.gov

Tbilisi. The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) monitored the October 31, 2020 Parliamentary Elections in all electoral districts around Georgia. “According to information obtained through the PVT methodology, ISFED concludes that in the vote tabulation process there was a tendency of mismatches in the summary protocols, when the number of ballot papers cast exceeded the number of signatures in voters lists, which represents a violation. Additionally, at certain polling stations the mismatch was significantly higher than individual cases. Such violations were reported at 8% of polling stations. A tendency of this scale has not been documented in the past years, and hence, this requires particular attention. Although such tendency could have had certain influence on the results of electoral subjects, the PVT analysis shows that its maximum impact on election results would be less than 4.1%. This tendency endangers trust towards the electoral process, and requires immediate reaction from the electoral administration”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender’s Office was actively monitoring the parliamentary elections of October 31 within the framework of the authority granted by the legislation of Georgia. “The Public Defender of Georgia condemns the obstruction of professional activities of journalists and violent actions against them. The Public Defender explains that the Criminal Code of Georgia sets a high standard in relation to journalists’ professional activities. Thus, the Public Defender of Georgia calls on the law enforcement agencies to launch an investigation into each incident directed against journalists under Article 154 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which pertains to unlawful obstruction of journalist's professional activities, and to take appropriate measures to identify all persons involved in the incidents”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) was monitoring the October 31, 2020 Parliamentary Elections in all electoral districts around Georgia. “According to information obtained through the PVT methodology, ISFED concludes that the voting process took place mostly in compliance with the rules prescribed by the law in the majority of polling stations across Georgia. However, the secrecy of vote, inking, casting of lots, COVID-19 regulations and other procedural violations remained problematic. Facts pf physical violence and attacks against media representatives at some polling stations and in the vicinity was extremely problematic”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia monitored the 31 October 2020 parliamentary elections with some 600 local observers. “The analysis of the 170 violations that we recorded and the 46 complaints that we filed makes it clear that the 31 October elections were a step back compared with the 2016 parliamentary elections. The election day was marked by physical confrontations outside the polling stations, obstruction of the work of observers and journalists, including physical attacks on journalists and damaging of their property, violation of the secrecy of vote in the polling stations, alleged instances of bribing of the voters, and other significant and relatively insignificant violations”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. In the opinion of the GYLA, the day of the parliamentary elections of 31 October 2020 passed with significant shortcomings at every stage of the polling day. “The tense atmosphere during the day affected both voter behavior and the monitoring of the process itself. Violence and problems related to free expression of voters’ will are among the leading characteristics of yesterday’s elections. Added to this is the disorganization of precinct election commissions (PECs), including in the area of enforcement of the rules issued to contain the pandemic”. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia (TI Georgia) will deploy 600 observers to monitor the parliamentary elections on October 31, 2020. Our static observers will cover 400 precincts throughout Tbilisi. In addition, 100 mobile groups are mobilized to observe the elections. Read more… Source: transparency.ge