On February 21, 2020, the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI), in collaboration with its partner organizations, issued a statement in support of the Public Defender of Georgia.  International organizations refer to the state’s breach of the confidentiality of the Public Defender’s prison visits, and subsequent attacks on the institution and urge the state to promptly and thoroughly investigate such cases.  Read more…  Source: http://ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) releases a joint statement, through which the organizations respond to a crisis existing in Shukruti and Itkhvisi. “Confrontation of locals with “Georgian Manganese LLC” in the Shukruti village of Chiatura Municipality has resumed. The mine was also blocked on February 23 in the village of Itkhvisi, where locals, like those from Shukruti, link damage to their homes, ancillary buildings and agricultural lands to functioning of the mine and demand compensation of suffered loss from Georgian Manganese. In the current circumstance, it is important for the state to realize the crisis that exists in both Shukruti and Itkhvisi, take an active role and eliminate the social and environmental disaster, which the local population remains vulnerable to”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia publishes a blog post: Internet ownership in Georgia. “Importance of the Internet, in terms of both daily communication and access to information, increases day by day. A number of Internet users tends to be growing and, respectively, so does the Internet industry. Information, obtained through the Internet, acquires particular importance in the pre-election period and may play a key role on the background of increased threat of misinformation and low culture of media literacy. Taking into consideration high public interest, Transparency International Georgia studied the ownership of large operators, existing in both landline and mobile internet markets in 2018, as well as their business connections. The study also highlights issues related to distribution and use of the Internet among population”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: www.transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) publishes a blog post: Case of a victim of ill-treatment is still uninvestigated.  “Nikoloz Goguadze was detained on May 26, 2011while conducting a so called Kintsvisi special operation. During and after his detention, Goguadze was subjected to an inappropriate treatment by law enforcers in order to punish him and obtain his confession. The European Court found that the applicant suffered numerous injuries while having been under the control of the authorities, which injuries he did not have before his detention. The investigation initiated due to the fact of ill-treatment of Goguadze was ineffective and allowed significant gaps within its process. The case of Goguadze is included in “Cases of Tsintsabadze Group” and is subject to enhanced oversight by the Committee of Ministers. There are still challenges in performance of representatives of law enforcement agencies while conducting effective, timely and thorough investigations of committed crimes, providing the right qualification to a committed offence and ensuring proper involvement of a victim in the course of an investigation”, - is stated on the website of the organization.  Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) publishes a blog post: Violated rights of protesters and journalists have not been restored. “On the basis of Articles 166 and 173 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, police officers arrested several protesters for violating public order and disobeying police requirements. The detainees were not given sufficient time and means to properly defend themselves in court. The court sentenced them to 30 days of imprisonment. To date, actions taken by police officers against protesters and journalists have not been investigated, and no perpetrators have been identified and punished. The Code of Administrative Offenses, which was adopted during the Soviet Union and used to sentence protesters to imprisonment, fails to meet requirements of a due process, lacks sufficient procedural guarantees, and does not provide an opportunity of impartial and fair hearing”, - is stated on the website of GYLA. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) responds to high-profile cases of eviction/eviction attempts in recent months and evaluates the situation existing in this field in the country.  “Despite certain steps (including abolition of a so-called police eviction), the situation in this field has not improved substantially - much of the existing legislation and practices still remain inconsistent with international standards. A significant number of households at risk of eviction and those subject to eviction are endangered to appear in a condition of the highest level of social vulnerability, including to become homeless”, - is stated on the website of the organization.  Read more… Source: emc.org.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. IDFI published an article ‘Accessing Archives in a Post-Soviet World: The Georgian Experience’. The article tells about implementation of duties of positive changes in archival landscape (OGP) by government of Georgia. Commitments to bring about positive changes in archival landscape have been made by nearly 20 countries in their action plans for the Open Government Partnership (OGP). Commitments ranged from ensuring unhindered citizen access to public information and archival documents, adopting or amending relevant archival laws, declassifying archival materials, and digitizing paper-based documents to make them publicly available online. Read more… Source: The web-page of the organization

Imereti. Local Democracy Agency Georgia met with youth in Tskaltubo and Khoni Municipalities to discuss the importance of civic engagement and volunteering for young people in Georgia. The youth group was recently formed as part of the “Civil Society Development Initiative” project (also known as the Regional Hub project). The participants also got acquainted with the specifics of the work of the new volunteer portal, Time Bank. Read more… Source: Social network

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia is concerned about the developments in the Public Broadcaster’s Adjara TV and Radio. According to the Public Defender, the existing circumstances raise doubts about an attempt to change the editorial policy of the critical media outlet. This is particularly worrying given the large number of criminal cases directly or indirectly related to the owners of independent TV companies. Read more…  Source: http://ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. It counts already the second year that the first CSR related media competition, established by the Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG), runs successfully. “Winners of the media competition “Journalists for Corporate Social Responsibility 2019” have been revealed.  Best TV Report - Manana Gigineishvili – First Channel Best Radio Coverage - Nino Khugashvili - Radio Imedi  Best Online/Printed Article - Katie Ruth Davies - Georgia Today  Best Multimedia, Video Material - Nino Vartapetyan – TV Borjomi  Best Blog - Marika Mchedlidze - Forbes Georgia  The competition is carried out within the framework of the project “Civil Society Sustainability Initiative” with the support of the European Union and Konrad Adenauer Foundation”, - 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 February 18-21, in Brussels, civil society organizations will present a report on implementation of the Association Agreement. With the facilitation and support of Open Society Foundations, representatives of four civil society organizations are going to Brussels for an advocacy visit. More specifically: Vano Chkhikvadze and Sopho Asatiani (Open Society Georgia Foundation), Manana Kochladze (Green Alternative), Giorgi Oniani (Transparency International Georgia), Mikheil Benidze (International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy). The purpose of the visit is to inform representatives of the European Parliament, the European External Relations Office and missions of member states accredited to the European Union about results of a monitoring of objectives stipulated by the Association Agreement. The report reflects current situation in Georgia in terms of justice, corruption and environmental protection. There will also be discussed issues related to the elections during the visit. Read more… Source: https://osgf.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) publishes a blog post: Proper representation of interests of children is not still ensured. “The complainant requested at the national level to urge the court to take into consideration the desire of her minor nieces and designate the residence of their aunt as their place of residence. Social workers were engaged into the trial stage as representatives of the children. In the final decision, national courts assigned the children to their father. However, courts and social workers took the decision without taking into consideration best interests of the children and their desire to live with their aunt”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. On February 12-14, with the support and organization of the project “Better Commercial Law and Legal Practice in Georgia” co-financed by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the trainers of the enforcement system successfully completed the Course on Enhancing Adult Learning Methodology. Read more… Source: The page of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) publishes a blog post: How Georgia fulfills decisions of the European Court.  “So far, the European Court judgments and rulings on 129 cases against Georgia have been sent to the Committee of Ministers for supervision. Within the last 14 years, the Committee of Ministers terminated its supervision over 81 out of 129 cases, as it considered them executed. While the process of enforcement of the remaining 48 cases continues in the Committee of Ministers. Respectively, Georgia still has to execute judgments/rulings of the court on 48 cases”, - is stated on the website of the organization.  Read more…  Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Media Advocacy Coalition once again addresses international organizations in regard to processes that take place at Adjara Public Broadcaster. “We consider that developments at Adjara TV and Radio of Public Broadcaster are alarming. There is a real danger that the newly elected Board of Trustees and the management, appointed by it, will change a staff roster and separate part of employees from editorial policy. To our opinion, current situation is alarming and entails risks of violation of both media freedom and human rights. We, member organizations of the Coalition, will further engage in and protect the idea of public broadcasting within the frames of our competence, meanwhile, we urge our partner international organizations to support us in retaining guarantees for freedom of expression”, - is noted in the joint statement. Read more…  Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. As Transparency International Georgia informs, editorial independence of Adjara TV is in jeopardy. “Statements made by the director of Adjara TV in the last period of time, planned staff changes or disciplinary actions initiated against employees represent oppression and harassment committed by the management against critically minded journalists. Developments, taking place at the television, verify our concern that the real purpose of all these processes is to let the government attain full control over the editorial policy of the television. Transparency International Georgia once again expresses its solidarity with Adjara TV employees, who are fighting for fulfilment of their professional duties. We are prepared, if necessary, to protect their rights and provide legal assistance”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: www.transparency.ge

Tbilisi. GIZ’s – Law Program publishes a textbook on an European Law. Download link of the publication… “Hard copies of the publication will be delivered to the libraries of academic institutions. Interested persons can also get hard copies in our office. Distribution date will be announced on our Facebook page later”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: Social network page

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) responds to a ruling made by the Rustavi City Court on February 12, 2020, which has justified degrading treatment committed by Teimuraz Abazov, the former Mayor of Marneuli. According to the appraisal of the organization, “At the final stage of the process, the Prosecutor's Office unsubstantially and suspiciously reduced the charge to Teimuraz Abazov. Besides, despite sufficient evidences existing in the case, the court acquitted him, thus encouraging the dangerous practice of degrading treatment. The Rustavi City Court also acquitted three other people convicted for this case, who were accused of physical insult of the victim”. Read more… Source: gyla.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. According to information of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), today the Tbilisi Court of Appeals made an important decision related to combatting violence against women. “The court ruled that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia and the Office of the Prosecutor General were supposed to take respective measures to protect the victim of domestic violence who committed suicide. Prior to her death, the woman applied to relevant authorities for help 16 times and the state had to know that her life and health were in danger. State authorities have been charged to compensate the loss in favor of the mother of the deceased”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. On February 10, 2020, Public Defender filed an amicus curiae brief with the Constitutional Court of Georgia relating Nikanor Melia’s constitutional suit that argues the constitutionality of the Parliament’s decision to deprive the MP from his authority. “According to Tbilisi City Court’s ruling of 2 December 2019, Nukanor Melia was fined and deprived of his right to hold public office, on the basis of which, he was deprived of his parliamentary power on December 12”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge