Tbilisi. On July 5, 6 and 7, 2021, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR) held a working meeting to enhance cooperation between the State Inspector’s Office and the Public Defender’s Office. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) publishes a study – ”Secret surveillance in Georgia – Practices of 2018-2020”. “Facts of spreading secret recordings and unlawful wiretapping, as well as impunity of perpetrators remain a serious challenge. All cases of unlawful covert surveillance and blackmail with private life related information require prompt and effective response. see more (geo)... source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center considers support of “Guardians of Rioni Valley” for the violent rally unacceptable. “For us, the Save Rioni Valley Movement was a unique attempt of democratic self-organization of our citizens in recent years, which used to give proper naming to the logic and order of unequal and inhuman economic and political development of the country since independence. However, recent decisions of leaders of the movement, unfortunately, do not leave us the opportunity to remain again allies of the Save Rioni Valley Movement in the fight against the unfair, non-transparent and undemocratic energy policy”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org

Tbilisi. USAID/PROLoG supported publication of a new Textbook on Violence against Women and Children and Domestic Violence. “The textbook provides definitions of legal acts with regard to violence against women and children and domestic violence. It also discusses Court decisions, which makes the textbook more practical. Mr. Goga Khatiashvili, LLM candidate and HR expert is the author of the Textbook”. The textbook can be downloaded here… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) has been engaged in the case of 11 journalists affected on July 5, 2021. An investigation into facts of violence committed against media representatives and obstruction of their journalistic activities has already been launched. At this stage the status of victim is granted to 2 journalists. The organization will continue to work on cases of affected journalists and provide public with up-to-date information on the progress of the investigation periodically. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. On June 30, 2021, the Public Defender of Georgia submitted a list of issues relating to the protection of the rights of the child to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (for the 90th pre-sessional working group meeting). Ombudsman indicates in the document that the ineffectiveness of the prevention of child suicide, response to domestic violence and child care system remains a challenge in Georgia in terms of the protection of the right to life. She also notes that the State fails to identify victims of sexual violence in a timely manner or to take effective measures to support and rehabilitate them. The Public Defender focuses on the extreme poverty of children in the country, the needs of children living and working on the streets, and the challenges faced by children with disabilities. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

TDI published new report: Freedom of Religion and Belief in Georgia amid and beyond the Covid pandemic The report covers the period of January 2020 - May 2021. report... source: tdi.ge

Tbilisi. European Union in Georgia and UNDP kicked off election monitoring of the Georgian media.  “The monitoring will go on throughout the entire electoral cycle, including an election campaign, election day and a post-election period (from July 2021 through March 2022). Covering 54 national and local media outlets, the monitoring will be implemented in partnership with Georgian civil society organizations: the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics, Internews Georgia and CRRC-Georgia”. Read more… Source: www.ge.undp.org

Tbilisi. To promote a uniform approach and standards to developing localized gender equality action plans across 64 municipalities, NALAG in partnership with UN Women adopted the “Guidelines on the Development of Municipal Gender Equality Action Plans”. Read more… Source: georgia.unwomen.org

Kakheti. Based on a quiz conducted by the Rondeli Foundation, an award ceremony was held on July 1, 2021, in Village Jokolo, Akhmeta Municipality. “Winners received awards such as laptops, tabs and smartphones. The project - Community Youth Engagement in Pankisi and Khulo - is implemented by the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies with the support of the US Embassy in Georgia and aims to raise civic awareness and informal education among young people (14-18-year-olds) in Pankisi Gorge and Khulo Municipality”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Media Checker publishes a list of journalists who were attacked by violent groups at a rally held against the “Pride March” planned to take place on July 5 in Tbilisi. “According to our information, about 40 journalists and cameramen are injured. Some of them are transferred to a hospital with severe injuries. The equipment of televisions and online publications is damaged”. Read more… Source: www.mediachecker.ge

Tbilisi. Green Alternative releases a statement and condemns Tbilisi Pride related developments that have been encouraged by the Government of Georgia and the Patriarchate. “We consider that both of them contributed to stirring up hatred a lot, which today, on July 5, resulted in attacks on journalists, raids on offices of movements and removal of the flag of the Council of Europe from the parliament building. Unfortunately for us, “Guardians of Rioni Valley”, who we considered to be allies in this resistance, took a completely unacceptable position regarding the Pride, while by participating in the human rights abusive action of today, they discredited the entire resistance movement. Thus, Green Alternative discontinues communication with the Save Rioni Valley movement”, - is noted in the statement of the organization. Read more... Source: The website of the organization on a social network

Tbilisi. “Government inaction encourages violence by aggressive groups against the media” – is noted in the statement of the Transparency International Georgia released on July 5. “We call on the authorities to ensure the safety of media representatives in a timely manner, to protect them from physical violence, and to create conditions for the safe conduct of professional activities. It is important for the authorities to investigate each incident effectively and punish all perpetrators with the full force of the law”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia considers the ongoing violent events on Rustaveli Avenue and near the office of the Shame Movement extremely disturbing. „By shifting responsibility onto the peaceful demonstrators, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili further exacerbated the already tense situation, after he described the March of Dignity as a cause for civil confrontation and said that "revanchist and radical" political forces were behind the Pride. The Public Defender once again reminds senior officials that the protection of freedom of peaceful expression and assembly, including by responding to counter-demonstrators' violent actions, is a constitutional obligation of the State and calls on the law enforcement agencies to use legal mechanisms to remove alleged offenders from public spaces“. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On June 29 graduation ceremony for the class of 2020 and welcoming reception for the new group of the program Capacity Building of the Georgian Leadership Community (CBGL) was held. “The Series of Policy Documents 2020 were distributed among the participants and guests at the ceremony. Throughout a seven-month-program the participants in parallel to attending lectures individually developed policy documents. Like in preceding years, selected best 9 policy documents were published separately.  The Rondeli Foundation has been implementing CBGL program since 2009, with the support of the Swedish International Development Agency (#Sida)”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Media Advocacy Coalition calls on the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia to ensure safety of media representatives and participants of “Pride March” while monitoring it. "We, the member organizations of the Coalition, consider that protection and recognition of rights of minorities is a common responsibility. While elimination of discrimination and violence is the special responsibility of the state”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. In recent years, there have been questions whether the competitions to select members of the Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC) have been carried out as a sound, competitive and independent process. The prevailing practice creates an impression of an imitated competition, which, as a result, diminishes the Commission’s undoubtedly important role and significance in the current politicized environment, strengthens the ruling authority’s influence on the agency, and discourages professional, independent cadres from participating in the selection process. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. On June 28, the Parliament of Georgia adopted the amendments to the Electoral Code, aimed at improving the electoral legislation. The working process lasted for several months and the final version of the document also reflected the provisions of the agreement between the political parties (the so-called Charles Michel Document). Overall, Transparency International Georgia welcomes the changes, as they provide for several important reforms, but there are also some issues that we consider problematic. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. On July 1, 2021, Public Defender Nino Lomjaria delivered a speech at the global Generation Equality Forum - "Central Role of Gender Equality in Strengthening Democratic Systems." “The purpose of the high-level meeting was to share the practices of different countries in the field of gender equality; It also provided a unique opportunity to deeply analyze cultural and geographical contexts and link them with women's empowerment strategies. In her speech, the Public Defender spoke about the importance of administration of justice on crimes of sexual violence, as well as the existence of a gender-sensitive criminal justice system, where crimes against women are properly recognized, classified and punished by the prosecution and the judiciary”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. A civil platform “No to Phobia” calls on the Ministry of Internal Affairs to protect the freedom of assembly and expression of participants of “Pride March” and ensure their safety. “On July 5, there is intended to hold “Pride March” to be organized by “Tbilisi Pride”. The event is threatened by violent, homophobic groups, which use social media during recent days to urge society openly and publicly to commit violence and announce a contraction against participants of the March”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. On 30 June, the representatives of the Czech non-governmental organization, Posy Bellum held an online training for the representatives of the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) and the other interested researchers about the methodology, structure and other details of the online archive – Memory of Nations of the organization. Read more… Source: idfi.ge