Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) publishes a study: One year of the de facto state of emergency in Georgia and human rights during the pandemic. According to the study, “The Parliament fails to perform an effective control of executive authorities during the pandemic. The curfew does not meet the principle of proportionality. There are questions as to how effective the curfew is in terms of persuading population to stay at home. More than 100 000 fines have been imposed for violation of COVID regulations. About 60 000 of them are unlawful. The amount of fines exceeds GEL 50 million. The process of introduction and enforcement of COVID regulations raises increased risks of violation of fundamental human rights”… Read more… Source:idfi.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) considers that the election of judge members of the High Council of Justice is an internal clan rotation. “Main challenge for the justice system today is clan governance and its alliance with the Government. Observation of this process over the years shows that it is mainly carried out in a non-competitive environment and, as a rule, results in electing leaders of an influential group of judges to the Council, most of whom hold or have held managerial positions for years. Elections are associated with renewal and new perspectives, however, in this case, expectations are groundless”, - is noted in the statement. Read more… Source:gyla.ge

Imereti. Local Democracy Agency Georgia (LDA Georgia) is implementing the project "Increasing the Quality of Citizen Involvement in Local Self-Government" in eleven (11) municipalities of Imereti region (Baghdati, Zestaponi, Samtredia, Vani, Khoni, Tskaltubo, Sachkhere, Chiatura, Kharagauli, Terjola, Tkibuli). Within the framework of the project, training was conducted with the members of the Civic Advisory Council of the Mayor of Kharagauli Municipality. Read more… Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. The Dean of the Department of Social and Political Sciences of Tbilisi State University (TSU) considered the appeal of the Public Defender's Office and replaced homophobic literature with other textbooks.  The Public Defender’s Office, on the basis of the application of the Equality Movement, studied the mandatory literature of the elective discipline of political culture of the Department of Social and Political Sciences. The study revealed that the educational material contained homophobic content. The Public Defender’s Office appealed to the administration of the department and as a result of constructive cooperation with the Dean, the discriminatory educational material was removed from the mandatory literature. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Georgia is preparing a national strategy for low-emission development. „The strategy will focus on transforming the economy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and will include specific low-carbon development scenarios for key sectors. The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture is taking the lead in this effort with support from the European Union in Georgia and UNDP Georgia. The EU and UNDP assistance draws on the EU-funded #EU4Climate programme“. Read more…  Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. The EU and UNDP helped Georgian Parliament create a textbook for schoolchildren, offering an entertaining way to learn about parliament, parliamentary tradition, and citizen engagement in decision-making. Next year, it will be piloted in 50 public schools in Tbilisi and eastern Georgia. On 22 and 23 May, public school teachers took a training course, designed to help them make full use of a new textbook and learn about civic education methodology. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers' Association (GYLA) prepared the Research - „Judicial System Reform in Georgia (2013-2021) “. “The purpose of the document is a systematic analysis of the judicial reform strategy and dynamics developed during the ruling of the Georgian Dream. The research assesses the significant reforms implemented in the Common Court System during 2013-2021, the dynamics of transformations and their impact on existing challenges. The document consists of three parts. The first assesses the general court administration system, the managing collegial bodies as well as the institutions within the court; The second discusses the career of a judge and their disciplinary issues; The third part concentrates on the analysis of the guarantees significant for the individual independence of the judges as well as the management of different courts”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Samegrelo. UN Resident Coordinator in Georgia, Ms. Sabine Makhli has visited the Crisis Center for the victims of domestic violence and the survivors of violence in the village of Tsaishi, Samegrelo. “The Crisis Center in Tsaishi was launched in 2019 as a result of cooperation between the non-governmental organization "Sakhli" and the local municipality within the framework of the UN Joint Program on Gender Equality, supported by the Swedish Government. The Crisis Center offers psychological, social and economic assistance, as well as provides rehabilitation, medical, legal and referral services to the victims of domestic violence and the survivors of the violence”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Samtskhe-Javakheti. Regarding to the information of Transparency International Georgia, Arali, the construction company that donates to the Georgian Dream, won tenders worth of GEL 181,923,427 GEL in 2011-2021, out of which GEL 25,816,009 (14.1% of the total amount received from tenders) won without competition, and GEL 17,447,628 (9.5%) at the expense of disqualifying its competitors. Transparency International Georgia calls upon the Anti-Corruption Agency of the State Security Service of Georgia to study the state procurements of Arali LTD and find out whether there were any alleged corruption deals between the company and the procuring entities. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. According to the statement made by the UN Children's Fund, monitoring of remaining large size institutions for children should be carried out by relevant agencies of the country in order to make sure rights of children are fully protected. “In regard to remaining large size institutions for children, there should be developed and strengthened alternative services within the framework of the common strategy for deinstitutionalization. These services should clearly outline relevant goals and objectives, which in turn would facilitate gradual replacement of mentioned institutions with family and community based services. At the same time, all relevant state institutions should be able to conduct monitoring at all sites where children are in order to make sure their rights are protected”, - is noted in the statement of the organization. Read more… Source: www.unicef.org

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) submitted alternative reports to the Parliament, in which the organization appraises individual and general measures taken by the state in order to enforce decisions and rulings made by the European Court of Human Rights against Georgia and, in addition, calls on the state to take specific steps. Alternative reports submitted by GYLA in 2021 touch upon cases of Tsintsabadze and Identoba Group. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center publishes a video of members of the Solidarity Platform, activists of various ethnic and religious groups, expressing their solidarity with defenders of the Rioni Valley. The Solidarity Platform aims to connect activists working in regions populated by religious and ethnic minorities and strengthen their influence and participation in public life. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia calls on the Parliament of Georgia to expeditiously adopt the updated rules for the selection of members of the High Council of Justice, which will ensure greater transparency and trust in the justice system and reduce the spheres of influence on the judiciary. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Samegrelo. Ms. Sabine Machl, the UN Resident Coordinator in Georgia, met with the local women entrepreneurs and farmers in Zugdidi. “Participants provided information about the current economic situation in the region, the impact of the pandemic on small and medium-size businesses, challenges and needs. The second part of the meeting will be focused on the discussion about the challenges of women entrepreneurs. The women attendees of the meeting lead small and medium size businesses. They developed their business with the support UN Women project "Joint Action for Women's Economic Empowerment in Georgia" funded by the Norwegian Government”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. Signatory organizations call on judges of common courts of Georgia not to hold the XXIX Extraordinary Conference on May 26, at which it is planned to elect 4 judge members of the High Council of Justice of Georgia. “Despite the fact that 9 (4 judges and 5 non-judges) out of 15 members of the Council will have to be re-elected during the 2021 spring session, the Parliament of Georgia has not yet started to work on changing the rule of staffing the Council. In view of this, holding an extraordinary conference and election of judge members of the Council in accordance with the current legislation contradicts the spirit of the April 19 agreement and destroys possibility to make sure judge members of the Council are selected through a fair process, while selected candidates have high public and professional confidence and legitimacy". Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center (formerly EMC) has presented a document appraising police measures applied during protest rallies carried out against construction of the Namakhvani HPP. The document analyzes how lawful and proportional police coercion measures used by the state were during protests. Read more… Source: The website of the organization on a social network

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Samegrelo. UN Resident Coordinator in Georgia, Dr. Sabine Machl met with the representatives of local NGOs, IDP and conflict affected women in Anaklia. “The participants discussed the relevance of the localization of the 2018-2020 National Action Plan of Georgia for Implementation of the UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security and participation of IDP and conflict affected women in the decision-making, peace and security processes. The women shared with the UN Resident Coordinator their concerns and challenges as well as their ideas on how to address these”. Read more… Source: The organizations page on the social network

Samtskhe-Javakheti. According to information released by the office of the Public Defender, representatives of the Ombudsman revisited the Ninotsminda boarding school for children, however, they again were not allowed to carry out the monitoring regardless of temporary measures issued by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. Representatives of the institution did not express willingness to be interviewed and stated an instruction of its head as the reason for it. “Representatives of the Ombudsman also visited a Ninotsminda public school #4. It is noteworthy that no child from the boarding school went to the public school, which fact indicates that the institution was informed by state agencies about the possible visit of the Public Defender. An interview with the principal of the school revealed once again that children attend the school accompanied by supervisors. Furthermore, supervisors remain in the school building during lessons and wait for children there. Regarding this practice, the administration of the school was given a recommendation on the spot as it violates the best interests of the child. The Public Defender of Georgia once again calls on all relevant state agencies to immediately apply temporary measures issued by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and ensure that an independent monitoring body performs its authority at the boarding school”, - is stated on the website of the Ombudsman. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center publishes a video about violations related to the Namakhvani construction. “Environmental and construction permits for the cascade of Namakhvani hydropower plants were issued under specific conditions without mandatory examinations and thorough study, as stipulated by law. More than a year has passed since permits were issued, however, the company has not completely submitted additional inspections to the state yet. With works carried out on the site, Enka violates conditions of both environmental and construction permits”. Read more… Source:socialjustice.org.ge

Abkhazia. USAID/Georgia is providing emergency health assistance to help communities in Abkhazia respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Since June 2020, we have partnered with UNICEF to provide 6,000 liters of hand sanitizer and 350 hand sanitizer dispensers to all public schools across Abkhazia. This is just one example of how USAID/Georgia is helping combat COVID-19 in all regions of Georgia, including Abkhazia”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. On May 17, 2021, the Public Defender published Report on Positive Obligations of Law Enforcement Officers to Protect the Equality of Vulnerable Groups. “The report assesses the effectiveness of investigations of alleged hate crimes committed against Jehovah's Witnesses and members of the LGBT+ community in 2015-2020. The report also highlights the recent violations of the freedom of assembly and freedom of expression of LGBT+ persons. At the end of the document, the Public Defender offers recommendations to the law enforcement agencies relating to the measures to be taken to eliminate hate crimes and improve the realization of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly of LGBT+ people”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge