Amnesty International Report on Georgia: Selective justice and political persecution of opponents

Amnesty International report on Georgia

Amnesty International has published its annual report on the state of human rights, saying that selective justice and politically motivated persecution of opponents remain a problem in Georgia.

The report states that:

● Freedom of speech in Georgia is even more limited.

● Increasingly aggressive rhetoric and defamation cases by government officials against critical journalists, and failure to investigate crimes committed against journalists, have had a negative impact on freedom of expression.

● The cases of Mikheil Saakashvili, Niki Gvaramia, Mamuka Khazaradze, Badri Japaridze are violations of the right to fair trial.

● Despite medical reports indicating that Mikheil Saakashili may have been poisoned and is at “significantly increased risk of death”, Tbilisi City Court refused to stay the sentence on medical grounds.

● Women/girls continued to experience high levels of discrimination and violence:

“Between January and September, 14 murders and 23 attempted murders of women were reported in the media, raising concerns that femicide and other forms of gender-based violence continue.”

● The lack of effective investigations into cases of torture and other ill-treatment remains a problem both in government-controlled areas and in conflict zones.

• Political Prisoners and Restrictions on Media Freedom in Georgia – US State Department Report
• EU foreign ministers demand sanctions against oligarchs in Georgia and Moldova – POLITICO

On March 21, 2023, the US Department of State published a report on the state of human rights in Georgia in 2022. The document lists cases of abuse, torture, political imprisonment, and treatment of Saakashvili.

According to the White House, “the failure of the government to punish the organizers of July 5” led to impunity for the violence. The document mentions the independence of the judiciary in Georgia along with problematic investigations and politically motivated prosecutions.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said that they were not interested in the US State Department report because it was “prepared on the basis of information provided by ‘elite NGOs’.”