Degnan responds to criticism of State Department report on Georgia

Degnan responds to Garibashvili

US Ambassador Kelly Degnan responded to criticism of the US State Department report on Georgia by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, who stated that the document “is based on biased and unfair conclusions.” Degnan says that all the information in the report has been verified and confirmed.

According to the ambassador, State Department reports are focused on problems in the country, not on political parties or specific individuals.

“These reports are an excellent source of information about urgent needs and gaps in the country, as well as an opportunity to analyze what has changed over the years, such as what is getting better,” Degnan said.

The goal of the US State Department reports is to inform the population of Georgia about how to “build democracy and protect people’s rights”, Kelly Degnan said.

“We hope that the reports we issue each year will be seen as an important and necessary resource.”

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On March 21, Irakli Garibashvili stated that he was not interested in the US State Department’s report. According to the prime minister, “the report is largely based on false information and the government is ‘not interested’.” According to Garbiashvili, the report is based on biased and unfair conclusions submitted by so-called “elite NGOs”.

“The facts presented [the case of Afgan Mukhtarli of July 5, 2021] do not correspond to reality, they are just speculations, conclusions and generalizations based on false, fabricated information of some politically engaged people. We are not interested. 10 years ago and even earlier, when, for example, there was systemic corruption, systematic crime in the country, people were tortured, raped, killed, businesses were seized, there was no freedom of the media at all, there was not a single free TV channel, I don’t remember these facts The State Department mentioned in the report that it is regrettable,” Garibashvili said.

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On March 20, the United States Department of State published a report on the state of human rights in Georgia in 2022. The document refers, in particular, to the presence of political prisoners in Georgia, for example, about the case of the director of the Mtavari TV company Nika Gvaramia. In addition, facts about torture or inhuman, cruel and degrading treatment are included, in particular about how the government treats ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, who is in custody.

According to the White House, “the failure of the government to punish the organizers of the July 5 pogroms” [talking about the violence committed by homophobic groups against members of the public who were supposed to hold the March of Dignity as part of the Tbilisi Pride, as well as members of the media] led to impunity. The document also mentions the judicial system in Georgia as a serious problem, along with insufficiently objective investigations and politically motivated persecutions.