Georgia’s Human Rights Crisis: Repression of Protest and Civil Society

By Toby Collis, Lawyer, European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC)

Georgia is facing a human rights crisis. So says the title of a recent report by a collection of prominent Georgian human rights NGOs, as the country is suffering democratic backsliding, the repression of civil society and independent media, and is on a path to an authoritarian State. The European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC) is a human rights litigation NGO based in London which has long worked with civil society organisations in Georgia to seek justice and human rights accountability.

An issue of significant concern in Georgia is the repression of the right to protest, the use of physical brutality against protestors, impunity for police officers, and the arbitrary use of administrative and criminal penalties against protestors.

Given these current events, a protest case co-litigated by EHRAC and the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), which was heard recently by the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR and is awaiting judgment, has taken on national significance. This case – Tsaava and Others v Georgia – concerned the misuse of less-lethal weapons (particularly rubber bullets) against protestors during the dispersal of a mass protest in June 2019 in Georgia, and ineffective investigations into allegations of ill-treatment by police forces, including using blanket amnesties. The 26 applicants in this case were protestors and journalists injured by rubber bullets or beaten by police officers, with some suffering life-changing injuries.

Whilst we were preparing for this hearing, further events led to ongoing mass protests in Georgia. These included the attempts to introduce various foreign agent laws, the disputed general elections of October 2024, and the suspension of EU accession negotiations in November 2024. Police used tear gas, water cannons and pepper spray to disperse these protests, often without adequate warning. 282 incidents of ill-treatment by police officers have been identified by the Georgian Public Defenders Office. A common approach used by police officers is the arbitrary arrest and beating of protestors on the street, who are then dragged away from public view and the media, often into minibuses, to receive more brutal punishment. The beatings are often accompanied by humiliation, threats and insults and the illegal seizure of belongings. There is evidence that facial recognition technology has been used to identify protesters. The actions sit within a tightened legislative framework for peaceful protest, including the banning of face coverings for protestors and disproportionately increased penalties. Those facts remain in impunity.

These actions have been subject to sustained international condemnation, including the application of sanctions by the UK Government for senior Georgian officials involved in the suppression of these protests.

EHRAC is continuing to seek international accountability and reparation for the victims of these recent events. However, EHRAC’s partners are working under difficult conditions and face significant capacity constraints, given the application of repressive laws against NGOs (particularly Georgia’s FARA and the Law on Grants), investigations into their finances by Georgia’s Anti-Corruption Bureau, and the freezing of their bank accounts, putting pressure on their ability to continue to act as public watchdogs. This erosion of civil society will make human rights accountability all the more difficult in Georgia, showing the ongoing need for solidarity and support by the international community.

This article was first published in the Community Corner of our Just Reparation newsletter. These contributions are invaluable in enriching our collective understanding and fostering meaningful dialogue within the reparation community of practice. If you would like to be featured, we encourage you to submit your contributions to [email protected].