Georgia: Unprecedented Police Brutality Requires Firmer International Response

The unprecedented police brutality against peaceful protesters in the cities of Tbilisi and Batumi must be stopped. The international community must react urgently to address the escalating human rights crisis by investigating and holding accountable those responsible.

Over the past five days Georgian police have indiscriminately used rubber bullets, pepper spray, tear gas and water cannons against the protesters. In many instances police officers did not have any identification signs and attacked protesters without warning. Some victims reported receiving burns, allegedly due to chemical irritants dissolved in the water used by the water cannons. According to local human rights monitors, riot police encircled the demonstrators and attacked them instead of dispersing them.  

A coalition of Georgian civil society organisations have documented dozens of peaceful protesters being severely beaten by masked police over the past four days as they gathered to protest outside parliament. Individuals were thrown to the ground, punched, kicked, and hit with batons to body and head. Instances of gang beatings of protesters by police, as well as beatings of those lying on the ground, have been documented. 

The beatings reportedly persisted during transportation to pre-trial detention centres and in detention. Members of the Georgian Ombudsman’s office visited 156 detainees held in detention centres across the country, and 124 persons (80%), reported having been subjected to violence and ill-treatment.

According to the Georgian Health Ministry 27 protesters and 16 police officers have been hospitalised since protests broke out on 28 November. Given the numerous videos posted to social media of police beating protesters, the actual number of injured protesters may be higher. Hundreds more were arrested. Lawyers for those detained report individuals leaving police detention with broken bones, injuries to their faces and eye sockets, open wounds, and severe poisoning from tear gas and pepper spray.               

Numerous testimonies indicate that police officers also deliberately tracked and targeted journalists who attempted to report on the crackdown against the protesters. Over 50 journalists were physically injured by police as well as prevented from carrying out their professional activities by destroying  equipment.      

Torture is prohibited under Georgia’s 1995 Constitution, and through its ratification of the UN Convention Against Torture and the European Convention on Human Rights. 

The protests were triggered by the decision of the ruling party ‘Georgian Dream’ to suspend EU accession negotiations until 2028 following parliamentary elections in October which the EU Parliament resolved to be “neither free nor fair” and in which international monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) found a “widespread climate of pressure and party-organised intimidation before and during the elections”.

In May this year, the United Against Torture Consortium (UATC) and national members issued a statement calling for the Government of Georgia to end violence against peaceful protesters, investigate all credible allegations of torture and other ill-treatment, and provide compensation for victims of human rights abuses. Since that time UATC is unaware of any such investigations being undertaken by the State. 

The UATC backs calls from Georgian civil society for the Ministry of Internal Affairs to respect freedom of assembly during the protests, stop torture, ill-treatment and other violent reprisals against protesters, provide comprehensive reparation to survivors, ensure the release of all persons unlawfully detained, and mandate all police officers to wear visible identification tags to facilitate accountability.

We also urge Georgia’s Special Investigative Service to promptly and effectively investigate all credible allegation of torture and other ill-treatment against protesters and detainees by security forces and to forward the findings to the Prosecutor’s Office for appropriate prosecution. 

Finally, we call on the UN Human Rights Council, EU, OSCE and Council of Europe to take urgent actions to help protect protesters, investigate abuses, and promote accountability for perpetrators of crimes and human rights violations. This must include a combination of support to local civil society actors, independent international human rights investigations, and pressure on Georgian Government actors.

About the Consortium: The United Against Torture Consortium pools the strengths and expertise of six leading anti-torture organisations (IRCT, OMCT, FIACAT, APT, Omega Research Foundation, and REDRESS) in partnership with over 200 civil society organisations in more than 100 countries, to strengthen and expand the anti-torture movement. The European Union funds the project.

The present statement was issued by IRCT, OMCT, Omega Research Foundation, and REDRESS.

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Image courtesy of the BBC. Georgian police disperses protests against the results of the parliamentary election held on 26 October 2020.