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UN Special Rapporteur Publishes Critical Report

February 14, 2012

Nino Tarkhnishvili, Radio Liberty

UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association Maina Kiai visited Georgia for a week. He held meeting with the representatives of both government as well as human rights NGOs and Trade Unions.

After the visit he presented smaller size critical report on February 13th. Unequal political environment, restriction of right of peaceful assembly – this is the incomplete list of the issues the improvement of which he recommended to the government.

Human rights defender Maina Kiai was appointed to the post of UN Special Rapporteur in May of 2011. The mandate which determines his rights and responsibilities in the first place envisages studying situation in the countries where the violation of freedom of peaceful assembly and oppression, violence, persecution and intimidation are observed against the people who apply this right. Maina Kiai took a week to study the issues of peaceful assembly in Georgia. Six-page smaller type preliminary report is critical and it includes numerous recommendations to the government.

After the first several paragraphs where Maina Kiai thanks government representatives for cooperation, UN Special Rapporteur mostly presents critical opinions regarding the issues of peaceful assembly and association. Unequal political environment, restriction of peaceful assembly, problems in the Trade Unions, Labor Code, and events of May 26th of 2011 – this is the list of issues included in Maina Kiai’s report.

One of the first topics discussed in the report is the changes made in the Law on Political Unions of Citizens at the end of last year: “I have observed that these amendments, which at times use ambiguous language, are fuelling an overall climate of distrust, and appear to largely violate international human rights law,” – Maina Kiai states.

“NGOs and any legal entity and person must have the right to support any candidate, or political persuasion of their choice. It would appear that these recent amendments have been motivated by a desire to control the political activities of a specific individual, rather than for objective and sustainable reasons,” – Maina Kiai states.

Freedom of peaceful assembly – this is number second issue in the report of Maina Kiai. Restriction to have at least 20 meters from the entrances of administrative buildings during the assembly is noted to be one of the problematic provisions: “We must remember that the Rose Revolution did not respect the requirement to have at least 20 metres from the entrance of public buildings to assemble. I am concerned that these restrictions may have been put in place to prevent citizens from expressing their views through peaceful protest. Moreover, I am also concerned by the fact that the 15 minutes warning rule for forcibly dispersing assemblies falls reasonably short of international standards. Such a short limited period of time can invite unnecessary violence from law enforcement officials,” – UN Special Rapporteur states.

Law enforcement took exactly 15 minutes to start dispersing participants of Public Assembly action on May 26th of 2011. Events of May 26th are described in the next chapter of Maina Kiai’s report. I heard testimonies of action participants, NGO sector and representatives of Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia which are absolutely contradictory. That is why I think that it is essential to conduct new, independent and transparent investigation, Maina Kiai states. “A senior government official indicated that the events of 26 May last year constituted the “greatest threat to the life of our nation”. However, all elements suggest that the reaction of the Government was clearly disproportional,” – Maina Kiai notes.

One more topic emphasized by UN Special Rapporteur is the hard conditions in which the Trade Unions operate. According to him, he heard the stories of citizens who were dismissed from job for their political affiliations. He also notes on the Labor Code of Georgia which according to him enables employer to dismiss employee without any explanations.

Ombudsman Giorgi Tughushi underlines the significance of visit of UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. He thinks that his visit was timely because 2012 is the year of elections. “I think his recommendations will help to improve the situation. Big part of the problems reflected in the preliminary document is also reflected in the report of Ombudsman. I would like to emphasize on the events of May 26th as well as the legislation which regulates the freedom of assemblies and manifestations,” – Giorgi Tughushi notes.

As UN Special Rapporteur explains he will dedicate a comprehensive report to his one-week visit in Georgia and will send it to Georgian government in June. According to him the report will present the comprehensive analysis of the situation also the recommendations to the government.

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