Human Rights Center will publish interim report on the monitoring of pre-election period

Human Rights Center will publish interim report on the monitoring of pre-election period of the upcoming Parliamentary Elections of 2012. On September 4, at 14:00 pm Human Rights Center will give press-conference on the issue in its office.

The report evaluates concrete violations of the election law and clarifies how they impact on the fair pre-election environment separately and jointly.

The report largely analyzes the law regulating the election procedure as well as concrete facts of election law. It underlines those main problems, which are characteristic for the national law and the pre-election process in general.

Particular attention is paid to the difference between the numbers of voters in election districts of Georgia; to the problems related with the abuse of administrative resources before elections; and compliance of the activities of State Audit Office with the Constitution of Georgia.

More precisely, according to the interim report of the Human Rights Center, Article 97 of the Constitution of Georgia regulates the functions of the former Chamber of Control. Initial edition of this article stated that the Chamber of Control “shall supervise the use and expenditure of state funds and of other material values.” This particular competence of the Chamber of Control and its name was changed based on the May 22, 2012 constitutional amendments. In accordance to those amendments, the former Chamber of Control “shall supervise use and expenditure of not only state but public funds and other material values “ – so it shall supervise non-state funds of political parties though this institution implemented this authority in accordance to the amendments introduced to the Law about Political parties on December 27, 2011.

So, we can assume that the activities of the Chamber of Control with regard to monitoring of non-state funds of political parties from December 27, 2011 to May 22, 2012, were not envisaged by that time edition of the Constitution of Georgia.

The report also provides information about changed number of voters from 1990 to present that gives reason to serious doubt.

Besides that, Human Rights Center studied assumed 39 facts of politically motivated oppression, intimidation and persecution; 10 cases of interference in the journalists’ professional activities; 7 cases of assumed politically motivated oppression on entrepreneurs and private owners; many cases of interrogation and fining of members, donators and activists of the opposition political parties by the State Audit Office of Georgia (former Chamber of Control).

The monitoring is implemented with financial support of US Embassy in Georgia and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Norwegian Helsinki Committee also supports the Human Rights Center in the monitoring process. The views expressed in the report belongs to Human Rights Center only and do not necessarily reflect the views of donors.

Human Rights Center
03.09.12