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International Human Rights Day Marked in Georgia (December 10)

December 13, 2012

In honor of International Human Rights Day, December 10, the U.S. Embassy, along with the EU, French, Dutch and other embassies, hosted  several roundtable discussions on media freedom, civil society and labor.

Ambassador Richard Norland moderated a roundtable on Civil Society, which included discussions of minority rights, rule of law, constructive engagement and changes since the Parliamentary elections.

During the event, Ambassador Norland stated “We want to take advantage of this opportunity to congratulate Mr. Nanuashvili on  the fact that Georgia has a new public defender; that he is been appointed, and to wish him well in his very important job.  The panel that I had the privilege of chairing focused on issues related to civil society: minority rule, majority rule and the way civil society engages with the government and the opposition. I think a couple of very important themes came up in our discussion. On the discussion of majority rule minority rights, there was naturally focus on the situation that is a reason recently involving Muslims in Georgia and their right to pray.  I think that people on the panel made a point saying, (you know),  as Georgia has a tradition of tolerance, in recent years this tradition has been, if anything,  expanded and made stronger and during this period of transition there should not be any effort to throw the baby out with the bath, as they say, but rather than build on the progress that’s been made.  I think people were encouraged that the Prime Minister spoke out strongly against efforts to restrict Muslims from praying; they were interested to hear that the Minister of Interior had gone down there to look at the situation firsthand and  I would just share the Public Defender’s comments that it’s very important that people’s right to pray continue to be respected in Georgia. With respect to civil society and its engagement, I think that the theme that came forward, in our discussion today, was that there is a sense that there’s new opportunities now, the government is open, ready for dialogue and the civil society is ready to provide a balanced, non-partisan, bipartisan, informed message to both the government and the opposition. I think there is a strong sense of willingness to do that and certainly from the point of view of the U.S. Embassy, we feel it’s our role as members of the international community here to try to support the civil society in any way that we can.”

U.S. Government continues to press for fundamental rights and freedoms for all people and stand with citizens, activists, and governments around the world that do the same.  The U.S. promotes human rights worldwide, including the right of all people, regardless of gender, race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, or physical or mental disability, to express themselves freely, assembly peaceably, worship as they choose, and select their leaders. In doing so, we recognize that governments that embrace these values for their citizens are more peaceful, more prosperous, and better neighbors.

US Embassy in Georgia

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