Categories
Journalistic Survey
Articles
Reportage
Analitic
Photo Reportage
Exclusive
Interview
Foreign Media about Georgia
Editorial
Position
Reader's opinion
Blog
Themes
Children's Rights
Women's Rights
Justice
Refugees/IDPs
Minorities
Media
Army
Health
Corruption
Elections
Education
Penitentiary
Religion
Others

Tolerance and Fears of Religious Majority

November 21, 2014
 
Natia Gogolashvili

How much tolerant we are and whether Georgian state equally guarantees protection of the right to faith and freedom of religion for everybody? How people are protected from the discrimination according to their ethnicity, race, skin color, sexual orientation? How are women protected from violence, people with disabilities from degrading treatment?

Public Defender of Georgia asked these questions on November 17 at the event organized in the hotel Courtyard Marriot dedicated to the International Day of Tolerance, where he made statement about general situation of religious and ethnic minorities in Georgia. At the end of each year Tolerance Center under the Auspice of the Public Defender’s Office traditionally summarizes the efforts taken by the state to tackle the problems of minority groups. 

Adoption of the Anti-Discrimination Law on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination by the Parliament of Georgia can be evaluated as the biggest achievement of 2014. Apart to that, decision to fund four religious groups from state budget is also positive step taken by the state. However, when speaking about these achievements, representatives of religious minorities and human rights defenders underscore the compromises made by the government before religious majority group and fear about future risks. 

Significant decisions

On January 27, 2014 the Government of Georgia made decision to approve the rule on partial reimbursement of the damage incurred by religious groups in Georgia during soviet totalitarian regime. As a result, state allocated funds on four religious communities: Muslim, Judaism, Romanian-Catholic and Armenian Apostolic Church. 

Head of Tolerance Center under the Auspice of the Public Defender’s Office Beka Mindiashvili said this model of state funding must necessarily be improved. “On the one hand we must avoid discriminative approach towards those religious groups, who could not receive funding. On the other hand, the state must not be tempted to use funding as a tool to interfere into internal affairs of religious groups.”

On February 7, 2014 government decided to establish State Agency for Religious Issues. The Agency will be public law legal entity and execute the state policy in the field of religion.

Part of religious minorities states the Agency was established without consulting the issue with them. Beka Mindiashvili said the problem is that establishment of the Agency for Religious Issues (whose purpose is to study the problems of religious unions and release recommendations to the state) was not preceded with the discussion of the necessity of similar institution. It is also noteworthy that government has not expressed any interest to meet members of the religious council throughout several months-long operation of the agency. 

On May 2, 2014 Parliament of Georgia approved Anti-Discrimination Law  through third hearing. The purpose of the Law on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination is to eradicate all forms of discrimination and to ensure equal rights for all people living in Georgia regardless their race, skin color, gender, citizenship, disability status, religion or faith, ethnic or social belonging, sexual orientation, gender identity and others.

The discussion of the bill was accompanied by active controversy in the society and in the parliament. Georgian Patriarchate noted that believers evaluate the anti-discrimination law as “propaganda and legalization” of “lethal sins”, because it lists “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as ground for discriminations. When Parliament was discussing the bill, orthodox people with clergymen as leaders held protest rallies in Kutaisi and Tbilisi. However, scope of protest rallies this year was smaller in comparison with large-scaled demonstrations organized by the Georgian Patriarchate in 2011, when they opposed adoption of the law on legal status of religious groups.

Episcope of Evangelist-Baptist Church Rusudan Gotsiridze said the anti-discrimination law was seriously amended during the discussions in the parliament, as a result of which it lost its significance. “The Anti-Discrimination Law is completely castrated. They adopted this invalid law with fear; it does not function at all, after all those amendments, which were introduced during the discussion. The worst thing for religious minorities to see was how state kept silence before religious minority representatives.”

Alarming facts

In accordance to the Law on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination, Public Defender monitors implementation of the principles of equality. Report issued by the Center of Tolerance pays particular attention to the recent facts of religious discrimination in Kobuleti and Mokhe village. 

Unidentified persons nailed a pig-head on the door of newly opened Muslim boarding school in Kobuleti that was followed by extremist protest demonstrations by local orthodox population. Tolerant Center at the Public Defender’s Office underlined that schooling process has not yet started in the boarding school. Government started negotiation with the representatives of Muslim community on moving the boarding school to another place instead addressing the actions against Muslim people in accordance to the law. 

In Mokhe village of Adigeni municipality, Muslim population has been long time urging the government to return building of mosque, which was seized from the community during soviet time. In October, 2014 local authority announced bid competition on arrangement a library in the building. The winner building company started deconstruction of the building that was protested by local Muslim people. Law enforcement officers interfered in the controversy, who beat and arrested several Muslim people during the protest demonstration. Currently, deconstruction is stopped. Georgian Patriarchate also claims the building and insists that centuries ago Orthodox Church was functioning in the building and it turned into a mosque under Turkish invasion. Finally, the Agency for Religious Issues created a special commission to estimate the origin of the mosque.

Public Defender is concerned with the incidents that occurred on religious grounds this year. He said law enforcement agencies shall effectively investigate crimes committed on religious grounds and punish alleged perpetrators in accordance to the law.

“We have problems of tolerance in the country that is easily demonstrated by several incidents that occurred particularly against Muslim community. Unfortunately, in some cases the investigation was not completed. The state shall adopt new laws that will promote eradication of discrimination and promote development of tolerance in the country. I think, raising public awareness is also very important. Generally, there are problems of tolerance in the country and both state and society shall take more effective steps towards establishment of tolerance,” Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili said.

According to the Tolerant Center under the Auspice of the Public Defender’s Office, investigation into the crimes committed on religious grounds is either dropped or dragged out or prosecutor’s office cannot detect signs of crime in them. “We were informed about dozens of violation facts against Jehovah Witnesses. Investigation was launched into majority of them but traditionally they were either dropped, or dragged out or prosecutor’s office cannot detect signs of crime in them. Besides that, nobody was punished for recent criminal facts against Muslim community,” Beka Mindiashvili said. 

Episcope of Evangelist-Baptist Church Rusudan Gotsiridze said “in 2014 we did not observe many positive changes in terms of religious minority rights. The more time passes, the situation gets tenser. It has two reasons: low public awareness and irresponsibility of the state. I would have imposed high responsibility of protecting minority rights on the state. Their indifference is alarming.”

Tolerance supporters

Interim head of the USAID mission in Georgia Thomas Morris stated the USAID supports the projects implemented in the field of religious and ethnic minorities in Georgia. “Tolerance is the main value of our work. USAID supports functioning of the councils of religious and national minorities in Georgia. I think tolerance is respect to others’ cultures. We must remember that we live in the world of diversities,” Thomas Morris stated on the International Day of Tolerance.

The Council of National Minorities and the Council of Religions of the Public Defender traditionally awarded “supporters of tolerance” – persons, organizations, media sources and public officials that contributed significantly to development of tolerance culture in Georgia in 2014.

The Council of Religions awarded the following people: Headmistress of the Public School N5 of Kobuleti Nargiz Jincharadze; member of the Georgian Parliament Tamar Kordzaia; organization “Media Development Foundation” (MDF) and TV Channel Tabula programme “Conversation on the religion”. The Council of Minorities presented awards to: Historian Gia Anchabadze; Former Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper “Gurjistan”, Suleiman Suleimanov; member of the Georgian Parliament Leri Khabelov; Council of Women of Georgia and Ethnic Minority-Language Broadcasting of the Public Broadcasting Corporation.

The Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili and Acting Director of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Thomas Morris presented awards to winners of the Journalist competition “Tolerance and Diversity”. Namely: the top prize was won by Eka Kukhalashvili for the article “”Sterile” Georgian historiography  and textbooks without Muslim public figures” published in “Kutaisi post”; the second place was won by journalist of the newspaper “Southern Gate” Tamar Uchidze for the article “Fight for a holy place”; and the third prize was awarded to Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti Information Centre for the article “Forbidden prayer” and Irma Kakhurashvili, “National Geographic” Magazine with the article “Georgian House of Muslims”.

It is good tradition that the International Day for Tolerance is marked every year in Georgia as a reminder of the need for respect, dialogue and cooperation between cultures and civilizations. However alongside reminding, it is also important to have really tolerant society in the country. Recent alarming facts of intolerance convince us that protection of minorities shall become priority of the state policy. 

News