Human Rights Center presented the report on freedom of religion

Nino Tsotsoria 

On March 6, Human Rights Center presented the report of the project “Promoting Freedom of Religion in Georgia." Representatives of local and international non-governmental organizations, diplomatic corps accredited in Georgia and representatives of the media attended the presentation. In the frame of the project the human right defenders studied the issues of religious minority groups in different regions. 

Human Rights Center implemented the project of "Promoting Freedom of Religion in Georgia” from November 2014 - February 2015 with financial support of the Canadian Embassy. 

Under the project, lawyers of Human Rights Center studied recent facts of alleged religious controversy in Georgia and provided victims of restricted rights to freedom of religion with free legal aid.

“We studied recent facts of religious controversies and illegal restriction of freedom of religion in Georgia; we studied incidents of Kobuleti, Plate, Mokhe, Tchela and others. The project revealed that the government of Georgia often fails to adequately respond to the cases; the investigations into those facts did not achieve concrete results and perpetrators remain unpunished that is a serious problem,” said the project coordinator Nino Tsagareishvili. 

Lawyer Tamar Avaliani of Human Rights Center told humanright.ge,, that she took up the case of Lela Shvelidze as a lawyer. Lela Shvelidze is Jehovah Witness and was subject of permanent religious discrimination and persecution by local orthodox population. Human Rights Center won trial at the Akhaltsikhe district court and Lela Shvelidze was acquitted in the imposed charge. 

Lawyers of the Ccenter also studied the case of the demolition of the mosque in the village of Plate, whose stones were used for the construction of the cell in the nearby located monastery Zarzma. 

“During monitoring we were informed that Plate mosque was demolished and its stone were taken away. During the monitoring we discovered that the leader of the Zarzma Monastery Nikoloz Getsadze also participated in this fact. We sent application to the Chief Prosecutor’s Office and requested to impartially investigate the case. The Chief Prosecutor’s Office forwarded the application to the Adigeni district police, whose officers personally harassed rights of local Muslim community,” said lawyer Tamar Avaliani. 

Human Rights Center addressed to the government and law enforcement agencies with relevant recommendations about the facts of religious controversy revealed during the project. 

“Facts of religious intolerance are quite alarming. Therefore, we, first of all, recommend to the Government and to the Prime Minister, to change the HR policy in the regions where religious minorities live and hire more tolerant people for high positions,” said Executive Director of Human Rights Centre Aleko Tskitishvili. 

Members of Human Rights Centre hope similar projects will be implemented in future too. 

You can see the full report "Freedom of Religion in Georgia – Problems and recommendations" on the website of Human Rights Center www.humanrights.ge.