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

Appeal to International Organizations

August 12, 2004

NGO “FORMER POLITICAL PRISONERS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS”

APPEAL TO INTERNAITONAL ORGANIZAITONS
(about the pressure on human rights defenders)

Due to the attacks that the government has been carrying out lately on my organization and me personally, I am obliged to make the following statement:

In conditions of the new government it is gradually becoming impossible for our organization to function. The facts that during the so called “Rose Revolution” our organization adopted the impartial position, differing from the position of the satellite organizations of the current ruling power and later in the period of the new government we actively studied the situation existing in the filed of human rights in Georgia and revealed and voiced particularly alarming cases, created grounds for clearly visible persecution of me and my organization. Namely, by means of mass media, representatives of the new government make some indications about “our activity being not so innocent”, about the questions they have to us, and so on. There is an apparent blackmailing and unfortunately in some cases representatives of NGOs and international foundations which are very close to and at the same time ruled by the government are involved in this.

The government was extremely teased by the fact that after the revolution we revealed about 100 concrete facts of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment in prisons (2 facts of detainees’ death being among them). Furthermore, we systematically reacted to the pressure and persecution that the government exercised on mass media and journalists, which was reflected in reports of human rights international organizations. Attempts of frightening and blackmailing me became even stronger especially after we revealed the dreadful fact of torturing Sulkhan Molashvili, Former Chairman of Control Chamber and after we engaged Matyas Eorse, the head of European Council Monitoring Group in the case. Regarding voicing of Sulkhan Molashvili’s torture the City Prosecutor declared that he was interested in my personality. Moreover, I receive anonymous phone threats and advice from “people who wish me good” and they threaten me with physical liquidation “if I do not stop”. It is natural that we have not found ourselves in the list of the members of the Council of NGOs which has just been established by the president. It should be noted that for a number of years our activity was linked with defending the rights of prisoners but very soon after the new government came into power we were no longer admitted to prisons. So it is quite natural that me and my organization have not been included in the list of the president’s “trustees” and have not become his representative in the penitentiary bodies. (For this reason he has probably selected more “experienced, qualified and authoritative” persons) though while explaining the reasons, unofficial representatives of the government refer to dirty insinuations full of soviet aspiration.

It is quite clear that it is much profitable for the new government to allow the existence and functioning of those NGOs which actually represent one joint governmental team and do not put the government in an inconvenient and embarrassing position before the international community by voicing the facts undesirable for the government. Though we promise them that despite the artificial barriers we will know no compromise when fighting for defending the rights of the people. As for the calumnies, we are used to them due to the communist and post-communist governments. So, we would like to warn the authors of the above-mentioned calumnies that finally these kinds of attempts will end up with their discredit.

Nana Kakabadze
12.08.04

News