NGOs vs. Kidnapping

NGOs vs. Kidnapping 

Due to an increase in cases of human rights violations and kidnapping, Georgian NGOs sent an appeal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The NGOs asked the Ministry to invite representatives of the UN Human Rights Council to Georgia in order to study some cases at the scene.
The organizations who signed up to the appeal are; the Human Rights Information and Documentation Center, the Equality Institute, the Young Lawyers Association and the Assembly of Helsinki Citizens Georgian Committee.

“Our aim is the implementation of real actions to protect human rights in Georgia. In addition to the conflict zones, the situations in Zugdidi, Kodori, the Georgian villages in the Tskhinvali region and the capital itself are complicated and getting worse. The number of cases of kidnapping involving exchanging hostages for other captives or ransom has increased. We are concerned that similar activities are being carried out not only by criminals but by both Georgian and Ossetian police officers. This issue must be considered and paid particular attention to in the reports of international organizations and by the Ombudsman of Georgia. The monitoring and research carried out by those organizations, which are responsible for human rights protection, must also be considered”, sates the appeal.

Statistics showing the number of people disappeared or kidnapped does not exist in Georgia. According to the head of ‘Chev Tviton’ (Ourselves), Paata Davitaia, 350 people have been killed in the Gali region since 2003 and 112 people have disappeared on the territory of the self-proclaimed state of South Ossetia.