Day: April 14, 2026
Michael O’Flaherty, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, is visiting Georgia “to engage with government, authorities, and civil society on a range of important human rights concerns,” as he wrote on social media on April 13.
The visit comes amid the Georgian Dream government’s continued crackdown on dissent, including opposition, civil society organizations and media, and a deteriorating human rights situation.
The meetings began on April 14, with O’Flaherty first holding talks with representatives of civil society organizations, who spoke to journalists afterward about the issues discussed.
“The human rights situation in Georgia, the situation of civil society organizations, how they are able to work, under what conditions, and whether they are continuing their work [were discussed],” Giorgi Kldiashvili, head of the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), said.
“We provided information on the repressive environment in which civil society organizations and media have to operate. This included discussions on selective justice, where violence against journalists is not investigated, as well as the [state media] regulator’s selective use of legislation restricting funding against media outlets with critical editorial policies,” Tamar Kintsurashvili of Media Development Foundation (MDF) said.
“We discussed with the Commissioner the current state of human rights in the country, including restrictive legislative acts that relate both to the shrinking space for civil society and to journalists’ operational space, as well as to protests,” Tamar Oniani of Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) said, adding that issues addressed also included “the effectiveness of investigations into cases involving systemic torture and the use of unknown chemical substances against demonstrators.”
Commissioner O’Flaherty then met with Levan Ioseliani, the Public Defender of Georgia.
Ioseliani described the meeting as “very important,” saying the discussions with the Commissioner focused on the “overall human rights situation in Georgia.” He said the Commissioner was interested in the Ombudsman’s work and his 2025 human rights report. He added that one of the issues discussed was “the general situation of organizations in Georgia” and “the latest legislative package of amendments adopted in parliament,” supposedly referring to amendments to Georgia’s Law on Grants that further tightened restrictions and penalties on recipients of foreign funding.
Commissioner O’Flaherty is also scheduled to meet with government representatives and other officials.
More to follow…
Also Read:
- 02/04/2026 – CoE Body Calls on Georgia to Repeal Laws Restricting Grants, Political Activity
- 02/02/2026 – CoE Commissioner Calls On Georgian Parliament to Reject New Funding Restrictions ‘Stifling Civil Society’
- 17/12/2025 – CoE Commissioner Presses Georgian Prosecutors on Accountability for Protest Crackdown
- 27/05/2025 – CoE Commissioner Urges Georgia to Curb Police Abuse, Revise Legislative Changes
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