The U.S. Department of State has released its yearly human rights report on Georgia highlighting “significant” human rights issues in the country, including “torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment; arbitrary arrest or detention; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary, along with investigations and prosecutions widely considered to be politically motivated.” Notably, the 2023 Human Rights report identifies “serious government corruption” as one of the “significant human rights issues” that was not included in the previous report.
The U.S State Department highly critical report also underlines “the arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, including violence and threats of violence against journalists;” as well as “substantial interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association” and “crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting LGBTQ+ community.”
The report notes that impunity in Georgia remained a problem, despite the fact that the authorities “took steps to investigate some officials for human rights abuses.”
Speaking of the occupation of Georgian territories by Russia, the report notes that the Tskhinvali region and Abkhazia remained outside of Tbilisi control with the de-facto authorities being supported by the Russian forces.
In addition, the report notes that the Russian and the de-facto authorities committed abuses with impunity in the occupied territories, and the significant human rights issues included “unlawful killings; arbitrary arrest or detention; restrictions on freedom of movement, especially of ethnic Georgians; and restrictions on the ability of ethnic Georgians to own property or register businesses and to receive education in their native language.”
More to follow…
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