The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) responded to the TV report conducted by Nodar Meladze’s Saturday on TV Pirveli, which focused on the allegedly unlawful practice of law enforcement agencies of mixing tear gas with water when using water cannons to disrupt the protests against the Foreign Agents law. The MIA admits to this practice, claiming that it is in accordance with the Law on Police.
The MIA cites part 3 (c) of the Article 33 of the law which states that “tear gas… are used to repel an attack on a person, a police officer and/or protected facility” and “to prevent mass and group violations of legal order,” as well as part 3 (g) of the same article that states: “water-cannons… to repel a group attack on the state and/or public facilities.”
“The type of special means used by the police and their intensity shall be determined in accordance with the law, depending on the specific situation. We emphasize that neither the Law of Georgia “On Police” nor any valid legal act issued on the basis thereof prohibits the simultaneous or parallel use of water cannons and tear gas,” stresses the MIA.
“We would like to point out once again that the Ministry of Internal Affairs uses special means in the management of violent rallies and demonstrations, which are in full compliance with European standards and are actively used by the police forces of a number of European countries. The disseminated false information is aimed at misleading the public and deliberately discrediting the Ministry of Internal Affairs,” says the statement.
The Ministry also claims that such practices aren’t prohibited even in the handbooks of “such authoritative international organizations’ recommendations” as OSCE/ODIHR and Amnesty International.
The MIA alleges that Amnesty International allows for the mixing of marker dye and/or chemical irritants. However, the actual document released by the international watchdog lists water cannons “with chemical irritants (uncontrolled exposure to the irritant increases health risks) or marker dye (risk of stigmatization, harassment, arbitrary arrest of innocent people) or heated water (to provoke pain)” under the category of “weapons to be prohibited”.
The MIA also mentions that OSCE/ODIHR handbook allows mixing tear gas with water in the water cannons, which can be found in the organization’s official documents. OSCE/ODIHR’s “Human Rights Handbook on Policing Assemblies” clarifies that “in some cases, CS gas [tear gas] can be added to water that is discharged by water cannon,” however it also emphasizes that “there must be a warning prior to any use of CS gas.” The demonstrators during the anti-Foreign Agents’ law rallies were not issued such warnings.
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