Human rights in Georgia (country)

Human rights in Georgia are guaranteed by the country's constitution. The government has committed to an ambitious reform agenda, but, because these reforms are being carried out speedily, unthoroughly, and without broad and open consultation, many of Georgia's entrenched human rights problems remain unimproved. Governmental actions in the past two years have led to decidedly mixed results.

Judicial independence

Amendments to the constitution, adopted in 2004, diminished independence of the judiciary further, by increasing presidential influence over the judiciary. In April 2005, a considerable number of judges found themselves dismissed after a Presidential decree. The High Council of Justice, the body that decides such appointments and dismissals, is now headed by President Saakashavili.

Rights of minorities

The government have taken positive steps towards protecting religious minorities. Attacks against those of different faiths have subsided since the revolution, and a leader of these attacks, Vasili Mkalavishvili, was arrested and incarcerated by the authorities. Prime Minister Zurab Jvania was a key supporter of allowing religious organisations recognition from the state, but he faced considerable opposition from his own government: his own president said that the state should do what it can to 'protect Georgia from harmful alien influence.' Despite reforms allowing minority churches to register themselves in 2005, the Georgian Orthodox church has a considerable monopoly in Georgia, whilst minority groups find it hard to even build places of worship. The 2002 concordat between the G.O.C. and the Georgian government, is still in place. which grantes the Georgian Orthodox Church a privileged status Georgia, and endows it with authority over all religious matters. It is the only church that has tax-free status, and it is often consulted in government matters. Together with being free of tax, Georgian orthodox church also gets some financing from the government as well. The main reason for this is that the church has always been very active in country's cultural development and just like in most eastern orthodox countries, the line between culture and religion is blurred.

Georgia has ratified the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in 2005. NGO "Tolerance" in its alternative report about its implementation speaks of rapid decreasing of the amount of Azerbaijani schools and cases of appointing headmasters to Azerbaijani schools who don't speak Azerbaijani. [> [http://www.minelres.lv/reports/georgia/Shadow_Report_Georgia_2008.pdf Alternative report on the implementation by Georgia of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in the region of Kvemo Kartli — Tbilisi, 2008 — p. 58-59] ]

Torture

Torture is still a problem within Georgia. However, the government after the Rose Revolution made a tremendous success in this matter.Fact|date=October 2008 There have been numerous reforms from which one of the most important ones was the police reform. Old, corrupt roadside police that many people considered to be the remains of the Soviet era were converted to a modern "Patrol". Even though there have been several accusations of torturing the suspects, overall number of complaints has dropped significantly.Fact|date=October 2008

Georgia is member of both Convention Against Torture and (since 2005) of its optional protocol. UN Committee against torture has expressed concern in 2006 about the facts of "impunity and intimidation persist in the State" and "relatively low number of convictions and disciplinary measures imposed on law-enforcement officials in the light of numerous allegations of torture and other acts of cruel and inhuman or degrading treatment". [ [http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/898586b1dc7b4043c1256a450044f331/efcb8e78926b17c8c12571cc0031d400/$FILE/G0643232.pdf Conclusions and recommendation of the CAT. Georgia — para. 9, 12] ]

Freedom of expression and of the media

The government has improved protection of freedom of expression, by such measures as decriminalising libel.Fact|date=October 2008

During the 2007 Georgian demonstrations, the riot police attacked the headquarters of Imedi channel, leading it to off the airing of demonstrations. [CNN, [http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/11/07/georgia.crisis.ap/index.html Georgia: State of emergency called] , 7.11.2007]

Status of refugees

Refugees do not have satisfactory housing, medical care, or job opportunities in Georgia, especially the ones from the Chechen War. The biggest problem in this matter is that Georgia already had nearly 300,000 refugees from the wars with separatist regions in 1990, which made things for the government even harder. In recent years, there have been numerous legislations passed in order to protect the refugees and give them financial and medical help. As of 2008, Georgian government reported that millions of dollars of aid would be allocated from the state resources for improvement of living conditions for the refugees and other people in need.Fact|date=October 2008

References

ee also

*LGBT rights in Georgia (country)
*Sandro Girgvliani Murder Case

External links

* [http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/ENACARegion/Pages/GEIndex.aspx UN OHCHR page on Georgia]
* [http://www.humanrights.ge HumanRights.ge] – daily updated online magazine and web portal on human rights in Georgia
* [http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=400 Have the rights of religious minorities improved?]
* [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51553.htm US State department's International religious freedom report, 2005.]
* [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/18/georgi12229.htm HRW Human Rights overview]
* [http://hrw.org/doc?t=europe&c=georgi Human Rights Watch, Georgia]
* [http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/61550/ Censorship in Georgia] - IFEX
* [http://www.idpvoices.org IDP Voices] - Read and listen to life stories from displaced people in Georgia.