Georgia: HRHF welcomes invocation of OSCE human rights mechanism to investigate violations and democratic backsliding

The Moscow Mechanism, named after the city in which agreement was reached in 1991 by participating States to establish this important reporting procedure, will provide the first independent international reporting in the multilateral system on the human rights crisis which began in 2024. Together with on-going reporting by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, this report will be an important step in eventually holding the Georgian Dream authorities accountable for severe and systematic human rights violations in Georgia.

In their statement invoking the Moscow Mechanism today, participating States pointed to the steps taken by the Georgian Dream government since 2024 to silence all dissenting voices, restrict space for civil society and independent media to operate, constraints on freedom of association and expression, allegations of mistreatment, including torture, of persons deprived of liberty, and harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders, including journalists, among other serious human rights violations. 

Georgia human rights organisations, and international civil society partners, have raised alarms about democratic rollbacks, State capture, and severe human rights violations since late 2024. We have highlighted an “all-out assault on human rights and civil society organisations” and implored action by the international community to ensure maximum pressure, accountability, and coherence of strategy in responding to the Georgian Dream government’s actions. 

The invocation of the Moscow Mechanism is an important step to independently establish facts and make recommendations to participating States to address systematic human rights violations in Georgia. It is imperative that the rapporteur involve independent Georgian civil society organisations, who have been conducting on-going monitoring and reporting of the human rights situation in the country. We also call on the Georgian Dream authorities to cooperate with the rapporteur, including by allowing the rapporteur to visit Georgia as part of the data collection process.