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In Georgia, the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment is enshrined in both national legislation and international obligations. Even so, all of these still occur in Georgia. Human rights defenders particularly point to ‘the impunity syndrome,’ which also results in ineffective investigation. The report of the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment on the visit to Georgia in 2010, also annual reports of the Georgia’s Public Defender, notably the 2010 Report, highlights the same problem.

Georgian Civil society representatives call upon the Government of Georgia to guarantee the right to a fair and public trial for the detained photographers and to carry out an impartial and transparent investigation in accordance with international human rights law.

18 July, 2011 – Paris, Geneva, Oslo, The Hague, London – We, international human rights organizations, call on the Government of Georgia to guarantee the right to a fair and public trial for the detained photographers and to carry out an impartial and transparent investigation in accordance with international human rights standards.

On June 8, 2011, the Human Rights Council adopted Georgia’s first report under the Universal Periodic Review process. As a result of the review process, on January 28 of this year, Georgia received 163 recommendations, 139 of which were accepted (26 partially) and 27 were rejected.

Sergey Chirikov: “We are ready to prove everybody that our photographer’s activities were not criminal at all”

Tbilisi City Court passed a two month preliminary imprisonment against three detained photo reporters. The lawyers requested not to use the imprisonment as a preliminary compulsory measure, but the judge satisfied the request of prosecution and left them under custody. The trial is scheduled for 1 September.

On the night of 7 July 2011, individuals in civil clothes detained 5 photo-reporters at their homes without any warnings or explanation.

“More efforts are needed to address serious shortcomings in the judiciary and increase its transparency and fairness” said the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, releasing today a report on the visit to Georgia 18-20 April 2011. The report focuses on the level of protection of human rights in the justice system in Georgia.

According to data provided by Georgia’s Social Service Agency, 89 cases of violence against children were reported over the period of January 2010 to November 2010. 74 of these cases were reported by the police, 12 cases were reported by children, family and NGO’s and 3 cases were reported by school officials. Of these cases, the types of violence varied; in 38 of the cases, psycho-emotional violence was reported; physical violence (33 cases); neglect (14 cases), and there were four cases reported of attempted sexual abuse. However, these numbers only represent the actual cases of abuse that were reported to the social service agency, it is thought that the real numbers are much higher.