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On May 26, more than a dozen journalists covering the dispersal of a demonstration in front of the parliament building in Tblisi were physically injured by Georgian riot police. Some journalists were beaten. Cameras and other equipment were confiscated or broken. Reportedly, in most of the cases, the attacks on the journalists were targeted and conducted deliberately.

Right after midnight of May 26, 2011the special forces units used rubber bullets, tear gas and water canons to disperse a protest rally organized by the Public Assembly. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Georgia, 8 policemen, one journalist and 27 civil citizens were injured. Two people died – a policeman and a civilian. 90 people are placed in the preliminary detainment cells imposed with two-month administrative imprisonment. Criminal Case has been filed against several of them.

On May 23, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) publishes a new report on Georgia with the title, Unable or Unwilling? Georgia’s faulty investigation of crimes committed during the Russo-Georgian war of August 2008. Based on interviews with a large sample of witnesses to and victims of alleged crimes, the NHC concludes that Georgian authorities are at least both partly unable and partly unwilling to conduct an effective investigation into crimes falling within the jurisdiction of International Criminal Court (ICC) allegedly committed during and after the August 2008 war.

Amnesty International 2011 Human Rights Report evaluates the human rights situation in 157 countries for the year of 2010. With regards to Georgia, four issues are emphasized: the aftermath of armed conflict, internally displaced people, police and security forces, and violence against women and girls.

More than 240, 000 disabled people live in Georgia today, which is more than 10 percent of Georgia’s population; the majority of them are unemployed, lacking of personal realization and the possibility of enjoying all rights. In 2001, the law on “social security of persons with disabilities” was adopted. According to this law, the state undertakes an obligation to provide disabled persons with an equal environment and to ensure their engagement in social, economic and cultural life.

The representatives of media and NGOs expressed protest against the action of the bailiff Giorgi Inasaridze at the round table on freedom of expression held in Tbilisi Human Rights House. According to the participants of the meeting, the bailiff exceeded his authority when he composed the act of administrative violation against the math teacher Lali Kiknadze that gave rise to her dismissal.

On May 3 the twentieth anniversary of the press freedom day was celebrated around the world. According to Freedom House’s Freedom of Press index, Georgia is still “partly free.” Human Rights House Tbilisi and its member organizations dedicated different events to the press freedom day: flash mob action with people holding the newspapers upside down in front of the Parliament and a film and subsequent discussion at the Human Rights House Tbilisi.

Confrontation between groups of students at Tbilisi State University took place on April 15 at a presentation held by the initiative group “Translate”, which was followed in the next few days by physical and verbal abuse. The victims claim that they were physically assaulted because of the criticism they leveled at the university administration and the body of student self-government at the university. The students’ self-government denies any kind of connection with the incident and says that the incident took place on a private basis. The confrontation between these two sides now continues online over social networking sites.

On April 26 the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) delivered a judgment on the case of Enukidze and Girgvliani v. Georgia (application no. 25091/07). According to the press release issued by the ECHR, Georgian authorities did not investigate effectively the kidnapping and killing of 28-year old man.