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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.

According to information provided by the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons From the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees of Georgia, 35, 204 families’ houses have been damaged by natural disasters. Officials estimate that a further 11, 000 families live in houses that have been damaged by natural disasters and are in urgent need of resettlement. The government has not developed a long-term strategy for managing ecological-migration and domestic law doesn’t include a definition for those who must migrate due to ecological factors. This goes against international standards and means that people are left without protection.

Staff members of HRHF go to Georgia for meetings on the process to establish a Human Rights House in Tblisi. There will also be discussions on how best to follow up on Georgia’s Universal Periodic Review nationally, ahead of the adoption of the report from the country’s UPR, to take place at the UN Human Rights Council’s session in Geneva in June.