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On March 10, 2011 Georgian, Azeri and Armenian human rights defenders held a protest action in front of the UN Office in Geneva.

Georgia is becoming a major transit corridor for drugs of abuse produced elsewhere,- says the US State Report published on March 3. The report lists the reasons for is, wich is, geographical situation of Georgia, occupied territories within the country, as well as Georgia’s agreement for visa free travel with the Islamic Republic of Iran is seen as a danger by the US state department.

According to the World Health Organization every 40 seconds someone commits suicide. For the last 50 years the cases of suicide have increased by 60%. The number of attempted suicides exceeds the number of actual suicides by 20 times. The research shows that the high occurrence of suicides is particularly observed in developing countries. According to the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs, in 2010 the number of suicides has decreased by 2% compared to the year of 2009. However, the number of suicide attempts has increased considerably. 334 cases of suicides and 1,106 attempts of suicide were observed in 2010. As for the year of 2009; 340 people committed suicide and 1,091 made attempts.

Human rights coordinator at the Conservative Party Lasha Chkhartishvili connects the detention of drivers with the intimidation policy of the government. “It is done to prevent future strikes and protest rallies of drivers and other social groups,” said Chkhartishvili.

In January of 2011, the Georgian Ministry of Interior completed the eviction process of IDPs from temporary settlement locations in Tbilisi. The process reflects an effort to tackle a massive displacement problem as a result of the conflicts in the early 1990s in the Abkhazia and South Ossetia and Georgia-Russia war in 2008. So far around five thousand IDPs have been evicted from Tbilisi, most of them left without shelters and others resettled in the regions of Georgia.

The mortality among prisoners increases. In 2006-2009, 371 people died in the penitentiary institutions. The report of the Public Defender of Georgia states that average age of dead prisoners is 45.

Voluntary organisations, institutions and individuals worldwide are welcome to nominate candidates for the 2011 Rafto Prize for Human Rights. The Rafto Prize, awarded in memory of Norwegian professor Thorolf Rafto, is awarded to an individual or organisation that embodies and upholds the principles of the Human Rights Charter through activism or engagement.

On January 28, 2011, in the framework of the 10th Session of the UN Human Rights Council’s Periodic Review, the Government of Georgia presented a national report on the current human rights situation. The UN Human Rights Council discussed the human rights situation in Georgia between the periods of 2006-2010 through interactive dialogue spanning three hours. Georgian authorities received 163 recommendations in total and immediately accepted 96 of them; refused 5 and discussions over 62 of the recommendations will take place over the next few months. After this time, the Government of Georgia will elaborate its final position.

Georgia is among those states where over the course of a year, many legislative changes are made. Some experts and members of the public have responded positively to the corresponding changes, and others have expressed disapproval. This article briefly discusses the amendments implemented in the Georgian legislation during 2009-2010.