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Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) assesses human rights situation this year and believes that this year was the most difficult year in political, social and legal terms during the Georgian Dream's administration, which has deepened political crises and social frustration in our society.
Important positive developments this year were the adoption of the Organic Law on Labor Safety, which expanded the state's mandate to control the situation in terms of safety at the workplace. In addition, legislative changes to improve the mechanism for combating discrimination and improving the Ombudsman's mandate, as well as the regulation of harassment and sexual harassment, all took place this year. Activities of the Gender Equality Council under the Parliament of Georgia and the positive reforms towards the establishment of the State Inspector Service and strengthening of the Human Rights Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs should be positively evaluated. The positive changes mentioned above are largely the result of significant international commitments or important efforts by the country's international partners, which undermines the political capacity for proper implementation of reforms and their real impact on the human rights situation in the country. However, in spite of the significant innovations mentioned, the current year was characterized by substantial human rights challenges.
This year, the issue of gross violations of freedom of assembly and excessive use of force by the police against the participants of the protest, has been raised. The dispersal of the June 21 protest resulted in mass human rights abuses and persecution, which was not followed by a proper investigation of violations by the system and recognition of the systemic flaws. Quite the opposite, the ruling political team sought to politicize the issue and thereby override public concern.
Following the events of June 21, the social protest managed to derive significant political promises from the ruling party, which called for a full proportional system for the 2020 parliamentary elections, with a zero barrier. Such an electoral system would have allowed for the breakthrough of the existing polarized political field, the emergence of new political groups, and the creation of a fairer and more inclusive political agenda. However, during the autumn session, the Georgian Dream did not fulfill this public promise, and the electoral reform failed at the parliament, in their words, due to opposition from majoritarian members of the party. The decision resulted in the departure of key members from the ruling political team and an internal crisis in the party. Protests by civil society groups and political parties moved to the streets. Under these circumstances, the government does not seek to facilitate the political dialogue and, largely through the use of radical political rhetoric and police forces, tries to maintain the existing political status quo. It is noteworthy that the signs of political instrumentalization of the police in the current processes have acquired alarming signs and diminished the social significance of the reforms initiated in the MIA system.
The tendency to politicize the Prosecutor's Office and the Court, unjustified persecution of political opponents, harassment of the media and the rise of so-called clan influence in the judicial system are a clear manifestation of the collapse of state institutions and their use for party-political interests.
The government seeks to overcome economic crisis in the country by large-scale privatization of state-owned facilities, conducting large-scale hydroelectric projects, and supporting labor migration, which is a crude continuation of neoliberal economic policy and which lacks the resources for sustainable social and economic development.
In the wake of current political crisis, it has become increasingly difficult to support social reforms and the political agenda focused on the real needs, concerns and interests of people. Growing economic inequality, profound difference in the quality of life in cities and villages, extremely weak and unequal education system, and increasing migration should push the government for radical social reforms, however, these issues are not even part of the political agenda. It is unfortunate that this year also significant changes to reform the Labor Code failed to be initiated.
2019 was a critical year for the Pankisi Gorge. On April 21, a large-scale policing event, to support building of the HPP, was planned by the MIA in the Gorge, while the ongoing political negotiations on the HPPs were not exhausted. The existing public mistrust, resulting from Temirlan Machalikashvili's deprivation of life and the apparent ineffective investigation, has deepened following the events of April 21. The local community was referring to the excessive concentration and intervention of police resources in favor of the interests of the private company, in the construction of HPPs, which, according to them, ended with an armed conflict between the community members, on November 27 this year. Against the development of the unique democratic processes that have begun in the Gorge, such decisions by the state substantially undermine the region's development potential, and returns the politics to security and punishment discourse.
Political activity of the anti-democratic violent groups, whose homophobic and other types of violence are being tolerated and condoned by the law enforcement system, has again been felt this year. The political activities of these groups as a whole leave an impression of their political instrumentalization by the state, through promoting artificial conflicts and excessive use of their activities in the political agenda.
2019 was also a difficult year in terms of the human rights protection in the occupied territories. While the rhetoric of normalization and confidence-building seem to be on the rise in the governmental political discourse, the situation in the conflict regions is getting worse. From September 2019, due to the ABL checkpoint closure in Akhalgori, humanitarian crisis in the region has been created and the locals lack access to the basic medical and social resources. As a result, one person died in Tskhinvali due to the lack of adequate medical care. In the same period, de facto authorities of South Ossetia arrested Dr. Vazha Gaprindashvili, who is currently being held in Tskhinvali prison. So-called border closures in Akhalgori were linked to an attempt to set up a Georgian police in the village of Chorchana. Ongoing talks on the issue show that the conflict-related negotiations have increasingly been stripped of the political and civilian dimension, and have largely focused on communication between the security services.
