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RELIGIOUS FREEDOM /
Statement
In Kobuleti Muslim Boarding House case, the Supreme Court concluded the problem of MIA's inaction
With regard to the responsibility of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Supreme Court of Georgia has partially satisfied the cassation complaint of the Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) in the case of the Muslim pupils' boarding house in Kobuleti and ordered the Kutaisi Court of Appeals to re-examine the case.
In the cassation complaint submitted to the Supreme Court on behalf of the administration of the boarding house, its employees and beneficiaries, EMC noted the responsibility of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in two directions:
- Requiring the police to take effective preventive measures, considering the police inactivity and indifference towards the practices of interference by the third parties with the activities of the boarding house;
- Assessing the police inaction as a discriminatory treatment and imposing a symbolic compensation for non-pecuniary damages in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law.
With its ruling, the Supreme Court of Georgia satisfied only the first part of the EMC's cassation complaint and in the part of determining discriminatory treatment the court concluded that the cassators could not confirm that the police inaction was motivated by religious hatred. According to the Supreme Court, the fact that another Muslim boarding house in Kobuleti is functioning properly, as well as that the Muslim community in Adjara manage to exercise freedom of religion, excludes discriminatory treatment and it essentially is a problem of police inaction.The EMC does not share the above-mentioned assessment of the Supreme Court, considering the apparent inaction of the police in the face of numerous religious conflicts against Georgian Muslim community since 2012 (Nigvziani, Tsintskaro, Samtatskaro, Chella, Kobuleti, Mokhe, Adigeni) as well as clear loyalty towards dominant religious group. EMC will continue the case at the European Court of Human Rights in the future. However, regardless of this criticism, the Supreme Court’s assessment of the inaction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs as inefficient and disproportionate should be commended.
According to the court’s assessment, despite the cassators’ appeals regarding the necessity to conduct relevant activities to ensure unhindered operation of the boarding house, the Court of Appeals left the issue regarding the activities to be conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs beyond its consideration. Supreme Court notes to the lower instance court to pay special attention to the real impossibility to utilize the boarding house and necessity to oblige the MIA, when discussing the issue.
EMC believes that it will be appropriate if the Kutaisi Court of Appeals, through effectively applying its judicial authority, will examine the issue in a timely manner. It is also important that after the court decision, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, instead of appealing the judgment and delaying the process even further, takes complex measures for restoring and protecting the rights of Kobuleti boarding house administration and beneficiaries, so that the victims of the rights violation, after 4 years, can complete the construction process which started in 2014 and can effectively utilize it.
As the society is aware, EMC has been conducting several parallel disputes to restore the rights of local Muslim community in the case of Muslim pupils in Kobuleti. The investigations on the case have not yet attained any results, and despite the fact that in recent months EMC has repeatedly appealed to the Human Rights Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with the request to eradicate the continuing facts of violation of Muslim community rights in Kobuleti, however there are no positive changes in this regard. The above decision of the Supreme Court is yet another step in the restoration of Muslim community rights [1], but it is essential that the judgments of the court have real consequences, and the Muslim community can open and operate the boarding house. Otherwise, considering the trial delays and ignoring of judicial decisions, confidence in the justice system is substantially weakening and the marginalization and exclusion of the non-dominant religious groups is increasing.
