The Signatory organizations address the expected appointment process of a new State Minister in Reconciliation and Civic Equality matters and we call on the government to create the process based on democratic consultations and to strengthen the State Minister apparatus institutionally and politically.

A few weeks ago, it became known to the public that Ketevan Tsikhelashvili is leaving the position of State Minister and she will be appointed as an Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to Austria. So far, the government has not informed the society of the candidacy of a new State Minister.

The mandate of State Minister includes two critically important directions: conflict resolution, confidence-building and reconciliation politics; and support of civic integration. Having in mind the critical nature of this politics for our country, we consider that the State Minister of Reconciliation and Civic Equality should be a person with respective qualifications, extensive political and diplomatic experience, who has faith in human rights, equality and peace, and high public trust.

Ketevan Tsikhelashvili has been the State Minister since 2016 and her rhetoric was essentially based on a discourse of peace and human rights, but the influence of the State Minister and her office on real politics was weak and it resembled a demonstration of imaginary progress at international and diplomatic levels.

In integration policy, the activities of the Office were essentially within the framework of the 2015 State Strategy for Civic Equality and Integration. Although this policy document is essentially in line with international legal approaches in the field of ethnic minority rights, its content and implementation reports show that these documents are of more formal significance, it does not recognize the mechanisms and politics to support real equality, and in recent years, we have not seen a significant positive breakthrough in integration policy. The issue of weak political participation at the level of central and local government, low employment in public service, clearly poor quality and unequal education, lack of access to services and social benefits, the practice of cultural dominance in the regions, the weak political rhetoric of equality and solidarity are still problematic for ethnic minorities. It is still clear that the security perspectives and the influence of the relevant state authorities dominate the politics of ethnic minorities, which substantially spoils the building of an equal, solidary, and democratic society.

Unfortunately, the challenges faced by ethnic minorities are not part of the political agenda. Minorities’ political participation is still low, there does not exist any positive special mechanism on legislative or executive levels, which could support and encourage their political participation. The practice of expelling minority languages ​​from the administrative practice at the local level (mainly in the Kvemo Kartli region) deprives the local community of opportunities to engage in self-governing life. Furthermore, there is no consultative mechanism linked with the executive or legislative governmental branches, which could function as a platform for ethnic minorities to make an influence on the decision-making process.

Systemic problems remain in other areas of the State Strategy for Civic Equality. Access to quality education for ethnic minorities is still hampered by uncoordinated and inconsistent state policies. In turn, the failure of the education system deepens the exclusion of minorities and social vulnerability.

Also, the exclusion from the political agenda further aggravates xenophobic and discriminatory attitudes toward minority issues in society. Recently, the chauvinist wave related to the pandemic lockdown of Marneuli and Bolnisi has not been the subject of harsh reactions from high-ranking political officials and emergency communication with the local community. In recent weeks, the State Minister's Office has not been able to respond to the cultural tensions over the Nariman Narimanov monument in Marneuli and the local diocese's statements, and in the end, the issue has again been reacted only from the State Security Service. The weak influences of the State Minister office are also evident in the policies pursued in the Pankisi Gorge.

Unfortunately, in last years, the government and relevant state institutions have not noticed and acknowledged, the unique democratic processes taking place in local communities, and that there is a clear misunderstanding between real politics mostly based on security and control and the democratic political beliefs of local activists and the ideals of inclusive citizenship.

In light of the above mentioned, it is evident that integration policy has dual nature, and what is visible in strategic documents and State Minister’s rhetoric is not part of real politics. One of the reasons for this is the security perspectives in minority policy and excessive intervention of the relevant state authority.

The second part of the State Minister’s mandate is related to no less important topic. In conflict resolution issues, reconciliation and dialogue course has been strengthened since 2012, along with approaches to "non-recognition". Regardless of this, the human rights situation in conflict regions is still dramatic and this policy has not had tangible results in terms of conflict transformation and the protection of the rights and well-being of the people living there. There has been no improvement in negotiations and the establishment of international monitoring mechanisms in the occupied territories. The last few years have been particularly difficult for the Akhalgori region, which has experienced border closures, isolation, and humanitarian crises. The situation is still dire in the Gali district and they face daily threats to local security. In the wake of the ongoing political processes in Abkhazia, the prospects of our positions and the conflict transformation are unclear. Unfortunately, the current policy of conflict transformation is opaque and less public.

State Minister's office budget is significantly low and beyond the coordinative role, this does not give an opportunity of independent activities, which apart from the lack of resources reveals the problem of lack of political will. It is problematic to remove the issues related to the policy of freedom of religion from the mandate of this agency (despite the importance and influence of the religious factor in the politics of ethnic minorities) and to hand over this direction to the State Agency for Religious Affairs. – irresponsible, ineffective, and anti-human rights institutions.

According to the above mentioned, we believe, that it is essential:

• The new Minister of State should be selected through democratic consultations with Ethnic Minority Council within the Public Defender's office, ethnic minority organizations, and activists, as well as with public organizations working in this field;
• The government should understand the importance of real policies of integration and reconciliation policy, in line with human rights, justice, and democratic principles, and institutionally, financially, and politically strengthen the Office of the State Minister.
• The government and parliament should understand the weaknesses and shortcomings of the existing integration policy and take drastically positive measures to create a truly equal, inclusive, and fair policy for ethnic minorities.
• The government and parliament should ensure the establishment of regular and institutionalized dialogue formats with ethnic minorities.

Signatory Organizations:

• Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC)
• Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA)
• Platform Salam
• Human Rights Center (HRC)
• Women’s initiatives supporting group (WISG)
• Equality Movement
• Rights Georgia
• Partnership for Human Rights (PHR)

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