Since November 28, mass protests have been held in the streets of Tbilisi in response to the government's suspension of negotiations with the European Union. In addition to instances of targeted torture and inhuman treatment of protest participants, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has widely used various special means to disperse the protests, such as water cannons, tear gas, and pepper spray. Special means were used particularly actively between November 28 and December 4, and in many cases, there was no legal basis for their use, proportionality requirements were violated, and the rules for their use were not followed.

According to the Public Defender's assessment, during this period, the protests were fundamentally peaceful, and the beginning of the dispersal of the protests through the use of special means violated the right to freedom of assembly. The Ombudsman recorded numerous episodes of unwarranted use of special means against peaceful demonstrators, including politicians, journalists, and detainees[1]. The Public Defender pointed out that, instead of using proportional response measures against individual participants in the protest, law enforcement officials violated the proportionality standard by using generalized special means against peaceful demonstrators. [2]

Use of Water Cannon
In the early days of the mass protests, the police forces used water cannons mixed with other chemical agents. On November 30, the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Aleksandre Darakhvelidze, confirmed that the water used to disperse the demonstrators contained other substances, including tear gas, but did not specify what other substances were involved. He also claimed that the Ministry follows a proportionality test when using special means, in order to prevent potential harm and danger. [3]

Contrary to this, footage released by the media shows that, although in many cases the police issued warnings about the use of special means before the dispersal of the protest, there was no basis for using a generalized special means, such as a water cannon. Additionally, according to some citizens, in cases of large demonstrations, the warning did not reach them in time, making it impossible for them to decide promptly to leave the protest and move to a safer location if they wished to do so.
Since the overwhelming majority of the protesters expressed their dissent peacefully, there was neither a legitimate purpose nor a necessity for using water cannons to disperse the protest. Moreover, the police did not attempt to remove individuals from the protest who were likely violating the right to peaceful assembly. Instead, the authorities started dispersing the massive protest using water cannons. According to international standards, indiscriminate means with high potential for harm, such as water cannons and tear gas, should only be used in situations of generalized violence to disperse people, and only when all other means of deterring violence have been exhausted. Their use is only justified when people have the opportunity to disperse, not when exit routes or spaces are blocked. Before their use, people should be given a warning and an opportunity to disperse. [4] Any decision regarding the use of water cannons must take into account contextual factors, such as particularly cold weather, which could exacerbate the effects of the water. The use of water cannons should cease immediately once people stop the violence or disperse. [5]

As for the mixing of water and chemical substances, according to Amnesty International, using water and chemical substances together makes it impossible to control the precise dosage of these irritants, which could have long-lasting effects on individuals whose clothing is soaked in the solution. Thus, the combination of water cannons with chemical substances and their pressure-based application on demonstrators posed a real risk to people's health. Furthermore, in the absence of information about the composition of the mixed substances, it remains unknown what effect their use will have on the health of individuals subjected to these special means in the future. [6]

Use of Chemical Substances

During the first week of the protests, it was also revealed that the police forces used chemical substances, including pepper spray and, on a larger scale, tear gas in significant quantities, some of which were fired from special weapons at the protest participants. [7] In many cases, the tear gas was fired at a tightly packed group of demonstrators, which, considering the narrowness of Rustaveli Avenue where the protest was taking place, made it difficult for the demonstrators to leave the area, resulting in much more severe effects on the protesters. For example, the special forces threw tear gas canisters among demonstrators trapped in a cordon, who had no means of leaving the area. [8] Along with difficulty breathing, the encirclement of the demonstrators may have led to panic among them. It should also be noted that when the police have made the decision to disperse a protest, encircling a group of protesters and blocking their exit routes, instead of dispersing them, indicates an intention to punish, harm, or intimidate citizens, contrary to the objective of dispersing the protest.

The media also reported incidents where the police threw tear gas canisters from the rooftops of buildings on Rustaveli Avenue. [9] Several peaceful demonstrators were seriously injured by the tear gas canisters, and one of them remained in a coma for a week due to a severe eye injury. [10] Regarding this, the use of chemical special means fired as projectiles, if it hits a person directly, can cause penetrating wounds, concussions, other injuries, and even death. [11] Given these severe risks, aiming these projectiles directly at individuals is unacceptable. Instead, these weapons should be fired at an angle, above the people. [12] It should be noted that the manufacturer’s instructions for the tear gas canisters, GL 202, identified by the Formula TV channel, also specify that these canisters should be fired at a 45-degree angle; direct fire at a person with this weapon can result in severe injury or death.[13]

On December 5, healthcare workers and doctors circulated a petition demanding the cessation of the use of chemical weapons against demonstrators. According to the petition, from November 28 to December 4, following the Ministry of Internal Affairs' use of toxic substances, clinics have been visited daily by people who developed severe symptoms as a result of exposure to these substances. Healthcare workers expressed concern over the prolonged and widespread use of these chemical substances and called on the Ministry of Health to release information on which chemicals were used so that doctors could treat affected individuals accordingly.[14] The former head of the Center for Disease Control also highlighted the alarming dangers of prolonged exposure to tear gas and called for the timely dissemination of information regarding the health risks associated with its use. [15]

Tear gas is a type of chemical irritant and is commonly distributed in handheld sprays, hand-thrown grenades, or projectiles fired from weapons. These substances quickly cause disabling effects by irritating the eyes and upper respiratory tract, and their effects cease shortly after use. According to Amnesty International's recommendations, tear gas, due to its indiscriminate effects, which harm both aggressors and peaceful individuals alike, should not be used in situations where people are unable to leave the area. [16] It must be emphasized that the purpose of chemical means is to "irritate" the human sensory system and force individuals to leave the gathering area, and under no circumstances should they cause harm to a person’s health, as we have seen with the improper use of special means.

Use of Pepper Spray

During the large-scale protests, there were also reports of the special forces spraying pepper spray in the faces of already detained individuals, which presumably aimed to inflict severe physical pain on the demonstrators. [17]According to the European Court of Human Rights, while pepper spray is not considered chemical weaponry and is permitted for law enforcement purposes, it can cause respiratory issues, nausea, dizziness, eye irritation and spasms, chest pain, dermatitis, and allergies. High doses of pepper spray may lead to necrosis of the respiratory or digestive tract tissues or internal bleeding.[18]

We call on:

• The Ministry of Internal Affairs:
  • To refrain from using special means without a legal basis and in violation of the principle of proportionality;
  • To promptly publish the names of the chemical substances used to disperse protests, so that affected individuals can receive proper medical treatment.
• The National Center for Disease Control and Public Health:
  • To ensure the dissemination of public information on the possible negative effects of the chemical substances used in the protests and the methods of treating them.

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