The Social Justice Center, in responding to allegations of illegal activities on the part of the State Security Service of Georgia, contends that the leaked material demonstrates the worst practice of the illegal, persistent and widespread monitoring and surveillance of individuals. In our estimation, this fact is a gross violation of the inviolability of private life and undermines opportunities for the democratic development of the country.

In recent weeks, a stream of information has been circulated through the media and Internet resources, indicating the alleged covert surveillance of citizens by the State Security Service. Representatives of non-governmental organizations and the media also made statements regarding one of the published materials and confirmed the authenticity of those particular conversations. On September 13, information regarding allegations of secret covert surveillance was once again disseminated, this time applying to the clergy of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

Our organization has not been able to access and process this information, although we have acquired some data and information from leaked documents that show that in the process of working on issues of religious freedom, the personal communications of one of the directors and some other staff members of our organization were probably regularly monitored, recorded, documented and retained from the very first years of the organization’s foundation. Not only the communications with the relevant persons for official purposes were recorded, but also those made within personal circles.

Besides, not only the recording of telephone conversations is apparent, but also, it may be assumed, the surveillance of our movements from one place to another. The recording of our lawyer's privileged communications with his clients and the gross violation of the terms of confidentiality and of guarantees by the state, were of particular concern. As is manifest in the materials that have been shared with us, the surveillance of our employees was detailed, frequent, persistent and carried out over a long period of time. These circumstances increase our suspicions that the leaked footage was indeed recorded by the State Security Service and it requires a timely, effective and independent investigation.

This evidence demonstrates an experience of illegal recordings and surveillance carried out by the State Security Service, which unfortunately is a well-established practice there, and forms part of an unfortunate and long-held tradition of illegal activities carried out by this agency. It furthermore points to the problem of the insufficient protection afforded to personal information. This leaked evidence exposes the worst consequences of the violation of the privacy of many of our citizens. It is also deeply disturbing in another sense, in that it indicates that the SSSG is incapable of safeguarding the information it gathers, and opens up the possibility that other highly sensitive intelligence on both national and international matters could similarly leak and be disseminated publicly, with very serious consequences.

The Social Justice Center is concerned about the fact that no state agency has so far been able to respond adequately to the recent reports of alleged illegal surveillance and to investigate effectively large-scale illegal practices. Moreover, given the disreputable practices of the SSSG in its operation and management, the existence of such facts and their widespread nature have become for us an everyday event and an integral part of our political life. The State Security Service has always been and remains one of the main centers of power in Georgia, where mechanisms of control, intimidation, manipulation and political retribution are concentrated. This is facilitated by the institutional arrangement of the SSSG, which lacks accountability procedures, leading to the accumulation of excess power in the hands of one agency.

The role of SSSG in the pre-election context deserves special attention. As is well known to the public, the State Security Service is often a source of political retaliation, intimidation and the dissemination of informal influence.

Pre-election processes in Georgia fail to acquire a democratic quality, and the goal of the political authorities is to find as much information as possible about people through the SSSG, to penetrate into their private spheres of life and to carry out the manipulation of information for political ends. Recent materials indicate that the SSSG resources are still actively used as tools in political controversies and in the furtherance of party interests.

The large-scale, illegal and daily control of the activities of the senior hierarchs and priests of the Patriarchate poses a serious risk of unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of the Church, and furthermore risks both the political instrumentalization of the church and the violation of the constitutional principle of secularism. In our view, the existing SSSG management practices are so inherently beneficial to the party interests of the political authorities that fragmented reforms or the investigation of isolated facts cannot change the logic of the system. Unfortunately, under the Georgian Dream, the process of collapsing, politicizing and mistrusting state institutions has gone so far that we no longer even expect the law enforcement agencies and the judiciary to effectively investigate such cases and discover the truth. This is the most alarming result of the crisis of the political system, and contains troubling signs of the disintegration of the basic framework of statehood.

The power of the State Security Service is so excessive that its de-centralization and limitation must become part of a broader political agenda and subject to radical institutional reforms. It is essential that these issues become the subject of intervention and action on the part of the Parliament of Georgia, and that the process of parliamentary inquiry and reform of the SSSG be conducted according to political consensus and logic.

It is necessary to find ways, in the long run, to make the SSSG an independent and accountable body based on democratic principles. Otherwise, the gross violation of the rights and interests of individuals will continue, as well as the obstruction of the healthy and fair development of the political system.

In view of the above, the Social Justice Center calls on

The Parliament of Georgia:

• To establish a commission of inquiry to investigate allegations of mass illegal wiretapping and gross human rights abuses by the SSSG.
• To start discussing the fundamental reform of the SSSG, de-centralizing and limiting its excessive power and increasing the mechanisms of accountability.

The Prosecutor's Office of Georgia:

• To immediately launch a timely, effective and independent investigation into the current facts and provide the public with information on the progress and results of the investigation.

Share