Social Justice Center supports the demand of the community of Kirovka village, Marneuli to hold a settlement’s assembly and calls on Marneuli City Hall to undertake all necessary measures to help organize the assembly.

For months, the local community members in Kirovka village, Marneuli have been trying to reach out to local authorities and voice their decision to rename the village.

At a session held on 18 April 2022, Marneuli municipal council discussed the matter of changing toponyms inherited from the Soviet past. The council members voted for changing the names of two villages – Kirovka and Shaumiani. According to a statement released by the council the new names had been selected based on an agreement with local communities of the villages. According to the council, Shaumiani village will be called Zemo Shulaveri, while two options – Megobroba (friendship) or Mtsvane Gora (green hill) are being considered as a new name for Korovka.

In a letter sent to the City Hall and the municipal council dated 26 April 2022, Korovka residents appealed to the local authorities to involve the former in a decision making. In the same letter, the community proposed the village to be renamed as Mamei, a historical name up until 1949, when the Communist authorities changed the name of the village into Kirovka. Many families in the village still keep birth and death certificates with Mamei indicated as a name of the village. The local community also preserves the knowledge about writings of foreign travelers and other books in which the name Mamei as early as 18^th century. It should be noted that a collective letter was signed by more than 30% of the village’s residents.

Also, along with appealing in writing, the local community met Mr. Kenan Omarov, the Marneuli municipality mayor to seek support in the process. The mayor who pledged to help, reportedly asked for more time. However, after months of waiting, the local community sided by the Salam platform and other activists, decided to took matters into their hand and organize a general assembly of the settlement to deliberate about the name of the village.

For this purpose, on 7 July 2022, an initiative group comprising members of the local community submitted a written appeal to the local authorities requesting respective documents to be handed to the local population to organize a general assembly of the settlement as per Article 85 of the Local Self-Government Code of Georgia.

In response, local authorities sent back a series of questions as to what origin the name Mamei had, whether or not it is a name of a public figure or a statesperson, what the reason was for local community to give that specific name to the village, and what deeds Mamei had done for Georgia.

In yet another letter dated 19 July, the members of the initiative group told the local authorities that answers to these questions would be given during the general assembly while, at that stage, the appeal of the local population concerned the organization of a general assembly.

As of now, the local community has not received any further feedback from the local authorities.

Participation of ethnic minorities into the country’s cultural and public life is the right enshrined in the country’s constitution, the national strategy for civic equality and integration and the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. It is also a cornerstone for the realization of minority rights. Pursuant to Article 4 of the Framework Convention, the parties should undertake to adopt adequate measures to promote participation of minorities in a country’s economic, social, political and cultural life, while Article 15 obliges the member states to create conditions necessary for effective participation of persons belonging to national minorities.

In addition, according to Article 5 of the Framework Condition the parties shall undertake to promote the conditions necessary for national minorities to maintain and develop their culture, and to preserve the essential elements of their identity, namely their religion, language, traditions, and cultural heritage. The second part of Article 5 calls on the member states to refrain from policies or practices aimed at assimilation of persons belonging to national minorities against their will and protect these persons from any action aimed at such assimilation.

Participation in cultural and social life is an important element for the preservation of cultural identity of minorities safeguarded, in part, by the availability of effective consultation mechanisms at various levels including the local one, in those areas which are home to compact minority settlements.

In addition, the European Charter of Local Self-Government and its additional protocol of 2009 ratified by Georgia in 2019, establishes that participation in the affairs of local self-government is the key political right and implies the right to seek to determine or to influence the exercise of a local authority’s powers and responsibilities. The law shall provide means of facilitating the exercise of this right. Without unfairly discriminating against any person or group, the law may provide particular measures for different circumstances or categories of persons. According to article 2 of the Additional Protocol concerning measures for ensuring participation, local authorities must undertake such procedures which will include local communities in consultative processes, locally held referendums, and petitions. In addition, self-governments are obliged to take all necessary measures to meet the needs of categories of persons who face particular obstacles in participating.

According to the Self-Government Code of Georgia, a general assembly of the settlement is among the instruments which allows local communities to participate in local public and political affairs. Pursuant to Article 85⁴ a general assembly of the settlement can be convened by at least 5 per cent of voters registered in the settlement in question. The assembly is authorized to discuss locally important social issues and submit proposals to respective municipal bodies.

Therefore, the refusal of Marneuli City Hall to help Kirovka community in organizing a general assembly with regard such an issue as the name of the settlement, represents a violation of the right of the local community to participate in local public affairs and raises questions over curing their ability to adequately realize cultural rights.

It should be noted that in the 1990s, at times which saw a rise of ethno-chauvinistic policies against the backdrop of fragile state institutions, predominantly ethnic Azerbaijani villages in Kvemo Kartli regions had their names changed undemocratically and without any consultations with local communities. For instance, more than 50 settlements in Bolnisi and Dmanisi municipalities were renamed without any prior deliberation with local communities. This development unfolding against the backdrop of widespread tensions, remains imprinted in traumatic memory of Georgian Azerbaijani communities to this day. Importantly, local communities in renamed settlements continue to refer to their villages with former names rather than official ones. No incumbent authorities have undertaken any measures to redress the consequences and errors of state-led ethnocentric policies of the 1990s.

Based on the above said, the Social Justice Center calls on Marneuli City Hall to support Kirovka community in organizing a general assembly of the settlement and ensuring their right to participate in a decision-making process by upholding their right enshrined in the Georgian Code of Local Self-Government. We believe that local authorities must respect the right of ethnic minorities to protect their cultural identity and respond adequately considering the general context and sensitivity attached to the matter in question.

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