On August 9, 2021, Nino Lomjaria, Public Defender of Georgia, met with Ambassador Marek Szczygieł, Head of the EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in Georgia, and briefed him on the rights situation of the conflict-affected population in the country, the mandate of the Public Defender and the challenges facing the Office.

Nino Lomjaria focused on the challenges facing the population of the occupied territories, such as the situation of Covid-19, involvement in the vaccination process, various barriers and formal regime established by the de facto authorities for movement across the occupation line, such as unpredictable closure of the so-called checkpoints, illegal arrests, problems with de facto documentation required for movement, as well as the rights situation of women and girls living in the occupied territories.

The Public Defender also highlighted the challenges relating to access to health care, in particular, the complicated scheme of transferring patients from occupied Akhalgori to the Tbilisi-controlled area ​​despite the pandemic, which, due to inadequate access to medical services, has resulted in the death of a number of patients.

The parties talked about possible solutions to the mentioned problems.

The meeting was also attended by Tamar Gvaramadze, First Deputy Public Defender of Georgia, Meri Kochlamazashvili, Adviser on Human Rights Issues in the Conflict-Affected Regions, Gorica Balta, EUMM Human Rights Adviser and Sini Ramo, EUMM Gender Adviser.