The Public Defender of Georgia presented a report on the situation of human rights and freedoms in 2015 at the plenary session of the Parliament of Georgia on June 24, 2016.

In his speech the Public Defender briefly overviewed all the major trends and challenges reflected in the parliamentary report. He spoke about the positive and negative trends of human rights in the country as well as the reforms carried out by the Georgian authorities in the justice system and law enforcement agencies under national and international commitments.

Ucha Nanuashvili positively assessed the reforms carried out in the Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, though stated that there are still a number of challenges, elimination of which requires improvement of legal regulations. He noted that adoption of the Juvenile Justice Code and liberalization of criminal policy, consistent implementation of which has already been reflected in reasonable and proportional punishments, have been important achievements in the field of human rights in the recent years.

The Public Defender discussed the reforms and challenges in the penitentiary system and noted that the issues of separation of juveniles from the rest of prisoners and disproportionate restriction on the access to the outside world were still problematic. He once again emphasized the importance of creation of an independent investigation mechanism for effective investigation of crimes committed by law enforcement officers and implementation of effective measures for restoration of justice.

Special attention was paid to the positive change of the essence of the so-called ODR institution (ODR is a Russian abbreviation that stands for ‘Acting Reserve Officer’, a person inculcated into an institution and acting on behalf of the secret police) as a result of adoption of amendments in the state security area; however, in spite of the changes, in March 2016 information was released about existence of “ODR” in Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. Therefore, the Public Defender called on the Parliament to create a temporary fact-finding commission to examine how the “ODR” institution is used in the agencies where its use is banned by law.

The Public Defender also spoke about the gaps in realization of the constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of assembly. He said that last year a diverse media environment was generally ensured, though at the end of the year there were problems in terms of preservation of healthy media environment in connection with the Rustavi 2 legal dispute and undue interference of the judiciary with the freedom of expression.

According to the Public Defender, lack of minimum standards of labour safety and the alarming number of casualties in the workplace have been acute problems for years. He said the abovementioned creates the necessity for establishing a labour inspection mechanism. Achievement of gender equality, homophobic attitudes towards LGBT persons and timely and effective investigation of hate crimes are still problematic.

High rates of child mortality and poverty are alarming. There are poor socio-economic conditions in the mountainous regions. Problems exist in the children’s group homes and boarding schools under religious organizations.

The full enjoyment of freedom of religion is still complicated. The level of participation and involvement of national minorities in the decision-making process is low.

Another problem is the absence of database of homeless persons, which makes it difficult to define the number of people in need of financial assistance; the situation of conflict-affected population is grave both in terms of social-economic conditions and safety. The long-term resettlement of IDPs and the projects in support of eco-migrants were assessed positively, though the situation of tens of thousands of affected families remains poor. Important steps were made for the improvement of the state of refugees and persons with humanitarian status, though worthy return and integration of Meskhetians, expatriated from southern Georgia, still need to be responded.

Creation of an adequate environment for full development and integration of persons with disabilities, as well as the poverty, homelessness and the danger of isolation of the older persons, remains important challenges for the state. The system of compulsory military service is also to be revised.

After the delivery of the report, the Public Defender answered MPs’ questions. Legislators showed interest in the cases of torture and ill-treatment in closed institutions, conditions of women prisoners and general situation in prisons.

Ucha Nanuashvili talked about the situation of socially vulnerable citizens, the ongoing investigations into the high-profile murders of women, as well as the specific cases, which were under discussion in the Public Defender's Office during the reporting period, including the shortcomings in the Labour Code and the law on the mountain.

Eka Beselia, Chairperson of the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee, presented a draft resolution on the implementation of the Public Defender's report, which reflects part of the Public Defender's recommendations. MPs adopted the resolution by 75 votes.

It should be noted that the draft resolution was unavailable for the Public Defender's Office until the end of the session; the final text has not been provided to the Public Defender even after the session.