Public Defender's Hotline Marks 1-Year Anniversary

9 November, 2016

On November 9, 2016, the Public Defender of Georgia held an event on the occasion of the 1-year anniversary of its hotline and distributed flyers containing information about the hotline among the population; video was also prepared and spread on social networks with regard to the anniversary.

Ombudsman’s hotline 14-81 receives information about human rights violations from any part of Georgia for 24 hours a day within the statutory mandate.

Effective functioning of the hotline is ensured by operators and the rapid response team composed of authorized representatives of the Public Defender's Office.

The response team visits the sites of alleged violations only in Tbilisi, including during non-working hours, holidays and weekends, if:

State (public) agencies put in danger any person’s life or health
State (public) agencies subject any person to arbitrary arrest, detention, or otherwise restrict his/her liberty
Domestic violence is committed and law enforcement agencies do not respond properly
Human rights and freedoms guaranteed by the legislation and the constitution are violated

From November 2015 to October 2016, 294 protocols were drawn up on the basis of the notifications received through the hotline; the rapid response team visited 95 sites of alleged violations in Tbilisi.

The rapid response team most frequently visited the sites of alleged violations with regard to:

Alleged ill-treatment by police officers (17 cases);
Visiting defendants/convicts in the penitentiary facilities (16 cases);
Alleged violation of the right to assembly (11 cases);

Calls are received by the hotline both from the landline phones (call is free) and cell phones (1 minute costs 6 tetris).

The Public Defender's Office launched the hotline in November 2015 and the goal was to ensure timely response to alleged human rights violations, promote establishment of high standards of protection of human rights and increase trust in the Public Defender’s Office.

Apart from the hotline, information about human rights violations can be provided to the Public Defender's Office via: