The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) has published a report on Georgia, which represents an interim assessment of implementation of recommendations issued to Georgia within the fifth monitoring cycle.

The report praises the performance of the Public Defender's Office, including its cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs aimed at conducting trainings for police officers investigating hate crimes.

The Commission evaluates the implementation of recommendations concerning the measures taken by the state for strengthening its support for the Council of Religions, which operates under the auspices of the Public Defender’s Tolerance Centre. In particular, the authorities should have tasked the newly created State Agency for Religious Issues to cooperate with the Council of Religions and utilised the Council’s expertise and recommendations in order to tackle the problem of religious intolerance.

The Commission considers that the Georgian authorities failed to implement the recommendation and take effective steps for cooperating with the Council of Religions.

The Commission regrets that the State Agency for Religious Issues could not use the expertise of the Public Defender's Tolerance Center to promote religious tolerance during the confrontation in the village of Mokhe. In addition, the Commission criticized the indifference of the State Agency during consideration of amendments aimed at imposing restrictions on freedom of religious on grounds such as national security, whereas the Council of Religions of the Public Defender's Tolerance Center publicly criticized the proposed amendments and referred to its incompatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights.

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) is an independent human rights monitoring body established by the Council Europe, which specializes in questions relating to racism and intolerance. The Commission is composed of members appointed on the basis of their independence, impartiality, moral authority and expertise in dealing with issues of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, antisemitism and intolerance.