The Public Defender of Georgia is concerned about the xenophobic demonstration held in front of the House of Justice on December 10, during which demonstrators protested against the sale of agricultural land plots to foreign nationals and hampered certain persons to enter the building due to their ethnic origin. One of the persons with different ethnic origin was psychically abused during the rally.

The above-mentioned is a clear example of how the expression of discriminatory attitudes by the part of society can result in the restriction of specific rights due to persons’ race or skin colour. The actions of the demonstrators, apart from contradicting the principle of equality and promoting negative attitudes towards the ethnic minorities, included signs of crimes committed on grounds of ethnicity.

In addition, according to the Public Defender, the actions of the protesters went beyond the scope of peaceful assembly - according to the Georgian legislation, blocking the entrances of buildings during demonstration is prohibited and represents an administrative offense. Taking into consideration this, the law enforcement agencies were obliged to immediately prevent such actions by taking proportional measures.

It is of vital importance the state to fully fulfill its positive obligation and the law enforcement agencies to immediately respond to similar facts. At the same time, it is necessary to conduct a timely and effective investigation into the alleged crimes and to identify the hate motive of the crimes.

Inadequate assessment of similar facts by the state may encourage discriminatory practices against various vulnerable groups, threaten democratic values and negatively affect the human rights situation in the country.