Human rights defenders make a special contribution to the establishment of a high standard of human rights and strengthening of the quality of democracy, equality, the rule of law and accountability of the government. Their efforts aimed at raising public awareness of human rights should be particularly appreciated.

On December 9, 1998, the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which enshrined the most important rights and principles to protect human rights defenders and support their work. The celebration of December 9 is aimed at recognizing and appreciating the activities of human rights defenders.

Although the States unanimously adopted the Declaration and thus demonstrated high readiness for its implementation 22 years ago, the cases of stigmatization of human rights defenders, criminal actions against them and violation of their rights are still frequent around the world. This year, their work has been further challenged by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of the virus.[1] At the same time, it should be noted that in the current situation, when the levers of human rights restrictions have been increased in response to the pandemic, the role of human rights defenders and their efforts have gained even more importance in democratic societies.

The challenges facing human rights defenders have been closely monitored by the Public Defender of Georgia at the national level in recent years. A separate chapter has been devoted to the situation of human rights defenders in the Public Defender’s parliamentary report since 2018.

The monitoring carried out by the Public Defender revealed a number of unfortunate trends of attacks on human rights defenders. Inter alia, the unacceptable practice of high officials’ statements[2] aimed at discrediting representatives of organizations working on issues that are critical for democratic development, several cases of which have taken place this year too,[3] is of particular concern.

In addition, as in the past,[4] alleged offences against human rights defenders of women and LGBT+ people still represent a challenge. The frequent attacks on the Tbilisi Pride office by radical groups should be emphasized in this regard.[5]

The Public Defender considers that the measures taken at the national level to ensure the protection of human rights defenders are insufficient. Unfortunately, law enforcement agencies do not take adequate precautionary measures to prevent attacks on organizations defending the LGBT+ rights. The situation is complicated by the fact that the legislation does not define the concept of human rights defenders, which creates a number of problems in terms of fully identifying offences committed against them, maintaining the relevant statistics and, as a result, solving the challenges identified in this field.

Taking into account the problems existing in the field of protection of human rights defenders, the Public Defender presented an explanatory-methodological document in 2020 – “Guide to Working on Issues of Human Rights Defenders.” It explains the international standard of the concept of human rights defenders, the essence of their activities and the obligations imposed on the State in this direction. It also outlines the role and functions of national human rights institutions, as well as the measures taken by the Public Defender's Office to create a safe and supportive environment for human rights defenders.

Given the current situation, the Public Defender of Georgia once again calls on the authorities to take effective preventive and proactive measures to protect human rights defenders and to promote the full realization of their rights.

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[1] Additional information is available on the website: <https://bit.ly/37ymL78> [Last accessed: 04.12.2020].

[2] Report of the Public Defender of Georgia on the Situation of Human Rights and Freedoms in Georgia in 2018, p. 165-168; Report of the Public Defender of Georgia on the Situation of Human Rights and Freedoms in Georgia in 2019, p. 250-253.

[3] See the statements at: <https://bit.ly/2Y9xbG8>, <https://bit.ly/3190Lhc>, <https://bit.ly/316bmZX>, <https://bit.ly/3ggbsV6> [Last viewed: 04.12.2020].

[4] Report of the Public Defender of Georgia on the Situation of Human Rights and Freedoms in Georgia in 2019, p. 251-252.

[5] Information is available at: <https://bit.ly/36ENjEj>, <https://bit.ly/36FTvvQ>, <https://bit.ly/3okLceY>, <https://bit.ly/3omQ0Ap >, <https://bit.ly/3mH2F0P> [Last accessed: 04.12.2020].