Advocates of Tolerance were awarded at the event organized by the Tolerance Center of the Public Defender of Georgia on 16 November 2018.

Each year, the Councils of National Minorities and Religions of the Public Defender of Georgia select a media outlet, organization, person and public servant, which contributed to the protection of the rights of ethnic and religious minorities and promoted the tolerance culture in the country throughout the year.

The Public Defender started her speech by talking about the murder of a young human rights activist, Vitaly Safarov, on the ground of intolerance. She noted that despite minor achievements, there is a serious problem of intolerance in the government, political circle, media and society in terms of perciveing and accepting diverse environment, while intolerance may turn into a grave crime – murder of a young man. The Public Defender considers that the law enforcers’ timely, adequate and effective response to each case of hate crime is crucial for resolving the mentioned problem. She also responded to the detention of a Georgian citizen, head of the High Council of All Muslims of Georgia, Mirtaghi Asadov, on the territory of Azerbaijan, and noted that representative of the Azerbaijan Ombudsman had alreyad visited him at the Public Defender's request. The Public Defender has communication with all relevant agencies and will monitor the Georgian citizen’s rights.

"The deep problems in the protection of national minorities and civil integration, which have traditionally existed in this field, remain unresolved. The main problem is the low level of participation of national minorities in the decision-making process, which makes them feel that they live in a discriminative environment. Effective teaching of the national language in the regions densely populated by national minorities remains a significant challenge, as well as the deficiencies related to the construction of religious buildings and property issues," the Public Defender said.

PeterWiebler, USAID/GeorgiaMission Director, also delivered a welcome speech at the event.

The title of Advocate of Tolerance (person) was awarded to Dutch Ambassador Jos Douma, as well as to nun Sidonia, by the Council of Religions, while Vitali Safarov, who was killed on xenophobic grounds, was awarded by the Council of National Minorities. The award was handed over to Vitali’s mother.

Natia Kapanadze, Director of Adjara’s Public Broadcaster, was awarded in the nomination of public servant by the Council of Religions, while Sophio Sichinava, a representative of the Central Election Commission, was awarded by the Council of National Minorities.

The Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani University was awarded in the nomination of organization by the Council of Religions, while the Center for Ethnicity and Multiculturalism was awarded by the Council of National Minorities.

In the media nomination – the Council of Religions awarded the Batumelebi magazine and the Council of National Minorities awarded the Marneuli Community Radio and the Pankisi Community Radio.

In addition, the Council of National Minorities handed a special award of tolerance to Gary Augst, Head of the Association of Georgian Germans – Einung, and Regina Iakobidze, Chairperson of the Latvian Community.

The event was organized by the Tolerance Center of the Public Defender of Georgia and the Promoting Integration, Tolerance and Awareness Project (PITA) of the United Nations Association of Georgia (UNAG) funded by the United States International Development agency (USAID).

The event was attended by representatives of state agencies, diplomatic missions, international and non-governmental organizations, media, Councils of Religious and National Minorities.