As in the previous year, the Parliament accepted the major part of the Public Defender’s recommendations and assigned undertaking of specific measures to the state bodies. According to the Resolution, Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of the Parliament will monitor the implementation of the recommendations set forth in the Public Defender’s Report. Pursuant to the Resolution, the state bodies are assigned to present to the Committee the report on implementation of the recommendations mentioned in the Resolution prior to March 1, 2015. The Public Defender considers that it is necessary for the effective fulfillment of the undertaken duties to elaborate detailed plan of monitoring in close cooperation with the Office of the Public Defender. If the Committee limits its monitoring to the requirement of one-time submission of the report on implementa­tion of recommendations, the obligations stipulated in the Resolution of the Parliament may be transformed into formality.

In the context of intolerance towards representatives of the religious and sexual minorities, the Public Defender considers the entry into force of the Law of Georgia on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination to be an important step forward, particularly, in view of the fact that the draft law was passed against the background of the controversial opinions present in the society. The Law determines that the oversight body on the elimina­tion of discrimination and protection of equality is the Public Defender, however the Office received the finan­cial resources necessary for implementation of the functions prescribed by the Law several months later. In the opinion of the Public Defender, certain amendments shall be made to the Law for its effective implementation.

The Public Defender of Georgia evaluates approval of the National Human Rights Strategy of Georgia (for years 2014-2020) and the respective Action Plan of the Government as progress made in 2014. In spite of this fact, the process of elaboration of the instruments could allow for more room of inclusiveness and openness.

In the reporting period, the government had neither dispersed any assemblies nor used disproportional force against participants. The media environment was improved and became relatively diverse.

One of the most important accomplishments of this year in the field of protection of human rights is liberaliza­tion of criminal policy, consistent implementation of which is already evidenced by proportional and reason­able sentences, reduction of rate of usage of pre-trial detention as a preventive measure, etc.

Human Rights and Freedoms in Georgia - 2014