The 2024 Report of the Public Defender of Georgia on the Situation of Human Rights and Freedoms reviews the challenges and progress relating to the protection of human rights guaranteed by the Constitution, as well as significant trends that require an appropriate and timely response from the authorities.
The first chapter of the report emphasizes that representatives of the occupation regimes directly involved in the murders of Tamaz Ginturi, Davit Basharuli, Giga Otkhozoria, Archil Tatunashvili and Irakli Kvaratskhelia remain unpunished to this day, for which the Russian Federation bears responsibility. The rights of residents of the occupied territories and those living near the occupation line, illegal detentions across the occupation line and cases of illegal imprisonment, restrictions on movement, education in the native language, health and social protection, illegal so-called borderization and violation of the right to property, as well as the issue of resettlement of IDPs, are discussed in the document.
In 2024, violations of rights during the protests took a particularly severe form. In addition to the beatings and violence against citizens by law enforcement officers, there was persecution and violence against civil activists, journalists and public figures by unknown persons; there were also organized telephone threats and violent intolerance expressed in various forms.
From April 15, 2024 to March 1, 2025, the Public Defender and his representatives visited 624 people detained and injured during the protests. Of these, 360 people (57.7%) indicated ill-treatment.
It is noteworthy that to date, no law enforcement officer has been held accountable for committing ill-treatment.
The situation of media and freedom of expression has been negatively affected by restrictive legislative changes, insecure environment in the country, and outdated legislation regulating access to information; as well as negative rhetoric of high-ranking officials and politicians.
With regard to the inviolability of private life, the rules for conducting covert investigative actions need to be refined.
Poverty remains one of the main challenges in the country. The scale of child poverty is particularly alarming. The number of children under the age of 18 registered in the Unified Database of Socially Vulnerable Families is 369,924, of which 270,712 children receive social assistance.
Poverty also negatively affects the realization of the rights of older persons. The share of the population aged 65 and older in the total population has increased from 15.6% to 16.2% last year. Along with the increase in their number, the percentage of socially vulnerable and those living below the poverty line is also increasing. The shortcomings in the detection, assessment and response to violence against older persons are also noteworthy.
No national accessibility plan has yet been approved to protect the rights of persons with disabilities. There are no standards for access to information or communication for persons with disabilities. Challenges include gaps in the provision of education, detection and prevention of violence, access to justice, and the lack and quality of rehabilitation services for persons with mental health problems.
The process of deinstitutionalization of large-scale psychiatric hospitals and institutions for persons with disabilities has remained an unresolved problem for years.
To achieve full civic integration of representatives of national minorities, more attention should be paid to issues of the official language and bilingual education, as well as access to information on employment and various services.
Overcrowding and individual cases of informal governance, identification and documentation of ill-treatment, adequate medical care for prisoners, and the physical environment of the institutions remain serious challenges in the penitentiary institutions. The mechanism for the early release of prisoners needs to be refined. The Public Defender's proposal to reduce the deadline for life-sentenced prisoners to apply to the court for early release by several years remains unfulfilled.
Some of the detainees continued to speak about the use of excessive force and physical and psychological violence by law enforcement officers in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Timely access to a lawyer and provision of information to the family remain problematic. The absence of an obligation to use body cameras, to produce audio and video recordings, and to fully equip police premises with video surveillance systems remain problematic.
In the direction of the right to equality and fight against discrimination, the risk of discrimination on political grounds has significantly increased during the pre-election period. As in previous years, the equality of various vulnerable groups has remained a challenge.
The increasing rate of child dropout of recent years has slightly decreased in 2024, however, the statistics are still high. In order to eliminate the harmful practice of child abuse and child marriage, it is necessary to develop child-friendly approaches and effective legislative regulations. Another challenge is effective implementation of the right to reproductive health and access to services.
Unfortunately, prevention of gender-motivated murders of women - fimicide, and the effective implementation of justice in such cases still remain problematic. Of the 25 murders and 17 attempted murders of women that occurred in 2024, the Prosecutor's Office identified femicide in 16 cases, and attempted femicide in 13 cases.
The report discusses the guarantees necessary for the effective functioning of institutions responsible for the protection of human rights; legislative and institutional changes that need to be adopted to ensure a fair trial; measures to be taken to protect the right to health, the right to work and the right to decent remuneration, as well as shortcomings related to the realization of the right to property. It is noted that despite some improvements, there is no unified vision in the country to prevent homelessness.
The report extensively reviews the situation of freedom of belief and religion, issues of human rights education and protection of cultural heritage, as well as the rights of asylum seekers and eco-migrants.
In the reporting period, 3,780 applications were received by the Public Defender of Georgia relating human rights violations. Out of them, 2390 applications were declared admissible and the Office began to consider the merits of the cases. The hotline, which operates 24 hours a day, received 14295 calls.
The Public Defender’s Office issued 82 recommendations and proposals to the state agencies relating to the elimination of violations of rights; prepared 16 special reports, 1 alternative report for international bodies, 2 constitutional complaints, 11 opinions of the friend of the court and 4 communications for the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. It carried out a number of visits to various institutions. A detailed overview of the activities can be found in the Activity Report.
The full 2024 Parliamentary Report on the Situation of Human Rights and Freedoms in Georgia can be found on the official website of the Public Defender of Georgia.
Spain
- Valencia
