Safeguarding Human Rights in Georgia

To serve this very end, on 12 – 21 June 2021, within the framework of European Union (EU) and United Nations (UN) Joint Program Human Rights for All - Phase Two a series of trainings and workshops were held, in which over 200 representatives from various institutions participated (Parliament of Georgia; Ministry of Justice of Georgia; Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia; Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia; Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia;  Public Defender (Ombudsman) of Georgia; Legal Aid Service; State Inspector’s Service; Georgian Bar Association).

Interactive training programme for the doctors of the Special Penitentiary Service of Georgia covered a wide range of issues, including the standard for documentation of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, in-depth study and analysis of the Istanbul Protocol, methodology for conducting interviews of accused/convicts in penitentiary institutions according to international standards and documenting injuries.

One of the participants of this training, Rusudan believes that such events are very important, especially for practicing doctors. "At the training we talked a lot about the importance of using different methods of interviewing the accused/convicts. Once again analyzed the international standards and shared an experience of documenting cases of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, which we will actively use in practice.” – she said.

During the training of lawyers representing the Georgian Bar Association, international human rights standards and grievance mechanisms were discussed in detail, as well as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism (mediation) and the role of a lawyer in this process.

Using video material and case studies, representatives of various structural divisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were trained on prohibition of discrimination with special focus on  hate crimes committed on the different discriminatory grounds (including religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, political or other belief) and its indicators, hate speech, international as well as national  standards and tools related to the given issues.

"In order to fully implement anti-discrimination measures imposed on the state, it is very important for us, the practitioners, to act in accordance with the law and international standards. Therefore, the knowledge acquired during the training will serve to  equip us in determining the specific qualifications of various crimes and conducting investigative actions accordingly, ” said one of the training participants from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

"Necessary precondition for a democratic state is to ensure full realization and protection of human rights. Accordingly, UN OHCHR helps to strengthen the human rights protection systems and policies, to raise professional skills and awareness in the field of human rights for representatives of Georgian authorities, civil society and the media," - said UN OHCHR Senior Human Rights Adviser for the South Caucasus, Vladimir Shkolnikov.

EU and UN joint programme Human Rights for All - Phase Two aims to assist the state with the protection the rights of all citizens and social groups living in Georgia in accordance with the country's Constitution, legislation and international obligations.