Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.
[link removed]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 5, 2024
Georgia: Freedom House Condemns Crackdown on Protesters and Political Opposition
[link removed]
Escalating arrests, raids, and targeted attacks against people exercising their fundamental right to assembly and freedom of speech betray democratic principles.
WASHINGTON—In response to mounting violence by the Georgian authorities against concerned Georgian citizens and members of the political opposition, Freedom House interim President Nicole Bibbins Sedaca issued the following statement:
“We stand in solidarity with Georgians participating in mass protests, who are exercising their right to assemble and voice dissatisfaction with the ruling party’s decision to break with the public’s widespread and deeply held commitment to the pursuit of European Union membership. Rather than listening to the grievances and the dissatisfaction of citizens, Georgia’s leaders have chosen an illiberal, antidemocratic path.
“Violence should never have any part in the political process, and we are deeply concerned by attacks on protesters and members of the political opposition. We urge the government to uphold the rule of law, protect the right to peacefully protest, and immediately release all those wrongfully detained.”
Background:
On November 28, 2024, shortly after the European Parliament passed a resolution declaring the October 26 Georgian parliamentary election “neither free nor fair,” Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced
[link removed]
the suspension of Georgia’s European Union membership talks until the end of 2028.
Thousands of Georgians took to the streets across the country to protest the government’s decision. The authorities responded with heavy handed crowd-control measures, including excessive violence. By the sixth day of protests, nearly 300 individuals had been detained
[link removed]
, while Georgia’s ombudsman
[link removed]
has accused the police of “inflicting torture” on some of those arrested.
Additionally, authorities have detained numerous leaders of opposition political parties, effectively realizing a preelection threat by Prime Minister Kobakhidze to “ban the opposition
[link removed]
.” Among them is Nika Gvaramia, leader of the opposition Coalition for Change, who was physically assaulted and knocked unconscious
[link removed]
during his arrest.
To date, the international democratic community has already taken action in the form of the United States’ suspension
[link removed]
of the US-Georgia Strategic Partnership mechanism, and the Baltics states’ sanctioning
[link removed]
of key ruling officials in Georgia’s government.
Georgia is rated Partly Free in Freedom in the World 2024
[link removed]
, Free in Freedom on the Net 2024
[link removed]
, and as a Transitional or Hybrid Regime in Nations in Transit 2024
[link removed]
.
Freedom House is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to create a world where all are free.
We inform the world about threats to freedom, mobilize global action, and support democracy’s defenders.
Copyright © 2023 Freedom House
All rights reserved.
Freedom House
1850 M Street NW 11th Floor
Washington, DC 20036
[email protected]
Stay up to date with Freedom House’s latest news and events by signing up for our newsletter
[link removed]
.
update subscription preferences
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
