Statement of Group of Civil Society Organizations on Rally-Related Bill

Tbilisi, July 14, 2009

On July 11, 2009 the Parliament of Georgia approved with the first hearing a package of amendments to the Law on Assembly and Manifestations, Law on Police, and the Administrative Offense Code of Georgia.

We see this package as a step back in the path to democracy as it

• Prolongs administrative detention without any justification;
• Introduces particularly severe sanctions for the acts less dangerous for the public;
• In absence of appropriate regulations allows usage of nonlethal weapons jeopardizing human health and lives;
• Disproportionately limits freedom of assembly.

Adoption of the amendments under current political circumstances indicates that the Government does not make an effort to overcome internal crisis through a dialogue, cooperation or compromise, but rather stirs up the confrontation and creates risk of escalated violence.

We call upon the Georgian Government not to adopt amendments with the current formulation in a speedy manner

We call upon the Georgian public to stand against the attempt to restrict civil liberties

We call upon the international organizations to actively engage in the legal assessment of legislative initiative

We call upon media to insure broad coverage of the issue for the public-at-large

Signatories:

Young Lawyers Association of Georgia;
Open Society Georgia Foundation;
European Integration Forum;
Public Movement “Multinational  Georgia”;
Transparency International-Georgia;
National Union for Education;
Union “21 Century”;
Georgian Lawyers’ Union;
Caucasus Network of Women;
International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy;

Eliso Chapidze – Journalist;
Lasha Tughushi – Journalist;
Nino Nekishvili – Journalist;
Ani Mirotadze – Journalist;
Marine Chitaishvili – Psychologyst, TSU professor;
Levan Adeishvili – Lawyer

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