26 members of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe have issued a written declaration calling on Georgian authorities to take action for protecting LGBTI people from violence and discrimination.
Stressing that the far-right demonstrators “went largely unchecked” during the July 5 homophobic pogroms, the signatories stressed the authorities’ response to the events “demonstrates a resounding State failure to ensure the protection of human rights and constitutes a violation of the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights.”
The declaration, authored by Christophe Lacroix (Belgium, SOC), recalled that the organizers of the Tbilisi Pride March were “forced to cancel” the July 5 event after far-right demonstrators stormed their offices and violently attacked journalists.
The signatories reminded the Georgian authorities about their “duty and responsibility to protect the Constitutional rights and freedoms, and human rights of all citizens” and called on Georgian authorities to “bring to justice those who commit violence against others peacefully exercising their rights.”
The document, issued on October 1, also noted that “discourses attempting to de-legitimize LGBTI identities have increased,” and organized hate groups and far-right movements used derogatory language and speech as weapons to create a hostile environment against LGBTI people.
See the full list of signatories here.
Also Read:
- Public Defender Demands Prosecutions Against Homophobic Pogrom Organizers
- July 5 Violence Organizers Not Identified, Ombudsperson Says
- ‘Some Street Fight,’ Says Georgian PM on Homophobic Pogroms
- PM Says Pride March ‘Unreasonable,’ Organized by ‘Radical Opposition’
- Georgia in CoE Report on LGBT Rights
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