We, the signatory organizations, wish express our extreme concern over the yet another attack on Nino Lomjaria, Public Defender of Georgia, by Irakli Kobakhidze, Executive Secretary of the ruling party, the Georgian Dream. Unfortunately, unsubstantiated and insulting statements about the Public Defender have become a habit for the members of the Georgian Dream, as well as for the representatives of the legislative or executive authorities. The sole purpose of these statements is to discredit the most important constitutional institution, to divert attention from the real problems and challenges in the field of human rights.
It should be stressed that the Public Defender of Georgia is a constitutional body, responsible by law for monitoring and supervising the protection of human rights in the country. Therefore, monitoring the pre-election environment, as well as informing the public or the international community about the violations exposed, is the direct and primary responsibility of the Public Defender today.
The Public Defender of Georgia, as in previous years, is monitoring the 2020 parliamentary elections within the framework of her mandate. Therefore, serious violations such as intimidation, threats of exposing materials depicting private life, and using force for retaliation against political opponents are issues that have never been adequately addressed by the state. To date, investigations have not been conducted or completed on many violent acts that took place in the pre-election periods in recent years.
It should be noted that international missions, as well as non-governmental organizations operating in Georgia, have been repeatedly remarking on the unhealthy and violent pre-election environment in Georgia. Consequently, the obvious and direct attacks by the representatives of the ruling team on the Public Defender of Georgia are unjustified and are aimed at discrediting the key institution of the country.
The signatory organizations call on the political team of the Georgian Dream to refrain from making insulting statements against the Public Defender in direct or indirect ways, to stop attempts of obstructing the activities of this institution.
Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF)
Transparency International Georgia (TI)
Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA)
International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED)
Rights Georgia
Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI)
Georgian Democratic Initiative (GDI)
Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC)
Partnership for Human Rights (PHR)
Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC)
Georgian Media Club
Democracy Research Institute (DRI)
Sapari
Green Alternative
