Evaluation of repressive measures taken by the illegitimate authorities against peaceful demonstrators from November 28 to December 2

During the past four days and nights, following the statement made by the so-called Prime Minister of the Georgian Dream on November 28, which signals a departure from Georgia’s European path and open refusal to fulfill the obligation set by Article 78 of the Constitution of Georgia for all constitutional bodies, tens of thousands of Georgian citizens gathered on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi and in the streets of other major cities to express their strong protest against this latest unconstitutional step taken by the Georgian Dream.   

In response,  the unconstitutional, illegitimate, and de facto authorities formed as a result of the captured elections took unprecedented repressive measures against the peaceful demonstrators. The so-called „law enforcers“ engaged in inhuman and degrading treatment of the protest participants, using force that is not only „disproportional“ but also completely incompatible with elementary standards established by the Constitution and international human rights law and has no justification.

In particular, the following types of violations were observed:

1. Disproportional mobilization of police forces and attempts of the police to provoke the participants of the rally

• Disproportional mobilization of police forces: Police forces were mobilized on an unprecedented scale to take part in the operations of dispersal of demonstrations and beating and arresting of demonstrators. Officers of all the relevant sub-units and territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs – including the forces of the Special Tasks Department subordinated to U.S.-sanctioned Zviad Kharazishvili, known for their brutality (the so-called „robocops“), who were equipped with helmets, batons, shields, weapons with rubber bullets, tear gas and pepper spray – took part in the punitive operations. They were backed by water cannons.  
• Attempts to provoke violence: The police constantly tried to come into direct contact with the gathered peaceful demonstrators, using insulting language, throwing stones and swearing at them, and trying to push them toward Rustaveli Avenue. Moreover, occasionally, groups of police officers penetrated into the crowd of demonstrators, abducted individuals, and dragged them behind their condons, where they beat them brutally – and in group – with fists, feet, and batons.  
• Impossibility to identify police officers: The faces of the majority of the „law enforcers“ were covered with a mask. They wore uniforms without any distinctive markings, which makes it difficult and often impossible to identify them. This circumstance gives them a sense of impunity and emboldens them when committing violent acts.  

2. Unlawfulness of decisions and actions aimed at dispersing the peaceful assemblies

• Violation of freedom of assembly and expression: The decisions about the dispersal of the assemblies and, particularly, the forms of fulfillment of these decisions contradict Articles 17 and 21 of the Constitution of Georgia, as well as the standards established by Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. There were no grounds for using water cannons, tear gas, and pepper spray and, especially, for employing brutal force against the demonstrators. The water used by water cannons contained a chemical substance that caused a burning sensation in the eyes and difficulty breathing. There was no need to use the said special means.
• Treatment of demonstrators: In the early morning hours, as the number of demonstrators on Rustaveli Avenue naturally dwindled, the police began to arrest demonstrators en masse and treat them brutally. The captured demonstrators, who posed no threat, were dragged to the ground and intentionally beaten in group, using fists, feet, and batons, including in areas critical to their safety. The violence by the police officers was carried out demonstratively, in front of the cameras, and appeared to be an act of punishing the demonstrators. As a result of the violence by police officers, up to 20 demonstrators required treatment in hospital.

Such treatment on the part of police officers reaches a level of cruelty that qualifies as a crime under Article 144³ of the Criminal Code of Georgia – humiliation and inhuman treatment, which is prohibited by Paragraph 2 of Article 9 of the Constitution of Georgia and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The treatment of demonstrators by police officers which poses a threat to their lives also violates Article 10 of the Constitution of Georgia and Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.  

• Unlawful arrests: After the cruel reprisals, the police officers arrested the demonstrators. The arrests had a selective character. They arrested those who got into their hands. In addition, there were instances of chasing and group attacks on the protest participants. At the time of the arrests, the standards established by Article 13 of the Constitution of Georgia and Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights were systematically violated. More than 200 demonstrators were arrested in total during the past four nights. Many of them were arrested when they were calmly leaving the territory of the assembly. The police officers even arrested the protest participants in metro stations.
• Concealing the whereabouts of the arrestees and violation of procedural rights: A large part of the arrestees were denied their right to contact their loved ones and lawyers. In line with its unlawful practices, the Ministry of Internal Affairs concealed the whereabouts of the arrestees, who were searched for in various temporary detention isolators and police stations across Georgia. This is a gross violation of the rights protected by Article 31 of the Constitution of Georgia and Article 6.1 of the European Convention on Human Rights.  

3. Deliberate attack on journalists: During the repressions of all the four nights, we identified instances of deliberate attack and hunting for journalists. More than 50 journalists and cameramen were targeted by the police officers. The police officers mistreated them and unlawfully interfered in their journalistic activity (a crime under Article 154 of the Criminal Code). The violence against a host of Formula TV station, Guram Rogava, a journalist of TV Pirveli, Mariam Gaprindashvili, and a journalist of the Publika online media outlet, Aleksandre Keshelashvili, who presumably sustained grave health damage as a result, was particularly outrageous. Representatives of the First Channel, Radio Liberty, Publika, and other media outlets were also attacked.  

4. Expected sanctions: In line with the already established unlawful practice in Georgia, the courts are applying strict sanctions, including administrative detention, against arrestees on the basis of Article 166 („disorderly conduct“) and Article 173 („non-compliance with a lawful demand of a law enforcement officer“) of the Code of Administrative Offences. This contrasts with the spring of 2024 when the courts mainly applied fines as sanctions against those arrested during the protests against the „Russian law“. As the court, as well as all the branches and institutions of government, has been captured by the illegitimate regime, there is no chance that the arrestees will get even a semblance of a fair decision.

5. The danger of launching criminal prosecution: There is also a real danger that a criminal prosecution will be launched against some arrestees to further intimidate the public. According to the information disseminated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, an investigation has been launched into the facts of „attacking“ a police officer (Article 353¹ of the Criminal Code) and damage or destruction of another person’s property (Article 187 of the Criminal Code). Considering that the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia also serves as a tool for political reprisals in the hands of the ruling party, we cannot expect lawful decisions in this case either.

6. Criminal inaction on the part of the Special Investigation Service and the Prosecutor’s Office: Investigation of crimes against demonstrators and journalists falls under the jurisdiction of the Special Investigation Service. After a two-day-long violence against demonstrators on the part of police officers, this service made a statement about launching an investigation, although, considering the practice of formal initiation of investigations by this service and complete inaction regarding crimes committed by law enforcement officers, we cannot expect that the investigation will be brought to the end and that the so-called „law enforcers“ responsible for these crimes will be held accountable. Unfortunately, the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia is also complicit in the inaction and is helping law enforcement officers commit the crimes, because, despite holding a crucial lever for the procedural management of investigations, it remains silent against the background of the four-day series of violence in the country and fails to monitor the activities of both the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Special Investigation Service.

We demand that:

1. the Ministry of Internal Affairs cease its cruel reprisals against peaceful demonstrators; the police officers stand by the people and stop fulfilling unlawful orders; all the arrested demonstrators be released immediately;
2. the Ministry of Internal Affairs ensure that each member of the special purpose unit is assigned a number (tag), so that it becomes possible to identify the individuals who abuse demonstrators;
3. the Special Investigation Service investigate the crime committed against the Georgian people described above swiftly and effectively and hand over the materials to the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia in a timely manner, so that it will launch criminal prosecution against relevant individuals;
4. the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia carry out effective procedural management of investigations conducted by the Special Investigation Service or conduct a preliminary investigation of these cases in their entirety; hold accountable all those responsible for the brutal attacks on peaceful demonstrators on Rustaveli Avenue over the past several days without delay. We also call upon the Prosecutor’s Office to fulfill the function imposed on it by the Organic Law of Georgia on the Prosecutor’s Office – to conduct oversight over the lawfulness of arrests made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and to ensure the release of those who have been arrested unlawfully;   
5. the judges stop using legal mechanisms for punishment purposes and taking unlawful decisions against peaceful demonstrators;
6. the Constitutional Court declare the elections, held against the backdrop of violations of secrecy and universality and several other significant infringements, unconstitutional and invalidate their results. 

We also call upon the international community to utilize all tools at their disposal to stop the repressions underway in Georgia, including the mechanisms of sanctioning concrete responsible individuals.

This is the scale of the attempts to retain the power gained through election rigging; those in power try to obtain/maintain power at all costs. We, the Georgian people, can stand up to the aforementioned. For this reason, we call on the citizens of Georgia to defend the European future of Georgia by constant and unwavering protest. Georgia is the Georgian people, not the de facto authorities that have rigged the elections and have no other lever and argument but using force.

Signatories:

Sapari

Georgia’s Future Academy

Georgia’s European Orbit

Civic Movement for Freedom

Transparency International Georgia 

International Society for Free Elections and Democracy

EuroClub Kvareli

ProActive Group Georgia

Civil Society Foundation

Rule of Law Centre

Civic Idea

Prevention for Progress                            

Tolerance and Diversity Institute (TDI) 

Georgia’s Reforms Associates (GRASS)

Women’s Initiatives Supporting Group  

Europe Foundation

Georgian Center for Psychosocial and Medical Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (GCRT)

Democratic Development Union of Georgia

Imereti Representative Office of the Association of Young Economists of Georgia

Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (Rondeli Foundation)

Partnership for Human Rights

Caucasus Open Space

Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC)

Association of Human Rights Advocates – Human Rights Center

Georgian Democracy Initiative

Soviet Past Research Laboratory

Democracy Defenders

Da Kali

Georgian Court Watch

Social Justice Center

Rights Georgia

Human Rights House Tbilisi

Women of Georgia

Eastern European Centre for Multiparty Democracy  

Partnership for Human Rights              

Europe-Georgia Institute

Georgian Young Lawyers Association

Green Alternative

Women’s Fund in Georgia

Tbilisi Pride