On April 16, thousands of people gathered in the vicinity of the Parliament of Georgia to protest against the "Russian law". The Georgian authorities again confronted the peaceful protesters with forceful methods.

 

The media footage show that as a result of the use of special equipment, a number of peaceful demonstrators were injured. At around 22:00, the Ministry of Internal Affairs started using active special equipment, likely pepper spray, against the peaceful demonstrators. Later, by 00:30, the Ministry of Internal Affairs again used pepper spray without warning or proper legal basis. According to Georgian legislation, the use of special equipment during protests must meet the test of legitimacy and proportionality. The use of coercive measures by law enforcement officers, including active special equipment, is allowed to achieve a legal goal, in cases of extreme necessity, only when the assembly becomes violent.

 

The fact that the law enforcement officers physically abused several participants in the rally, including journalists and politicians, is alarming. The main obligation of the law enforcement officers is to protect order and safety of citizens. Unfortunately, today, during the protest rally held in the vicinity of the Parliament, the law enforcement officers themselves posed a threat to people's health.

 

The illegal use of special equipment by the law enforcement officers and the physical abuse of the participants in the rally were accompanied by administrative detentions. Over 10 people have been arrested on the basis of the Administrative Offences Code of Georgia. According to the statement issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the protesters did not obey the legal demands of the law enforcement officers and carried out violent actions.

 

The European Court of Human Rights differentiates between the demonstrators who resort to violence and the demonstrators who express their protest in a peaceful manner.[1] According to the observers of the Democracy Research Institute and the video footage spread by the media, detainees include a number of peaceful demonstrators, who were expressing their protest in a peaceful manner.

The Democracy Research Institute urges:

• To ensure the peaceful conduct of the protests; in case of confirmed cases of violence on the part of demonstrators, to eliminate the relevant incident by implementing local, individual measures, without interfering with the enjoyment of the rights guaranteed by the C

• To quickly and objectively investigate the alleged use of excessive force by the law enforcement officers and check the legality of the order on the use of special equipment.

 

[1] Cristian Ziliberberg against Moldova, Application No. 61821/00, decision of 4 May 2004