For the fourth day, the police have been using disproportionate force and, by committing organized crime, trying to instill fear among the participants in the peaceful demonstration.

On December 1, at approximately 21:00, law enforcement officers, periodically, without proper warning, used water cannons against demonstrators. Initially, special equipment were used from Chichinadze Street and the Parliament building. In parallel, a small group of demonstrators used pyrotechnics against the police forces and the legislative body. In accordance with international standards and the guidelines of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, law enforcement officers are obliged not to disperse a peaceful demonstration due to alleged misconduct by small groups.

Law enforcement officers are authorized to crack down only on violent demonstrations. The European Court of Human Rights interprets the definition of violent demonstrations narrowly. In the case of Nurettin Aldemir and Others v. Turkey, the Court did not consider an assembly, which was initially peaceful in nature and the use of force by the police provoked clashes, violent.

Although tens of thousands of citizens gathered on Rustaveli Avenue were peacefully protesting in accordance with the Constitution and there was no legal basis for the dispersal, at approximately 2:00 am, special forces  started to move towards Rustaveli Avenue simultaneously from Freedom Square, Chitadze and Chichinadze streets and used special equipment against demonstrators.

In parallel with the use of special equipment, according to media reports, police forces used stones, glass bottles and various objects prohibited by law, which harms the health of the protesters.

Law enforcement officers are still using water cannons mixed with tear gas in gross violation of international standards. According to the demonstrators, water cannons contain an unknown chemical substance, which, in fact, even when used at a fairly long distance, makes it impossible to breathe or speak. Amnesty International speaks of the negative health consequences that usually follow the use of water cannons mixed with chemical substances.

The Democracy Research Center calls on:

·         the Ministry of Internal Affairs - for medical purposes, to release information about the chemical composition of the substance used against peaceful demonstrators in recent days.

·         the police forces - not to obey illegal orders on the crackdown on the rally, physical retaliation and detention of protesters by using brutal methods, as they had been doing in recent days.