On December 10 - international Human Rights Day, the Democracy Research Center is summarizing the situation of human rights and freedoms in Georgia. The extremely aggravated situation of human rights has reached a critical point in Georgia in 2024. 

For the first time in the last decade, in November-December 2024, the Public Defender of Georgia classified the police violence used in the process of dispersing and arresting protesters as torture. The systemic violence used during the crackdown on the demonstrations, the well-organized nature of the violence, the severity, location, and nature of the injuries inflicted on the vast majority of the detainees created credible evidence that the police used violent methods to punish the participants in the demonstrations. The inaction of the patrol police, who witnessed the violence, and the indifference of the courts to the visible signs of torture and inhuman treatment of the detainees, reinforced the view that torture and inhuman treatment were used as a tool of government retaliation.

In the reporting period, the authorities severely restricted the space for the free expression of critical opinions by adopting repressive legislation and by conducting a campaign of defamation and physical retaliation against the media, politicians, and civil activists.

The protection of human rights in the country has been undermined by: the re-introduction of the draft law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” (Russian law) in the spring of 2024 and its adoption amid mass public protests; the repeated crackdown on peaceful assemblies and demonstrations with disproportionate police force, which resulted in the injury of hundreds of peaceful demonstrators; the orchestrated violence and intimidation campaign against non-governmental organizations, civil activists, and political parties; widespread reports of illegal processing of people’s personal data by public agencies during the pre-election campaign; the widespread violation of the secrecy of the vote and the electoral process on the election day that called into question the legitimacy of the elections; torture, inhuman and degrading treatment of protesters by the police forces during and after their arrests in November-December; deprivation of the right to a fair trial for the detainees; and the systemic and organized violence against media representatives.

The systemic violence organized by the authorities undermines the foundations of the rule of law and makes it impossible to protect human rights in Georgia. Despite this, we are presenting the 2024 Human Rights Report. The report is not comprehensive. It only summarizes the protection of those rights that the Democracy Research Center had been working on during the reporting period.

December 10 Report on the State of the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms in Georgia in 2024