On September 26, the Democracy Research Institute organized the presentation of primary results of its research of far-right groups and their activity.

The meeting was opened by Ucha Nanuashvili, Director of DRI and Mrs. Loes Lammerts, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of the Netherlands. They gave a speech about the activities of the institute, the importance of the ongoing research and its main direction.

From May to August 2019 DRI was conducting media monitoring to study the far-right discourse in Georgia. Nine online-media outlets, fifteen far-right groups and Facebook pages of their leaders were the research objects. 

According to Qetevan Murghulia, a media researcher at DRI, Georgian far-right groups’ anti-Western and anti-liberal rhetoric was evident in the ongoing media monitoring. Therefore, the most frequent targets of their aggression were sexual minorities, migrants and liberals. To portray the West and the EU as a symbol of depravity that combats and destroys national traditions emerged as an important trend for far-right groups.

Furthermore, both ethno-nationalist narratives and sharply pro-Russian messages were revealed in the far-right discourse on social and online media. A notable trend is the fact that their editorial policies are mainly based on unverified research and propagandistic disinformation.

In addition to media monitoring, since May this year, the DRI has been observing the gatherings and manifestations of far-right extremist groups and their counter-rallies. 

During the research period, the DRI has observed 6 gatherings of far-right groups. According to Giorgi Tsikarishvili, the Legal Counsel at DRI, monitoring has revealed the following major trends: demonstrators of liberal values are demonized at gatherings of the far-right groups, one of the main targets of the far-right groups is the LGBTQ community and their human rights defenders, calls for the restriction of the rights of the minorities were made during the demonstrations and one of the main demand at the gatherings was the repeal of the Law on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination.

Besides, law enforcement authorities use ineffective methods against the supporters of far-right groups and underestimate the threat posed by the empowerment of these groups. 

Presentation of these preliminary results was attended by representatives of diplomatic corps accredited in Georgia, NGOs, international organizations and independent researchers.

You can see the full May-August, 2019 reports here.

 

The monitoring is conducted with the financial support of the Embassy of the Netherlands in the framework of the project "Understanding and Combating Far-Right Extremism and Ultra-Nationalism in Georgia”.

The project aims at the prevention of far-right radicalism and extremism in Georgia. The main activities of the project are to elaborate a comprehensive baseline analysis to understand root causes/trigger points of the increased appearance of far-right extremist groups in Georgia. Based on the comprehensive analysis of tendencies, recommendations will be prepared. The litigation will be used as a tool to combat discrimination and intolerance.