Georgia's attorney general's office said it has opened an investigation into both cases of alleged prisoner abuse reported by the public defender's office, and announced that one of the investigations was suspended due to a lack of cooperation from the victim and a lack of additional evidence. Adeishvili allegedly ordered the deputy head of the revenue office at the Ministry of Finance, Davit. The President and the Coalition for an Independent and Transparent Justice also emphasized that the 2015 changes on the appointment of the Chief Prosecutor did not achieve the goal of depoliticizing the Georgian Prosecutor's Office.
The public defender's office criticized law enforcement for failing to identify the sources of the videos or identify responsibility for their dissemination. The public defender's office also warned law enforcement authorities for not taking adequate measures to stop the spread of the videos.
Respect for Civil Liberties, Including
In a number of cases, owners were suspected of interfering with broadcasters' editorial policies, undermining media freedom. In particular, concerns continued about government interference in the country's most watched TV station, Rustavi 2, as well as about the country's independence. There were also claims regarding the constitutionality of the statutes cited in the Rustavi 2 decision by the Tbilisi City Court pending before the Constitutional Court (see section 1.e.).
Non-Governmental Impact: Media observers, NGO representatives and opposition politicians claimed that a former prime minister continued to wield powerful influence over the government and judiciary, including in the decision of the lower court and appeals court against the owners of television station Rustavi 2. Activists noted that freedom of assembly for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community remained restricted (see Section 6, Acts of Violence, Discrimination and Other Abuse Based on Sexual Orientation and gender identity). The majority of the country's more than 250,000 displaced persons from Abkhazia and South Ossetia reportedly wanted to return to their areas of origin, but lacked adequate security guarantees and a political solution to the conflicts.
The de facto authorities and Russian forces in the occupied regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have also restricted the movement of local populations across administrative borders for health care, pension services, religious ceremonies and education. Abkhazia's de facto authorities continued to prevent the repatriation of some 274,000 persons displaced by the 1992-1993 war, despite a 1994 agreement with Georgia, Russia and UNHCR calling for the safe, secure and voluntary return of internally displaced persons who had fled during the war. war. About 45,000 out of a total of 274,000 IDPs worked as seasonal workers and returned in the Gali and Ochamchire regions of Lower Abkhazia, but the Abkhaz authorities de facto did not allow IDPs to return to other regions.
De facto authorities prevented IDPs living elsewhere in the country from reclaiming homes in Abkhazia, based on a 2008.
Freedom to Participate in the Political Process
According to UNHCR statistics, there were 602 persons in the country under UNHCR's statelessness mandate in November. Following the October parliamentary elections, the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission reported that, despite the technical changes adopted in June, there were still some large deviations from the average number of voters in single-mandate constituencies. The OSCE/ODIHR also reported allegations of political pressure and intimidation against candidates and campaign personnel during the election process from several parties, and noted numerous allegations of misuse of administrative resources.
In the pre- and post-election period, the prosecutor's office is supposed to investigate 38 fights related to the October elections. In separate statements, the UNM and local NGOs expressed concern that police raids on the homes of individuals suspected of invading the Marneuli polling station during the first round of elections were an attempt to intimidate supporters. ISFED reported 28 cases of intimidation during the pre-election period, while Transparency International found 10 cases between the first and second rounds.
On June 1, the Ministry of the Interior filed criminal charges against six men involved in the incident. NDI noted that although the campaign environment was more competitive than in the 2012 parliamentary elections, the number of political parties. Participation of women and minorities: No laws restrict the participation of women and members of minorities in the political process, and women and minorities did participate.
There were three ethnic Armenians and four ethnic Azeris in parliament, but no minority members in the cabinet, the Supreme Court or the Constitutional Court.
Corruption and Lack of Transparency in Government
Central offices of the major political parties did not include members of ethnic minorities, but they participated in party activities at the regional and local level and in pre-election campaigns in ethnic minority communities. While the government effectively implemented the law against low-level corruption, Transparency International Georgia stated that a lack of independence of law enforcement agencies reduced their ability to effectively investigate cases of high-level corruption. In January 2015, the government established a specialized unit within the chief prosecutor's office to investigate and prosecute high-level corruption.
In February, the chief prosecutor created a "consultative council" of supervisory and line prosecutors whose functions were to review disciplinary matters and make recommendations for sanctions to the inspector general. Corruption: In January, Transparency International gave the country a score of 52 (out of a maximum of 100) in its Corruption Perceptions Index, a figure that showed little change from previous years, despite new controls to prevent corruption. In a March report, the Institute for the Development of the Freedom of Information (IDFI) assessed the government's implementation of its anti-corruption strategy for 2015-16 positively.
IDFI concluded that the government had implemented many of the reforms outlined in its anti-corruption action plan, including reforms affecting civil servant pay, asset declarations by public officials and public procurement. In 2015, Transparency International reported that the council's effectiveness and influence over policy suffered from its limited mandate and resources. From January to June, the Anti-Corruption Agency of the State Security Service identified 14 cases of corruption and detained 19 public servants.
In July, the deputy head of the security service in Tbilisi City Hall was arrested after demanding a $22,000 bribe from a foreign national to speed up the auction of a plot of land in Tbilisi.
Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
While the office generally operated without government interference and was considered effective, the public protector reported that the government often responded partially or not at all to inquiries and recommendations, despite s. The Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Civil Integration, the Ministry of the Interior's Human Rights Division, and the National Security Council's Human Rights Adviser also have mandates to investigate claims of human rights abuses. The Public Protector reserves the right to make non-binding recommendations to law enforcement agencies to investigate specific human rights cases.
The public defender must submit an annual report on the human rights situation for the calendar year, but may also make periodic reports. The office cannot report allegations of torture unless the victim gives explicit consent or a monitor from the office witnesses the torture. The de facto authorities in the occupied territories did not grant access to representatives of the Office of the Public Defender.
The Human Rights Unit of the Office of the Chief Prosecutor oversaw the overall prosecution and monitoring of compliance with national and international human rights standards. The unit undertook statistical and analytical activities within the prosecution system and was responsible for considering and responding to recommendations from national and international institutions involving human rights.
Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons Women
The public defender's office reported that 20 investigations into the murders or attempted murders of women were launched between January and July. In November, the public prosecutor's office issued a statement confirming cases of female genital mutilation of girls under the age of 18 in three villages in the eastern part of the country. The Office of the Public Defender reported that violence, negligence and other forms of mistreatment are still rampant in educational institutions.
The Public Defender's Office for Children's Rights has reported high rates of violence against children in various forms. As of September, the Public Defender's Office reported that it was reviewing 11 cases of potential early. The Public Protector's office reported a lack of information about street children and noted that insufficient resources were devoted to them.
The Public Prosecution Service reported that persons with disabilities still face obstacles in participating in public life as full members of society. The Public Prosecution Service reported that the infrastructure of pre-school institutions failed to meet the needs of children with disabilities. In its 2015 annual report, the Public Prosecution Service noted that full protection of ethnic minorities remains a problem.
In December, the Office of the Public Protector noted that the inclusion of ethnic minorities in civic and political life remained a serious challenge. According to the Office of the Public Defender, the situation in the occupied Akhalgori district of South Ossetia was also unchanged. NGOs and the Office of the Public Protector called on the government to investigate the attack as a possible hate crime.
Worker Rights
Without a fully functional labor inspectorate and mediation services in the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Affairs, the government was unable to enforce all collective bargaining agreements (as required by law) or ensure. Workers generally exercised their right to strike in accordance with the law, but sometimes faced management punishment. However, there were reports that forced labor had taken place and the GTUC claimed that there had been no improvement in the government's efforts to combat forced labour.
The law allows employment agreements with persons under the age of 14 in sports, the arts, and cultural and advertising activities. The low number of child labor investigations made it unclear how effectively the government enforced the law. The law prohibits discrimination in employment based on race, color, language, religion, membership of an ethnic or social group, national origin, economic condition or status, place of residence, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, political opinion, disability, and membership of religious, public, political groups or any trade union, including professional unions.
In the absence of a legal basis for labor inspection and a labor inspectorate with powers to issue fines, the government did not effectively implement the law. While the law guarantees equality in the labor market, NGOs said, and the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs agreed, that discrimination against women in the workplace exists and is underreported. The law stipulates a 40-hour work week and a weekly 24-hour rest period, unless otherwise specified in the employment contract.
Overtime is required only to be "reimbursed at an increased rate of the normal hourly rate . . . to be determined by the parties." The law does not expressly prohibit excessive overtime work.
