The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF), Vienna, Austria, and CAUCASIA: The Caucasian Research and Information Centre for Human Rights and Conflict, Tbilisi, Georgia, released a report in February which documents the deterioration of human rights protection in Georgia. The report places special emphasis on the past year following Georgia's submission of formal application for membership in the Council of Europe. Throughout 1996, systematic violations of freedom of expression and political opposition, freedom of the media, freedom of association and peaceful assembly, violations of rule of law protections, application of the death penalty, and the widespread use of torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement personnel and the security services have occurred while Georgia has enjoyed Special Guest Status in the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly. These events are especially disturbing given that Council of Europe membership requires that applicant states must satisfy stringent requirements to improve domestic protection and promotion of human rights based on international human rights and humanitarian law, and institute a moratorium on the death penalty. The Council of Europe also places special emphasis on the importance of democratic governance and the fundamental role of a pluralistic civil society for prospective members.
However, evidence gathered by the IHF and CAUCASIA points to a gross inconsistency on the part of the Georgian government to meet the requirements demanded of Council of Europe membership, which includes accession to the European Human Rights Convention. In fact, evidence overwhelmingly shows that the government of President Shevardnadze has stepped up repression and persecution of all organized and independent political opposition, clamped down on independent media, applied the death penalty contrary to Council of Europe requirements, and freely employed torture and ill-treatment to extract confessions and crush dissent. Although the 1995 Constitution formally protects fundamental human rights, such as the prohibition against torture and ill-treatment (Article 18.4), President Shevardnadze has the constitutional power to suspend legal provisions guaranteeing fundamental human rights (Article 46). However, the IHF-CAUCASIA report details violations of what are considered by the international community to be rights that cannot be derogated from - that is, basic rights that cannot be suspended under any circumstances - particularly the right to life; the prohibition against torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment; the prohibition against murder or causing the disappearance of individuals; prolonged arbitrary detention; and freedom of conscience and religion.
While the Republic of Georgia has ratified the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the 1984 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment and Punishment (CAT), and must ratify the European Convention for full Council of Europe membership, the actions and behavior of its leaders and officials since 1992 strongly indicate instead, as the IHF-CAUCASIA report shows, an authoritarian retrenchment based on gross human rights violations contrary to Georgia's international obligations and aspirations. The continuing impunity of the Georgian government has been especially evident in its attempts to deny or gloss over the evidence of systematic violations by blaming the current situation on either high criminality and lawlessness or the difficulties in reforming deeply-rooted Soviet institutional practices and mentalities. The later was the explanation given by the government in its first report to the UN Committee Against Torture, as required by parties to the UN Convention against Torture. While Georgia admitted that torture and ill-treatment was used during interrogations and in detention facilities, the authorities have taken no credible steps whatsoever to stop the use of torture, investigate and prosecute those responsible, or offer compensation and rehabilitation to victims. Numerous defendants have described, and international observers documented, the use of beatings resulting in broken bones, teeth, and internal injuries; hanging upside down for long periods; scalding by hot water; the use of electric shock; toenails torn off; and threats of torture or murder against the family members of detainees.
The judicial system is also marked by extensive violations of civil rights as guaranteed by Georgian law. Both political and criminal trials at all levels of the court system rarely ever comply with international standards ensuring fair trial, due process, and the right to legal counsel. The Supreme Court acts as the court of first instance for most political trials, thereby removing any possibility for defendants found guilty to appeal the verdict. Arrests without warrants and prolonged arbitrary detention without charges occur with great frequency, especially against political opponents of President Shevardnadze. As the IHF-CAUCASIA report notes, the government actively interferes in the operation of the judicial system and judges practice self-censorship in order to retain their posts. This effectively allows the government to exercise control over trial proceedings, particularly when the case involves political opposition figures. The role of the judiciary in undermining human rights has also been aggravated by the April 1995 amendments to the Criminal Code, which substantially restrict the rights of lawyers to provide effective counsel. Access to documents and evidence controlled by the prosecution is severely limited, while another amendment stipulates that "the lawyer does not have the right to artificially prolong a hearing." This is particularly damaging for defendants who have been subjected to torture during interrogations and forced to sign incriminating false confessions or provide evidence against co-defendants. Any motion on the part of the defendant's lawyer to have confessions based on torture ruled inadmissible or to access evidence are denied by the court because the judge can claim the lawyer is deliberately seeking to prolong the trial.
The current human rights environment in Georgia is one that can only be characterized as highly insecure and abusive. This is compounded by the lack of resolution to the repatriation and return of refugees and internally displaced persons as stipulated by the 4 April 1994 quadripartite agreement signed by Georgia, Abkhazia, Russia, and the UN. As of this time, only 311 displaced persons out of 250,000 have returned to Abkhazia under UNHCR auspices. Much of this is due to the arbitrary restrictions imposed by Abkhaz authorities against returnees, but also to the lack of effort on the part of Georgia and the Abkhaz separatists to genuinely resolve the conflict. Furthermore, ethnic Georgians from Abkhazia, led by Tamaz Nadareishvili, the chairman of the so-called Abkhaz parliament in exile, are stepping up pressure on Shevardnadze to engage in a military campaign to restore Georgian control over break-away Abkhazia.
The resumption of negotiations between the central government and ethnic Ossetians over the political and legal status of South Ossetia not only provides another opportunity to resolve the conflict, but also to earnestly address the central issues of the unrestricted return of displaced persons and adequate human rights protection. The Georgian government has so far failed to act responsibly towards minority groups and openly engage in confidence-building measures that could facilitate more constructive public dialogue. Moreover, there is evidence of mounting tensions between ethnic Georgians (who are predominantly Christian) and the 200,000 ethnic Azeris (who are Shiites) living in the south and southeastern regions bordering Azerbaijan, and the ethnic Georgian Sunnis in the southwest autonomous republic of Adzharia. All of these elements--systematic human rights violations and ethnic conflict, combined with widespread economic insecurity--create a very unstable internal environment in Georgia that is entirely incompatible with the Council of Europe's minimum criteria for membership.
The entire Transcaucasus region of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan is poised on the edge of a resurgence of the internal and international conflicts that have forcibly displaced several hundred thousand persons, resulted in significant numbers of civilian non-combatant casualties, and produced brutal violations of the laws of armed conflict. Any new eruption of war between the Georgian government and Abkhaz separatists, or between Armenia and Azerbaijan, will undoubtedly further undermine the protection of human rights and jeopardize the fragile security of the region.
It is imperative that the Republic of Georgia make every effort to implement the recommendations contained in the IHF-CAUCASIA report regarding continuing systematic human rights abuses, and that the Council of Europe suspend further consideration of Georgia's membership application until substantial improvements in human rights protection and democratic governance are evidenced. It is also urgently important that the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the United Nations, step up their involvement with the governments in the region, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and political-ethnic opposition groups to peacefully and constructively resolve the conflicts besetting the Transcaucasus before armed conflict returns with greater ferocity.
© 1997 William Hayden
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