| In spite of many
protests from international human rights organizations,
governments and the European Council, once again several death
sentences have been passed in the Republic of Georgia. And once
again these sentences were passed to political opponents of the
present regime. For
almost five years there is a violent repression in Georgia against
supporters of the legitimate government, led by the democratically
elected president Zviad Gamsakhurdia. Many supporters of the
legitimate government have been killed, are kept in prisons or had
to leave their country. Although
the leader of the present junta, E. Shevardnadze, denies that
there are political prisoners in Georgia, from many sources it is
known that he is not telling the truth. As a matter of fact there
are many political prisoners in Georgia, but now they are falsely
accused of criminal acts. These 'accusations' are 'confessed' by
the prisoners after they have been seriously tortured by the
most cruel, inhuman methods, and compared to the present
regime in Georgia the Stalinist era looked like a paradise. Most political prisoners in Georgia are in a
very bad condition, they are suffering from all kinds of diseases,
but medical treatment is refused categorically. When the Georgian population is protesting
against the treatment of political prisoners and the death
sentences their meetings and demonstrations are brutally beaten up
by the police and special forces that make no difference between
men and women, young or old. Every Georgian that takes part in
demonstrations of this kind has the risk to be the next political
prisoner. And those
newspapers and magazines that have the courage to write about the
circumstances in today's Georgia is threatened by closing down.
There is no freedom of demonstration, nor freedom of press in
Georgia. - We demand
an immediate stop to the terror in Georgia,
- the abolition of the death sentences,
- medical treatment and freedom for all
political prisoners and prisoners of conscience that are kept
imprisoned on false accusations,
- freedom of press, speech and
demonstration,
- and
the restoration of democracy and human values!!
Marcel van Dijk, Chairman
Netherlands Helsinki Union
Bas van der Plas, Secretary-general Netherlands
Helsinki Union |
