The Council of Europe’s Monitoring Body reports Racism and Intolerance as Persistent Challenges for Vulnerable Groups in Georgia

27-06-2023 

Sofía Medina Sánchez 

International Justice and Human Rights Researcher,

Global Human Rights Defence.

On the 22nd of June 2023, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), a monitoring body of the Council of Europe, published a new report analysing Georgia’s situation regarding racism and intolerance. It highlighted that, despite certain progress since 2015 at the legislative and policy levels, racism and intolerance against vulnerable groups remains a major challenge, particularly for LGBTQ+ persons. Moreover, the report criticised the insufficient teaching of Georgian to historical ethnic minorities and the undermining of the Ombudsman’s reputation by government officials and politicians.

Georgia has improved the situation since 2015, when the last ECRI report was adopted. For instance, it has developed a civic education course on intercultural relations for schoolteachers, violent attacks against Jehovah’s witnesses have decreased and 78 individuals from the Roma community have been issued identification documents. However, there are still several problems which raise concern. 

The Public Defender was criticised by politicians and government officials thereby affecting its work in areas related to ECRI. In the report, ECRI recommended that the authorities abstain from comments which undermine the independence and reputation of the Ombudsman. 

Religious intolerance is still a problem in Georgia, despite the decrease in violence against Jehovah’s witnesses. The report calls upon the lack of implementation of the previous priority recommendation concerning religious discrimination and intolerance and recommends focusing policies on the principle of non-discrimination and promotion of religious tolerance. Additionally, ECRI notes the insufficient level of teaching Georgian as a second language to historical ethnic minorities. It suggests that the Georgian authorities increase the number of hours of teaching Georgian as a second language in minority schools at both primary and secondary levels. 

With respect to the LGBTQ+ persons, several issues have been identified. There exists no joint working groups of government and NGO representatives to discuss LGBTQ+ equality problems, no clear criteria for legal gender recognitions and no registration of same-sex partnerships are possible. ECRI has highlighted the importance of addressing these issues. ECRI has also called upon the Georgian authorities to investigate and hold accountable those responsible for the attacks against participants in the LGBTQ+ march in Tbilisi in July 2021. 

Moreover, ECRI has emphasised the increasing challenge of hate speech against LGBTQ+ persons. There is no effective monitoring system for anti-LGBTI hate speech nor any police specialist to deal specifically with hate crime cases. For these reasons, ECRI has recommended the establishment of a monitoring system for hate speech and assessment of the training activities’ impact. This report and recommendations within are indispensable for an improvement of vulnerable groups’ situation and treatment in Georgia. 

Sources and further reading: 

Council of Europe, Newsroom, Council of Europe’s commission against racism and intolerance publishes monitoring reports on Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, conclusions on Norway, 22 June 2023: https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/council-of-europe-s-commission-against-racism-and-intolerance-publishes-monitoring-reports-on-armenia-azerbaijan-and-georgia

Council of Europe Portal, Media Release, Ref. DC 151(2023), Council of Europe monitoring body says racism and intolerance against groups in vulnerable situations remains a problem in Georgia, despite certain progress, Strasbourg, 22.06.2023: https://search.coe.int/directorate_of_communications/Pages/result_details.aspx?ObjectId=0900001680abb32b

Council of Europe, ECRI Report on Georgia (sixth monitoring cycle), Adopted on 28 March 2023, Published on 22 June 2023: https://rm.coe.int/sixth-report-on-georgia/1680ab9e64

Council of Europe Portal, Media Release, Ref. DC 146(2023), Armenia: Council of Europe’s commission against racism and intolerance notes progress, but says all discrimination grounds must be covered by law, hate speech tackled effectively, Strasbourg, 22.06.2023: https://search.coe.int/directorate_of_communications/Pages/result_details.aspx?ObjectId=0900001680abaa6a

Council of Europe Portal, Media Release, Ref. DC 148(2023), Azerbaijan: Council of Europe’s commission against racism and intolerance notes progress, but says inflammatory rhetoric and hate speech should be tackled, Strasbourg, 22.06.2023: https://search.coe.int/directorate_of_communications/Pages/result_details.aspx?ObjectId=0900001680abaa6e