Human Rights Group Calls for Justice Minister’s Resignation

Activists from the human rights advocacy group Equality Institute staged a protest rally outside the Justice Ministry on January 17 demanding Minister Gia Kavtaradze’s resignation, accusing him of failing to tackle the problem of prisoner abuse.

The activists were citing a recent report by Human Rights Watch which says that the Georgian government has stepped up its fight against crime bosses, including within the prison system, “which resulted in more frequent use of force to subdue or punish detainees.”

Justice Minister Gia Kavtaradze dismissed the allegations as groundless and said that reforms are underway that have improved conditions in the penitentiary system.

“We have concrete plans and concrete achievements; just compare what kind of situation there was three years ago and what we have now,” Kavtaradze told reporters after a government session on January 17.

The Equality Institute has long been demanding resignation of prison system chief Bacho Akhalaia; but recently the group started to focus on the Justice Minister’s performance.

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