PACE: Attacks on Protesters a Matter of ‘Serious Concern’

Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) said in a resolution passed on June 24 that “growing number of attacks by unknown assailants on opposition activists and peaceful demonstrators participating in the protest rallies that started as of 9 April 2009 is a matter of serious concern and needs to be fully investigated.”

The PACE resolution “the state of human rights in Europe and the progress of the Assembly’s monitoring procedure” draws a general picture of the human rights situation in 14 member states – those subject to the PACE monitoring or to post-monitoring dialogue.

Georgia is among those eleven countries, which are currently under monitoring. Others are Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine. Three countries are engaged in a post-monitoring dialogue – Bulgaria, Turkey and Macedonia.

In respect of Georgia, the resolution also notes that although Georgia’s the Law on Freedom of Speech and Expression is “a model for the region, weak editorial independence, low professional standards and self-censorship persist.”

The resolution also says that “excessive use of force and ill-treatment by the police continue to be issues of concern in most countries under consideration”, including in Georgia, as well as in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Moldova, Russia, Macedonia, Turkey and Ukraine.
 
“Overcrowding and poor conditions in prisons and pre-trial detention centres continue to be issues of concern in all countries under monitoring or post-monitoring, as well as in most European countries,” it reads.

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