Georgia in EU Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World

EU published an annual report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World 2022 Country Updates assessing the human rights situation in countries around the globe. The report states that Georgia has a “solid human rights framework” including legislation and policies in line with the European standards, however it also says that the “implementation should be strengthened in areas such as the electoral system, of the public administration, the enhancement of gender equality, the rights of the child, and the rights of persons with disabilities. “Further efforts are still needed in the area of judicial reforms, anticorruption, strengthening the independence of State’s institutions” – reads the report.

Special attention is paid to the human rights situation in the occupied regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which “remains concerning”.

The report says that EU recognized in March 2022 the European perspective of Georgia and stated its readiness to grant the candidate status to the country once the priorities, related to the rule of law, democratic principles and human rights obligations, put forward by the EC opinion on Georgia have been addressed.

The report overviews the instruments EU has at its disposal to engage in regular political dialogue with Georgia throughout 2022 on human rights issues, including the EU-Georgia Association Council and the annual EU-Georgia Human Rights Dialogue.

It is stressed that the EU deployed significant efforts to encourage Georgia to develop the Georgian National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights for 2022-2030, including regular meetings with the Prime Minister’s Human Rights Advisor, in close cooperation with the UN. The strategy was endorsed by the government just ahead of the Association Council meeting in September 2022, and is “awaiting parliamentary adoption”.

The report, however, says that the process “lacked thorough consultations with the international partners and civil society.” It is stressed that the EU has put forward suggestions aiming at integrating issues that had not been included in the strategy, in the Action Plan for implementation of the strategy, namely, addressing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, hate crimes and judicial matters. A dialogue on the development of a comprehensive action plan to implement the National Strategy is ongoing, notes the report.

Also Read:

• 29/03/2023 – Amnesty Int’l Report Reveals Concerns Over Human Rights in Georgia
• 21/03/2023 – US State Department’s 2022 Human Rights Report on Georgia Highlights Significant Problems
• 10/03/2023  – ECHR Rules Russia Responsible for Violation of Human Rights by de-facto Abkhaz Authorities
• 07/03/2023 – Human Rights Groups Warn Georgia Against Russian-Style Bills Restricting Freedom of Expression and Association
• 12/12/2022 – Georgian CSOs Release 2022 Human Rights Reports

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