Human Rights Watch has released their annual World Report. World Report 2011: Georgia indicates that Georgia's human rights record remained uneven in 2010. More than two years after the August 2008 Georgian-Russian conflict over South Ossetia, the government has not effectively investigated international human rights and humanitarian law violations, the report claims. Russia continued to occupy Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and strengthened its military presence in the region by establishing a military base and placing an advanced surface-to-air missile system in Abkhazia.
The April 2010 European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) Action Plan progress report commended Georgia for improvements in judicial reform and fighting corruption, but raised concerns on several issues including prison overcrowding, minority rights, and media transparency. In July 2010 Georgia and the European Union (EU) began negotiations for an Association Agreement, which enhances the ENP, aiming at strengthened economic and political relations.
Georgia has about 246,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) as a legacy of conflicts in the 1990s and in 2008. Over 40 percent live in 1,658 state or private collective centers, 515 of which are in Tbilisi. The Human Rights Watch (HRW) report states that since June 2010authorities have evicted hundreds of IDPs from state-owned temporary collective centers in Tbilisi to provide them with durable housing solutions. However, some IDPs received no alternative housing and some were sent to homes in remote regions. The Ministry of Refugees and Accommodation says it offered those evicted in August 2010 either financial compensation or housing in rural areas. Many IDPs refused to relocate to rural areas citing lack of employment opportunities.
Over two years since the Georgian-Russian conflict, Georgian authorities have yet to ensure a comprehensive investigation into and accountability for international human rights and humanitarian law violations by their forces, such as indiscriminate force. The reports maintains that the military also used cluster munitions against the Russian military, including in civilian-populated Georgian territories adjacent to the administrative border with South Ossetia. The Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court - to which Georgia is a party - continued with its preliminary examination of the situation and sent delegations to Russia in March 2010 and to Georgia to obtain additional information on domestic proceedings.
The media environment remains mixed, with diverse print media, but nationwide television broadcasting is limited to the state-owned Public Broadcaster and pro-government Rustavi 2 and Imedi stations. The report says transparency of media ownership remains a concern.
The report also claims that authorities arrested youths as they protested government policies, hence freedom of assembly is still to be improved. Prison overcrowding remains a problem, leading to poor conditions.
A report on Georgia by the Council of Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance issued in June 2010 expressed concern about discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities and the absence of mechanisms for addressing abuses.
Despite these claims, the United States of America and the European Union deepened their engagement and economic ties with Georgia. In July, US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, visited Georgia and met with women leaders from civil society and government. She also met President Mikheil Saakashvili to emphasize the US commitment to Georgia’s territorial integrity, pledging support for democracy and economic growth. Working groups met in Tbilisi and Washington in 2010 to discuss the implementation of the US-Georgia Charter on Strategic Partnership, signed in January 2009, envisaging increased cooperation, including assistance on strengthening human rights.
After Secretary Clinton delivered the annual report on human rights around the world to the US Congress, American Ambassador in Tbilisi, indicated that the reports do not compare countries with each other or with the United States. He said the country report for Georgia “reflects a society in transition from a past of occupation and conflict to a future as a full democracy routed firmly in the values and norms of free societies in Europe and across the Atlantic. It notes important achievements by the Georgian Government this year, notably the passage of the new Criminal Procedure Code. It also highlights a variety of areas where the Georgian Government needs to improve its performance to meet international norms.” Ambassador John Bass emphasized the cooperation of the Georgian Government in addressing human rights issues, as well as emphasizing the US Government’s investment of $45 million to promote democracy and governance in Georgia.
Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/en/world-report-2011/georgia
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