{"id":4743,"date":"2024-05-13T21:25:57","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T18:25:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/osis.bg\/?p=4743"},"modified":"2024-05-13T21:25:58","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T18:25:58","slug":"georgia-last-chance-to-stop-russian-style-crackdown-on-civil-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osis.bg\/?p=4743&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Georgia: Last chance to stop Russian-style crackdown on civil society"},"content":{"rendered":"
13.05.2024<\/div>\n\n\n

International human rights organizations, civil society groups, and election observers are urging European and national leaders to promptly address the Georgian government\u2019s attempt to crackdown on civil society as the country approaches its General Elections in October.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since April 15th, Georgians have been rallying in protest against the proposed \u201cTransparency of Foreign Influence\u201d law, which bears striking resemblance to the Russian so called \u201cForeign Agent Law\u201d. This law threatens to equip the government with tools to suppress civil society and independent media, derailing Georgia from its democratic path towards EU integration.<\/p>\n

Urgent and decisive international political support for the Georgian civil society is crucial to defend Georgian democracy from Russian-style authoritarianism.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The \u201cTransparency of Foreign Influence\u201d law would require organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as agents of foreign influence. Failure to comply would subject them to forced registration and investigation by the Ministry of Justice of Georgia. By passing this law before the October 26 elections, the ruling party in Georgia would gain a significant means to greatly restrict citizen oversight of the electoral process, something never seen before to this extent.<\/p>\n

Russian inspired \u201cForeign Influence\u201d law is an instrument to crackdown on civil society and independent media<\/strong><\/p>\n

Similar legislation on \u201cForeign Agents\u201d has been introduced in Russia in 2012. Increasingly repressive amendments to the law led to the complete annihilation of independent media and civil society activity in Russia. Independent election watchdog Golos was one of the first declared \u201cforeign agent\u201d. Today, independent citizen election observation in Russia is fully prohibited. In 2022, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Russian \u201cForeign agents\u201d law violated the European Convention on Human Rights.<\/p>\n

Georgian authorities resort to violence against peaceful protesters<\/strong><\/p>\n

On 2 May, Georgian police turned violent against peaceful protestors using tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons, detaining dozens of people. The unprecedented use of violence by the Georgian authorities to suppress peaceful protests against the law emphasizes the critical need for the international community to support the Georgian people.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recommendations <\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. EU Heads of States and Governments should acknowledge the urgency of the matter as once the legislation is passed the deterioration of civil society and electoral integrity may accelerate severely.<\/li>\n
  2. EU should urge Georgian government to investigate recent cases of pressure and harassment against citizen election observers and human rights defenders in the country<\/li>\n
  3. EU member states and their representatives in Georgia should show solidarity with the Georgian people who took to the streets in defense of their democratic rights and European future.<\/li>\n
  4. Along with the Presidents of European Council and Commission as well as the HR\/VP, the diplomatic community in Georgia should show presence on the streets of Georgia in solidarity with the Georgian people.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In<\/strong> case the Georgian government should adopt the repressive law, we propose following five recommendations to be considered by European institutions:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. The European Commission should put on hold Georgia\u2019s EU integration process which requires the government in Tbilisi to fulfill the nine steps set out by the European Commission which include ensuring a free, fair and competitive electoral process<\/li>\n
    2. The European Commission should follow the European Parliament\u2019s resolution of 25 April 2024 and introduce restrictive measures such as travel ban and asset freeze against Georgian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili for his role in the deterioration of the political process in Georgia, as well as sanctions against those responsible for the violent crackdown on peaceful protestors<\/li>\n
    3. The European Commission should suspend budget support to Georgia and financing of government-led projects;<\/li>\n
    4. European Institutions increase financial support and explore alternative ways of supporting Georgian civil society and democratic movements, including through the European Endowment for Democracy.<\/li>\n
    5. The EU and its Member States should support a large-scale and long-term election observation effort both through international institutions as the OSCE\/ODIHR and domestic observers in the run-up to the parliamentary elections in October.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Background<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

      In early 2023, the parliamentary majority announced a draft law on \u201cTransparency of Foreign Influence\u201d. The government ultimately dropped the legislation in response to public protest, but have reintroduced a similar version of the bill in April 2024. Despite promises to terminate its plans, the ruling Georgian Dream faction reintroduced the \u201cTransparency of Foreign Influence\u201d bill and adopted it in the first reading on 17 April 2024 with the third and final reading set to take place on 17 May 2024.<\/p>\n

      Signatories<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

      European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE)<\/p>\n

      European Exchange gGmbH \u2013 Germany<\/p>\n

      Political Accountability Foundation (Fundacja Odpowiedzialna Polityka) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Swedish International Liberal Centre SILC \u2013 Sweden<\/p>\n

      Norwegian Helsinki Committee \u2013 Norway<\/p>\n

      Civil Network OPORA \u2013 Ukraine<\/p>\n

      Unhack Democracy \u2013 Hungary<\/p>\n

      Promo-LEX \u2013 Moldova<\/p>\n

      Helsinki Citizens\u2019 Assembly \u2013 Vanadzor \u2013 Armenia<\/p>\n

      Stefan Batory Foundation (Fundacja im. Stefana Batorego) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Global Network of Domestic Election Monitors GNDEM<\/p>\n

      The European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations ENEMO<\/p>\n

      Centre for Monitoring and Research (Centar za monitoring i istra\u017eivanje CeMI) \u2013 Montenegro<\/p>\n

      \u201cWsch\u00f3d\u201d Initiative (Inicjatywa \u201cWsch\u00f3d\u201d) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Freedom Foundation (Fundacja Wolno\u015bci) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Economic Freedom Foundation (Fundacja Wolno\u015bci Gospodarczej) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Committee for the Defence of Democracy (Komitet Obrony Demokracji) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      BoMiasto Association (Stowarzyszenie BoMiasto) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Action Democracy (Akcja Demokracja) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Civic Development Forum (Forum Obywatelskiego Rozwoju) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Active Democracy Foundation (Fundacja Aktywna Demokracja) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Public Affairs Institute (Instytut Spraw Publicznych) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (Helsi\u0144ska Fundacja Praw Cz\u0142owieka) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Visible Foundation (Fundacja Widzialne) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Eastern European Democracy Center (Wschodnioeuropejskie Centrum Demokratyczne) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      CEE Digital Democracy Watch (Fundacji Obserwatorium Demokracji Cyfrowej) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Schuman Foundation (Fundacja Schumana) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Bronis\u0142aw Geremek Centre Foundation (Fundacja Centrum im. Bronis\u0142awa Geremka) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Education and Social Mobilisation Foundation (Fundacja Edukacji i Mobilizacji Spo\u0142ecznej) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      OFF School Foundation (Fundacja OFF School) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Polish Ecological Club \u2013 Masovia region (Polski Klub Ekologiczny Okr\u0119g Mazowiecki) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Visegrad Insight \u2013 ResPublica Foundation (Fundacja ResPublica) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Association of Legal Intervention (Stowarzyszenie Interwencji Prawnej) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Friends of the Youth Climate Strike Foundation (Fundacja Przyjaci\u00f3\u0142 M\u0142odzie\u017cowego Strajku Klimatycznego) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      KARTA Center Foundation (Fundacja O\u015brodka KARTA) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Initiative \u201cProtest with an Exclamation Point\u201d (Inicjatywa Protest z Wykrzyknikiem) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Citizens Network Watchdog Poland (Sie\u0107 Obywatelska Watchdog Polska) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Astra Network \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Free Courts Foundation (Fundacja Wolne S\u0105dy) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Civis Polonia Foundation (Fundacja Civis Polonus) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      Donors\u2019 Forum (Forum Darczy\u0144c\u00f3w) \u2013 Poland<\/p>\n

      European Civic Forum<\/p>\n

      Bulgarian Centre for Non-profit Law \u2013 Bulgaria<\/p>\n

      Open Society Foundations Bratislava (Slovakia) \u2013 Slovakia<\/p>\n

      Alliance4Europe<\/p>\n

      Association for International Affairs (AMO) \u2013 Czechia<\/p>\n

      Open Lithuania Foundation \u2013 Lithuania<\/p>\n

      Open Society Institute \u2013 Sofia \u2013 Bulgaria<\/p>\n

      The Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) \u2013 Netherlands<\/p>\n

      Human Rights Without Frontiers \u2013 Belgium<\/p>\n

      The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) \u2013 Denmark<\/p>\n

      East and Horn of Africa Election Observers Network (E-HORN)<\/p>\n

      Election Support Network of Southern Africa (ESN SA)<\/p>\n

      West Africa Election Observers Network (WAEON)<\/p>\n

      African Election Observers Network (AfEONet)<\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n

      Read more here<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      International human rights organizations, civil society groups, and election observers are urging European and national leaders to promptly address the Georgian government\u2019s attempt to crackdown on civil society as the country approaches its General Elections in October. Since April 15th, Georgians have been rallying in protest against the proposed \u201cTransparency of Foreign Influence\u201d law, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4741,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[184],"class_list":["post-4743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-european-policies-news","tag-europe"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/osis.bg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/osis.bg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/osis.bg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osis.bg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osis.bg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/osis.bg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osis.bg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/osis.bg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osis.bg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osis.bg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}