The international human rights organization Amnesty International is responding to the crackdown on a peaceful rally held in Tbilisi against the Russian law and reminding the Georgian government of its international obligations in the field of human rights protection.
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Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, stated that what happened in Tbilisi was a brutal reprisal against people for exercising their right to peaceful protest.
“The authorities act as if it is their prerogative to decide when people can or cannot protest and deploy riot police to disperse and arbitrarily arrest the protestors using violence. On several occasions, police were seen chasing and hitting fleeing protestors with truncheons, surrounding and beating them mercilessly while on the ground. Instead of facilitating a peaceful demonstration, the police have carried out what appears to be a punishment operation.
We urge a swift, impartial and thorough investigation into all instances of force used, and accountability for those found responsible of unlawful use of force. We also remind the Georgian authorities that the right to peaceful assembly is fundamental, and the government of Georgia must comply with the country’s international human rights obligations,” Denis Krivosheev stated.
Amnesty International also reiterates its call to drop the bill “On transparency of foreign influence,” which seeks to restrict the right to freedom of association and is clearly intended to smear and restrict independent civil society organizations and curb their activities.
Thousands of protests against the Russian law are being held near the parliament. On April 16, late at night, members of the special purpose squad used pepper spray against the participants of the peaceful demonstration. They chased the citizens from street to street and physically assaulted them, also beating the media representatives. Several participants of the rally were hospitalized due to the injuries they received.
The Internal Affairs Ministry stated that 14 citizens were arrested administratively during the April 15 rally, 11 on April 16, and 2 on April 17. Among those arrested is Irakli Kupradze, oppositional Lelo general secretary, who was assaulted by the police. The law enforcement officers also beat Aleko Elisashvili, parliament member and Citizens party leader, who participated in the rally held in front of the government chancellery and demanded a meeting with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze. The deputy says, he has a broken rib.
