On October 2, the majority MPs at the Parliament of Georgia submitted a draft law that is being considered in an accelerated manner. The proposed changes will put extreme restrictions on the freedom of assembly and expression guaranteed by the Constitution of Georgia and international standards. We believe that such legislative changes will be a step backward in terms of the human rights situation.
What changes:
The initiators have named the September 18 statement of the State Security Service as the reason for making the rules stricter. According to the explanatory note, “the goal of the present draft law is to create a legislative framework that will better enable the relevant state bodies to ensure the safe conduct of an assembly and a more effective exercise of the freedom of expression.”
The freedom of assembly and expression is an extremely important constitutional and conventional right that is broadly protected by our legislation. Restriction of this right is only permissible when this is necessary for a democratic society. And the vague entries in the proposed draft law impose such restrictions and bans that interfere with the exercise of the right to assembly and demonstration and sharply deteriorate the standard of protection of the freedom of assembly and expression in the country.
The proposed legislative changes are a continuation of the malpractice of administrative arrests that the civil society sector has been talking about for years now. And the foregoing points to the authorities’ desire to restrict freedom of expression and to avoid public protest in connection with policies pursued by them.
We call upon the Parliament of Georgia to refuse to support the said initiative, not deteriorate the country’s legislative framework on the freedom of assembly and expression, and ensure the possibility to enjoy the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.
International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED)
Transparency International- Georgia
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