GCRT May 15, 2025

Human Rights Crisis in Georgia Following the 2024 Parliamentary Elections

This report has been prepared by the Georgian civil society organizations. The report is based on the information and evidence obtained by the authors from the public sources, interviews and the case materials.

Based on the questionnaire – “Documentation and Reporting Form for the Excessive Use of Force, Ill-treatment and Torture during Protests and Arrests”, developed by IRCT, IFEG, Berekely Public health and Omega Research Foundation, taking into account the Georgian context, a semi-structured, in-depth questionnaire has been prepared, according to which the interviews have been conducted with 117 respondents who had participated in the protests from 19 November to 28 January or had been subjected to ill-treatment or violence in the context of the ongoing protests. The findings from the interviews are supported by the evidence, among them, the photographic/video materials and the medical documentation. The report’s Annex (see Annex) lists the sex of the respondents and the types of the evidence provided by each respondent (video evidence, photographic evidence, medical documentation, court documentation).

A focus group has also been held with the lawyers. In order to request the public information, 21 letters have been sent to 10 agencies. These are, Tbilisi, Rustavi, Kutaisi, Batumi City Courts, Zugdidi District Court, the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia, the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia, the Special Investigation Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of the IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Protection. (See the letters sent and the responses received from the agencies in Annex 2)

The report is based on the verified information obtained from the reliable and trustworthy sources. Information is included in the report only if there is a reasonable basis for its credibility.