The Ministry of Internal Affairs claims that their actions against the participants of the actions against the "Russian Law" were legal and proportionate, which, according to the GYLA, is not true, - the statement of the Association of Young Lawyers mentions this.

According to their reports, it is not known on what basis the Ministry of Internal Affairs declares that there is no prohibitive norm for the simultaneous use of active special means, and "if so, it means that the Ministry of Internal Affairs has worsened the instructions for operations of breaking up stocks and changed the mentioned norm."

"The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia issued a statement in which it, in fact, confirms the parallel use of tear gas and water jets against the participants of the actions against the "Russian Law" (April-May 2024). It claims that this does not violate international standards and national legislation. It claims that the Ministry's actions against the demonstrators were legal and proportionate, which, according to GYLA, is not true.

First of all, we remind the Ministry of Internal Affairs that such a prohibition also exists in the order of the Minister of Internal Affairs N1002 (Article 9.1.), which defines the guidelines for the behavior of internal affairs officers during gatherings and demonstrations, and according to which, water cannons and tear gas can be used simultaneously or in parallel with the participants of the rally. Use is prohibited. The European Court of Justice also quotes such a conclusion in its decision on June 20, 2019 in the case of Tsaava et al. v. Georgia (para. 147) and confirms that the use of these means in parallel and at the same time is prohibited by Georgian legislation. It should be emphasized that this order is not publicly available in the official gazette, and GYLA requested it from the Ministry during the monitoring of various actions. It is not known on what basis the Ministry of Internal Affairs declares that there is no prohibitive norm for the simultaneous use of active special means, and if so, it means that the Ministry of Internal Affairs has worsened the instructions for stock split operations and changed the said norm.

In the statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in order to mislead the public, the text of the "Amnesty International" guidance document is also quoted in the wrong context. According to the document, chemicals and paint may be mixed in the water jet, however, the document focuses on the negative consequences of this practice and according to it, "mixing water and chemicals makes it impossible to control the amount of the irritant and, in addition, may have a long-term effect on the individual." Moreover, Amnesty International's guidelines explicitly forbid the use of an ink jet with chemicals or paint.

However, according to both national legislation and international standards, including the guidelines cited in the statement of the Ministry itself, the mentioned special means can be used only proportionally, legally and with minimum intensity. Both water cannon and tear gas should be used only if it is strictly necessary to control the group participating in the assembly and the violence has reached such a degree that the threat cannot be controlled by taking measures directed directly at the violent individuals, however, these means should not be used simultaneously or in parallel with each other. Contrary to what was mentioned, at actions against the Russian law, law enforcement officers used special means against peaceful demonstrators, without the appropriate basis and necessity; There were even serious violations of standards and human rights related to the use of special facilities, such as possible torture and inhuman treatment.

We call on the Ministry of Internal Affairs to publicize the order of the Minister of Internal Affairs N1002 and provide the public with information whether the norm has been changed, which prohibited the use of active special means, including water jets and tear gas, simultaneously or in parallel," the statement said.