UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, is responding to the discussion of Georgia’s national report, held in Geneva, as part of the 51st session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the UN Human Rights Council.

According to her, human rights defenders in Georgia are victims of intimidation, threats and physical attacks. She is responding to the discussion of the national report.

“My mandate led or joined 8 communications to Georgia Geneva mission since its last UPR review in 2021, none of which received a response. I also travelled to Georgia on an official country visit in Oct-Nov 2023, and presented my report to the UN_HRC in March 2024. During my visit, I documented a serious decline in the space to exercise the right to defend human rights in Georgia, with governmental repression of civil society, critical journalists and independent human rights defenders. Since 2023, human rights defenders opposing the the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence have faced intimidation, threats and physical attacks for speaking out”, the UN Special Rapporteur writes on X.

According to her, after Georgia’s PM announced in Nov 2024 a halt to EU accession efforts, mass protests were met with alleged widespread human rights violations, excessive use of force and reports of torture in detention.

“Between Dec 2024 & Feb 2025, the Georgian Parliament rushed through legislative reforms affecting assemblies, administrative offences & criminal law, all of which seriously restrict the ability of people to defend human rights. Civil society has also been targeted under new laws, including the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) & the Law on Grants, which blocks NGOs from receiving or renewing grants without govt approval. Alongside these laws, HRDs in Georgia have faced smear campaigns & spurious criminal cases, including for "sabotage." LGBTIQ+ rights defenders are especially targeted, including through the so-called "LGBT propaganda law,” She said.

According to her, Georgia should:

“- Repeal the Foreign Agents Registration Act and recent amendments to the Law on Grants;

- Repeal recent modifications to the Code of Administrative Offences, the Law on Assemblies and Demonstrations and the Criminal Code;

- Repeal the Law on Family Values and Protection of Minors;

- Review the functioning of the Anti-Corruption Bureau and provide independent judicial review of the decisions to freeze the banks accounts of human rights NGOs;

- Work towards the implementation of the recommendations included in my country visit report; - Fully guarantee the right to peaceful assembly and refrain from the use of excessive use of force against protesters;

- Cease the smear campaign against human rights organisations, human rights defenders and lawyers, including by high-level politicians and government-controlled media outlets”.