GYLA: The EU’s 2026 Report once again confirms the alarming state of human rights in Georgia

The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) says that the European Union’s 2026 Report once again confirms the alarming state of human rights in Georgia.

According to a statement released by the organisation, the 2026 Report on Georgia, covering the period from 1 September 2025 to 1 September 2026, describes an “extremely grave reality” and, as in previous reports, points to the continued deterioration of the country’s progress towards EU accession.

“The report itself indicates that the country has been experiencing a deterioration in fundamental rights for the third consecutive year. It once again confirms the dire situation that local human rights defenders, international organisations and monitoring mechanisms have been highlighting for the past three years. According to the report, human rights have been significantly restricted and undermined as a result of repressive legislation that infringes upon fundamental rights, particularly the freedoms of expression, assembly and association, as well as the principles of equality and non-discrimination.

The legal safeguards for preventing torture and other forms of ill-treatment in Georgia remain inadequate. The response to relevant incidents and their subsequent examination are unsatisfactory. Georgia has yet to take steps to address shortcomings in the legal safeguards provided under the Code of Administrative Offences, including deficiencies in procedural guarantees, the lack of clarity regarding standards of proof, and the absence of an effective right to appeal detention decisions.

The report highlights the lack of adequate accountability for police violence and notes that, in May 2026, the Prosecutor General’s Office charged five police officers with abuse of official authority in connection with violence during the 2024 demonstrations. However, the vast majority of cases involving torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials remain uninvestigated to this day.

The report also notes that no independent investigation has yet been conducted into allegations that chemical substances may have been mixed into the water cannons used against demonstrators during the 2024 protests. It emphasises that legislation regulating assemblies remains restrictive. Developments during the reporting period indicate the gradual entrenchment of restrictive policing practices governing assemblies, both at the legislative and practical levels.

For the third consecutive year, a deterioration in freedom of expression has also been recorded. The safety of journalists and the environment in which the media operate continue to be negatively affected by systematic incidents of harassment, intimidation and attacks against independent and critical media outlets and journalists, including online campaigns whose scale is further amplified by pro-government media outlets. According to the report, the deterioration of the state of democracy continued during the reporting period.

The report emphasises that the proceedings initiated before the Constitutional Court seeking to ban the main opposition parties pose a threat to the foundations of the country's democracy.

According to the report, the authorities have taken no steps towards comprehensive reform of the electoral system, despite longstanding recommendations. The report assesses that the local self-government elections held in October 2025 took place in a highly polarised and repressive environment, significantly undermining the competitiveness and transparency of the electoral process.

According to the report, the justice sector has likewise experienced a deterioration for the third consecutive year. The harsh and disproportionate sentences imposed on demonstrators raise concerns that the judicial system is being used as an instrument for enforcing a repressive mechanism.

The report stresses that the recommendations issued last year remain unimplemented and relevant, and calls on the state to take immediate action to implement them,” the statement reads.