Civil Georgia
March 21, 2023

Ruling and Opposition Parties Respond to the US State Department’s Report

The U.S. Department of State’s “2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices” has prompted responses from Georgia’s ruling and opposition parties regarding the country’s handling of human rights issues.

Comments from the Ruling Party

Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Garibashvili criticized the report, stating, “I briefly reviewed the report and its main points. It is regrettable that the State Department’s report relies on non-objective, biased, subjective, and unfair conclusions prepared by so-called elite non-governmental organizations.”

Irakli Kobakhidze, the leader of the Georgian Dream party, concurred with the Prime Minister’s remarks, adding that information was obtained from certain organizations, which are the agents of foreign influence. He stated that “the content of the US State Department report and the statements made by NGOs are nearly identical, making it difficult to differentiate between them. This is our overall position.” He said that he would carefully examine the report and consider any objections based on factual evidence, but also added that there might be the possibility of unfounded criticisms.

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Civil Georgia
March 21, 2023

PM Accuses “Elite NGOs” in Providing “Fabricated Information” for State Department Report on Georgia

Speaking to journalists…Georgian Prime Minister Garibashvili…asked about the State Department’s 2022 Country Report on Human Rights in Georgia, PM said that the report is mainly based on information provided by “subjective”, “biased” and “unfair” conclusions developed by “politically engaged” “so-called elite NGOs, which is regrettable.” He said: “These facts are only not true, these are mere speculations “based on false, made-up, so to speak fabricated information. This is of no interest to us.”

He then talked about the “systemic corruption, systemic crimes” and human rights abuses 10 years ago, which he said he “does not remember mentioned in the State Department report, for example, which is unfortunate, of course.”

According to the PM, the “Government of Georgia opposes to all of this the truth, and no report can stand up to the truth.”

Garibashvili went on to say that “Georgia is an open democracy”, which is proven by the existence of “hundreds of NGOs”, which “unfortunately spread wrong information in the entire world and are trying to discredit the image of our state, which is of course, not in the interest of our state and our people.”

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When asked about the recent ICC decision to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President V. Putin Garibashvili said that members of the GD had already addressed the issue and issued statements. He also said: “The world is facing the threat of a 3rd World War, this assessment is not exaggerated, this is not a speculation.” He added that there is a global trend of increasing confrontation and escalation and that in these circumstances his role as head of state is to “preserve peace, stability and the survival of our country”.

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The Messenger
March 21, 2023

US Department of State 2022 Report Mentions Mikheil Saakashvili’s Case

The US Department of State published the 2022 report on human rights in Georgia, in which the third president Mikheil Saakashvili is mentioned.

As stated in the report of the Department of State, during the year, the Public Defender repeatedly urged the authorities to provide Saakashvili with timely and appropriate medical assistance.