March 2022 - Page 2

A rally in support of Ukraine was held in front of the Georgian government administration, organized by civic groups – Shame movement, Droa, Democracy defenders, Shecvale and opposition parties.

Protesters expressed solidarity with Ukraine, against which Russia’s growing aggression raises expectations of a military confrontation. The demonstrators condemned the Russian actions, the silence of the Georgian authorities, and noted that the ongoing process along the Ukrainian border poses a direct threat to Georgia’s sovereignty and guarantees peace in the region.

Another rally in support of Ukraine, organized by Mariam Geguchadze, will be held in Kyiv tomorrow. Georgian citizens living in Ukraine will express their solidarity with the friendly country.

Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic is paying an official visit to Georgia. The purpose of the visit is to assess the current state of human rights.

Mijatovic will summarize the information gathered from the civil society, government officials and government agencies and prepare a report outlining the recommendations that the state should take into account for better protection of human rights.

Today’s meeting of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights was held with non-governmental organizations, including representatives of Tbilisi Pride.

We talked to the co-director of Tbilisi Pride, Mariam Kvaratskhelia about the details of the meeting. According to her, the current situation in terms of human rights protection, as well as recent developments were discussed during the meeting.

Dunja Mijatovic noted at the meeting that the situation with regard to the protection of LGBTQ+ rights is one of her top priorities. According to her, the situation in terms of LGBTQ+ rights in the country is alarming. The meeting focused on hate crimes, organized violence by ultra-right groups, education, access to health care for LGBTQ+ people, the anti-discrimination law, as well as issues of discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in work environments.

According to Mariam, a recent study by the CRRC and the Council of Europe found that public attitudes towards LGBTQ rights are changing in a positive direction. The co-director of Tbilisi Pride told us that it is especially important to work actively for the protection of human rights in the light of the recent rise of non-progressive, violent groups.

Recently, Western institutions have increasingly become targets of attacks, and violent, non-progressive establishments are becoming stronger. In this context, working on human rights, such as LGBTQ+ human rights guarantee, strengthening human rights organizations, sharing experiences and having dialogues, is particularly important. This meeting has also served this purpose. The Council of Europe is actively working for the protection of human rights, developing the necessary recommendations to be implemented to eliminate violations. We hope that the final report of the commissioner will reflect the topics discussed at the meeting and the relevant recommendations will be taken into account”- says Mariam Kvaratskhelia.

On February 20, a video showing violent acts toward a clergyman was spread through social networks. It can be observed that the attack took place on homophobic grounds. The video was spread by various media outlets in violation of ethical standards, in connection with which the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics made a statement and offered some recommendations to media representatives.

Queer talked to Tamar Rukhadze, the chairperson of the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics, and asked about the recommendations to be made regarding the dissemination of the video of the violence. According to Tamar Rukhadze, the goal of media should be to protect the interests of the victims of violence and reduce the risks as much as possible.

“In the morning, the Charter Council issued a statement, an open interview had not yet been released at the time, but a video of the violent act was already circulating on social media. We were dealing with different types of violations: there were cases when the perpetrators of the violence were identifiable, but even in those part of the videos in which the faces were covered – their names and surnames could still be heard. In such cases, neither the visual identification of the person nor stating their identity is acceptable. Proper coverage of such cases is especially important in this age of social media, when even mentioning the first and last name of a person is risky. The material quickly spreads on the Internet and the person gets re-traumatized, there are additional dangers.

Victims of violence should be protected by media. This is given in a number of textbooks, and it should be obvious on its own that we should protect the victims of violence. However, we still face a number of violations.

Age and gender are irrelevant when speaking about someone who has been through violence. Their interests should be taken into account and risks should be properly evaluated” – said Tamar Rukhadze.

Later, an interview with the abused person was liked by various media outlets, in which the respondent is identifiable. According to the Chairman of the Charter of Ethics, the direct dissemination of homophobic statements is especially dangerous in a situation where there is a homophobic environment in the country and we may contribute to the strengthening of stigma by misrepresentation.

“The homophobic comments and phrases should also be covered up in the video. In a homophobic environment, we might face even greater dangers. Misinformation reinforces stereotypes, causes stigma and puts the LGBTQ+ community at a risk.

The ongoing processes and problems in the church must be covered, but we must think about whether we can tell the story in a way that does not harm the interests of the victim.

At first when the video started circulating, neither the context, nor the details such as the time of the incident were taken into account. This created an impression that media didn’t even try to find out the details in depth. Without checking, looking into the details, finding out additional information, it is unacceptable to share such materials through social media.

The later video, in which the victim is speaking about their experience, causes additional problems. It doesn’t matter that the respondent is an adult, the media should make sure that the person is fully aware of the consequences that this video might bring to them. The extent to which the video is broadcasted on the television should be explained to the respondent. Even with their consent, this story could have been covered without identifying the person, minimizing the risks.

In this case, being aware of the respondent’s appearance, name and surname, does not provide any valuable information to the public.

Another important part of this story is balancing the statements when sharing public comments, opinions that contain hate speech, discrimination, inaccurate information. The media is obliged to state its position, evaluate the information and not contribute to the spread of hate speech.”

The Opening of a Pro-Russian Alt-Info Office in Ozurgeti Was Followed by a Protest of Citizens. The office of the party found by the Conservative Movement of Alt-info opened next to the Georgian Dream office. However, there is no banner at the location at the office is currently closed.

According to one of the organizers of the rally, Nino Urushadze, Alt-info decided to open the office in secret. But the citizens found out about it and arrived at the location.

“A few days ago we found out that they were planning to open an office. They had rented a space and the place was being renovated. I can’t say what exactly happened, but it seems that they changed their mind because of the protest from the community and they decided to open in secret – today the local media shared that a few people were mobilizing at that location and they were opening an office for the party. We soon gathered and arrived there, but there was already no one there. The office was closed, there was no sign that there would be an Alt-info party there. We are planning on gathering and protesting on Monday as well – we won’t let them settle here! There is no place for violent pro-Russians in Ozurgeti!” – Says Nino Urushadze.

According to media reports, the opening of the Alt-Info office is being organized by a local priest, Vakhtang Tokhadze, whose name is associated with the fact of corporal punishment of a child in one of the theological schools in Ozurgeti in 2015.

After the story was made public in 2015, Vakhtang Tokhadze was denied the right to teach, and by the decision of Metropolitan Ioseb, Tokhadze was “suspended from his priestly service and sent to a monastery to repent.” The priest affiliated with a pro-Russian organization was allowed to serve a year after the incident and is now serving in a village in Ozurgeti.

The party, founded by a violent organization, plans to open about 80 offices across Georgia, prompting protests in several cities. Young people protested against the opening of an Alt-Info office in Mestia, which was followed by aggression by pro-Russian forces and up to 10 people were beaten. Opening of an Alt-info office in Ambrolauri was also protested; An office building in Gori was painted red; In Akhaltsikhe, locals created wrote anti-Soviet nostalgia comments on the signs; pro-Russian forces in Khulo and Shuakhevi were forced to leave their offices on the opening day.

Explosions have taken place in Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently released a video address in which he noted that Russia was planning to launch military operations in eastern Ukraine, aimed at the so-called peacekeeping in the Donetsk and Luhansk Republics.

According to Putin, this is an act of self-defense against the eastward expansion of NATO and means of protecting Ukrainians from “nazification” and a “genocide”, saying that if anyone became involved with his invasion of Ukraine, they would “face consequences greater than any of you have faced in history”.

According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba, peaceful cities in Ukraine have become targets of attacks. “This is an aggression against Ukraine, against which they will defend themselves and win.”

Jo Biden, the president of the US, also released a statement, saying: “Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way. The world will hold Russia accountable.”

The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, even mentioned that he plans to meet with the G7 countries in order to respond to the Russian aggression jointly, including by imposing additional sanctions.

Demanding the refusal of Ukraine and Georgia to join NATO, Russia has been mobilizing troops along the Ukrainian border for two months. This was followed by the recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics. The West and the United States have responded by imposing sanctions.

Georgian Democratic Initiative calls on the Georgian National Communications Commission to recognize Alt-Info TV as an offender and impose administrative liability on it, citing an attempt by the station to hold Ukraine accountable after Russia’s attacks on Ukraine.

“We believe that the statements made by Alt-Info TV serve to justify the criminal acts committed by the Russian Federation and the violation of international humanitarian law, and to idolize crime, which is prohibited by the Georgian Law on Broadcasting. Alt-Info in a number of programs tries to present the current events in Ukraine as a result of Ukraine’s mistakes, which was caused by its pro-Western path. With similar statements, Alt-Info justifies the facts of war, non-discriminatory use of lethal force by the Russian Federation in the Republic of Ukraine, and thus, violations of humanitarian law. Therefore, we believe that the whole narrative of Alt-Info broadcasting is to justify the crimes committed against humanity by the arguments of the Euro-Atlantic course chosen by Ukraine,” the statement said, focusing on the legal part of Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

“On March 2, at the initiative of the United Kingdom, 37 sovereign states, including Georgia, appealed to the International Criminal Court to investigate violations of international humanitarian law by the Russian Federation. Thus, the sovereign position of both the international community and Georgia is that within the framework of the military aggression carried out by the Russian Federation against Ukraine after February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation violates international humanitarian law and commits crimes against humanity.

In addition to international humanitarian law, the action of the Russian Federation is a crime under Articles 404-413 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which includes crimes against peace, security and violations of international humanitarian law,” the statement said.

Darejan Maisuradze, a 63-year-old Georgian lieutenant colonel, a war veteran and a sniper, is fighting against Russia in Ukraine.

In an interview with Prime Time, she says that she also fought in the 2008 war. She also swore to protect Ukraine much earlier, during the war in Abkhazia.

For her own safety, we will not be revealing the exact location at which Darejan Maisuradze is fighting for Ukraine against Russia at the moment… She states that she swore to protect Ukraine during the war in Abkhazia. The urge to fight grew even stronger in 2008, during the August War, and now she is in the center of action.

“I must take revenge on the Russians for the bloodshed of our boys and for the Ukrainians who fought in Abkhazia to support us,” said the Georgian fighter.

“One man – Sergey, along with many other Ukrainians, came from Dnepropetrovsk region with two children to defend Sokhumi. The Russians killed one of his children, as he fell on the battlefield of the Abkhazia. Sergey brought his son’s body to Ukraine and then returned to Abkhazia to continue fighting.”

When I asked him how he returned and continued his fight after such a tragedy, to which he replied: “if we do not stop Russia here, in Abkhazia, now, they will definitely come to Dnepropetrovsk. Now, as Russian occupational forces are destroying Kharkov, attacking Kyiv and approaching Dnepr, I constantly remember the words of that Ukrainian man… We must stop Russia now, at Dnepr! I swore an oath back then that if Russia attacked Ukraine, I would fight for those Ukrainians that stood with us during the war of Abkhazia and supported us in our fight. We, Georgians, have a debt to pay and I am paying this debt right here and now.” – says Darejan Maisuradze in an interview with Prime Time and also notes, that in order for Georgia to survive, supporting Ukraine is absolutely crucial.