According to The Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA), the means used to raid the pro-European protests are not only disproportionate, but also amount to organized crime. The organization notes that the police violated the absolute rights of peaceful demonstrators, journalists, and detainees, which include the prohibition of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment.
These issues are discussed in a report prepared by GYLA a month after the start of the large-scale protests. The document, titled “Civil Rights in the Face of Growing Police Terror,” summarizes the events of the past month.
The organization notes that since November 28, 2024, the methods used to suppress peaceful and legitimate protests have reached a new level of severity. According to their assessment, the scale and organization of violence by police forces prove that a criminal operation against civic engagement is underway.
“A criminal operation against civic engagement is underway. The facts of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment of protesters and journalists are becoming widespread, systematic and large-scale. Physical and verbal violence against detainees has become widespread, and is carried out in practically all cases. The violence extends not only to detainees, but also to those who are almost unconscious and require emergency medical assistance,” the report states.
GYLA stated that despite the fact that the demonstrations were peaceful, they were arbitrarily and violently dispersed by the police force. The organization notes that the state, along with other repressive and violent methods, confronts legitimate protests with torture, inhuman and degrading treatment.
GYLA indicates that the following events occurred during this period:
- Torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, against a large group of demonstrators and media representatives. Most of the detainees were beaten;
- Not only violating the rules for the use of active special means (water cannon, tear gas, pepper spray), but also using them in a manner that is dangerous to life and health;
- Attacks by informal criminal groups on demonstrators and media representatives;
- Deliberate persecution of media representatives, which in some cases resulted in injuries and the need for hospitalization;
- Illegal administrative detention (arbitrary detention affected up to 500 people);
- Illegal searches of citizens in public places, search/seizure operations in apartments and offices;
- Use of criminal justice mechanisms against demonstrators (up to 40 people have been arrested);
- Threats against public officials — In addition to physical violence, the government is attempting to restrict freedom of expression among public officials by directly or indirectly threatening them with dismissal and calling for them to resign;
- Strengthening the legislation against people with different opinions, in particular, amendments were made to the following laws: the Law of Georgia on Public Service, the Law on Assemblies and Manifestations, the Law on Police, and the Code of Administrative Offenses;
- The ineffectiveness of the investigation into the violence during both the current protests and the April-May 2024 and March 2023 protests remains a challenge.
The organization writes that the use of force by the state against the participants of the demonstration was usually preceded by a false statement by the Ministry of Internal Affairs that the protest exceeded the requirements of the Law on Assembly and Manifestations and became completely violent. According to GYLA, the fact that this is false is also confirmed by the OSCE assessment, according to which “[…] the absolute majority of the protesters were peaceful.”
According to GYLA, the absolute majority of the approximately 500 detainees were victims of both physical and psychological pressure and verbal abuse.
The organization speaks about the following trends in the use of violence and ill-treatment:
- The police used excessive force not only against individuals, but also against all participants in the assemblies, regardless of their peaceful nature;
- Police used violence against demonstrators who did not show signs of resistance, including punching, kicking, and hitting those on the ground with rubber batons;
- According to detailed accounts by victims of ill-treatment, police officers continued to brutally treat detainees in transport vans. Demonstrators were beaten, including in the face, head, and ribs, while so-called supervising officers reportedly instructed their subordinates where and for how long to continue beatings;
- The police officers involved in the arrests and subsequent violent acts did not wear identifying marks, such as badge numbers or name tags. This created a sense of impunity for those who committed ill-treatment;
- The unidentified individuals who relentlessly attacked journalists, protesters, and others acted with the express or tacit consent of law enforcement officials. Television footage clearly shows the coordination between these unidentified individuals and the police, as well as the inaction of law enforcement officials as these individuals carried out their violent attacks.
In addition, the report discusses the use of special means by riot police and states that this practice amounts to inhumane treatment. GYLA writes that riot police often used gas and water cannon without justification, in parallel with each other and with disregard for the rules for the safe use of these means.
GYLA notes that tear gas canisters were fired in large numbers and in places where groups of people were standing closely together, which created a real risk of direct injury to them. Canisters were also fired from the roofs of buildings, including several citizens who reported that canisters were fired from the roof of the Rustaveli National Theater. In addition, cold water jets are used disproportionately in low temperature conditions.
According to the organization, the Ministry of Internal Affairs mixed chemicals into the water jet, which causes much greater damage. Many participants in the demonstration noted that the special means used had a particularly harmful effect on their health.
“Despite GYLA’s call for the Ministry of Internal Affairs to disclose the means it was using so that medical personnel could respond appropriately to the injured, the Ministry of Internal Affairs continued to use chemical substances unknown to the public against peaceful demonstrators,” the report states.
The organization draws attention to the siege tactics used by the riot police. According to human rights law, such action can only be used when it is proportionate, otherwise, when other special means are used, such tactics pose a disproportionate risk of health or other harm to the participants of the demonstration. GYLA points out that such tactics not only violate the freedom of assembly, but are also a weapon of psychological terror against the demonstrators.
The report states that absolutely all cases in the past month when police units began to disperse a rally were illegal. Specifically:
- The night of November 28-29, 2024;
- The night of November 29-30, 2024;
- The night of November 30 – December 1, 2024;
- The night of December 1-2, 2024;
- The night of December 2-3, 2024;
- The night of December 3-4, 2024;
- The night of December 6-7, 2024.
“Also, until November 28, after October 26, 2024, protest rallies were periodically held in various locations to protest significant and systemic violations identified in the elections, including violations of the right to secrecy of the vote, and to demand new elections. The state used violent methods against these peaceful gatherings,” the report says.
The report also focuses on the use of force against media representatives. According to the organization, 91 cases of obstruction of journalistic activities, damage to equipment, use of disproportionate force, and violence have been identified in the past month, with the vast majority of them directed against critical mass media and digital media representatives.
“[This] indicates the interest of the police forces in not covering violent dispersal of gatherings and other violations,” GYLA writes.
In its review of the past month, the organization also speaks about informal criminal groups and emphasizes that there is an increasing number of attacks on journalists and demonstrators by them.
“This is a tactic involving informal punitive groups encouraged by official state institutions and high-ranking officials. The latter aim to inflict violence and intimidation on supporters of protest movements or journalists. Moreover, the abundance of such facts and the complete inaction of the police indicate that there is prior consent on the part of those authorized to prevent, suppress, and respond to crime to commit crimes by punitive groups,” the report reads.
The organization notes that this practice was first used during the crackdown on the April-May 2024 protests, which was described as a “Titushky raid” as a model of behavior. GYLA emphasizes that, like the current one, their violence did not result in a strong response from law enforcement agencies then either.
“This further incited the perpetrators and expanded the scope of the violence. The unlawful actions of the punitive groups were also revealed during the demonstrations held in connection with the elections.”
The organization speaks of the use of criminal law tools against activists and writes that one of its goals is to suppress dissent. GYLA monitors ongoing criminal cases against about 40 individuals related to the protests, including the case of 6 individuals detained in connection with the Russian law protests in April-May 2024, the case of 38 defendants detained during the ongoing legitimate protests after November 19 and 28, as well as the cases of Baldi Canyon activist Indiko Bzhalava, activist Vitali Guguchia, and activist Ioseb Babaev.
According to the report, the following circumstances emerged during the court proceedings regarding the cases of the demonstrators’ accusations:
Imposing imprisonment as a preventive measure without taking into account the individual circumstances of the accused;
Cases of mistreatment;
Absence of a reasonable presumption standard;
Technical challenges related to conducting the process, etc.
See the full report here.