On November 1, 2012, a working group on political prisoners and exiles was set up under the human rights and civil integration committee of the parliament of Georgia. The group was manned by representatives of civil society, including Georgian Young Lawyers Association and Article 42 of the Constitution.
2012-11-12 10:43 See moreAs public is already aware, in May 2012 GYLA published a report Rehabilitation Process Beyond the Façade, most of which focused on participation of the non-commercial non-profit legal entity Old City Rehabilitation & Development Fund, founded by Tbilisi Municipal Government, in the process of rehabilitation of historic districts of Tbilisi. While working on the report, GYLA found out that from its 2005-2011 budgets Tbilisi Government transferred total of more than GEL 288 million to the Old City Rehabilitation & Development Fund. However, we have not yet found a complete and comprehensive information about specific works funded from the budgetary resources allocated by Tbilisi Government for the fund. Further, in the process of preparing the report, GYLA tried to obtain act of audit conducted by the Audit Service in the Old City Rehabilitation and Development Fund. GYLA was able to receive information about the act only in October 2012.
2012-11-08 11:49 See more19th general meeting of members of GYLA will be held on November 24, 2012 at Courtyard Marriott.
2012-11-07 14:22 See moreGYLA expresses its concern over the recent developments in the village of Nigvziani, Lanchkhuti Municipality and in particular, tension between the Muslim and the Christian population on religious grounds. Christian population opposes full exercising of rights by religious minority; clash between the two sides ensued. The Constitution of Georgia recognizes freedom of religious, which implies not only the right to faith but also the right to expression of faith, including practice of religion. This right implies not only a negative obligation of the state not to interfere with exercising of the right but also its duty to ensure realization of the right even when it is curtailed by private individuals. It is noteworthy that interference in religious activities is punishable under the Criminal Code of Georgia.
2012-11-06 09:02 See moreOn October 31, representatives of the following NGOs: Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, The Georgian Centre for Psychosocial and Medical Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (GCRT) and the Penal Reform International, who have been delegated with the right to enter penitentiary facilities without a special permit. The visit was necessitated by report of a tense situation in Rustavi N16 Penitentiary Facility. Representatives of the NGOs met with and interviewed director of the facility, convicts held in solitary cells and in units “a”, “b” and “c”, as well as members of families of prisoners rallying outside the facility. The situation is peaceful in the prison; prisoners are refusing allegations about any attempts of disorder on their end. During the visit two prisoners held in the solitary cell were on a hunger strike, as well as several of their cell-mates - convicts in unit “a”.
2012-11-05 07:32 See moreCurrently Adjara TV serves as a sub-agency broadcaster of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara. Analysis of legal acts suggests that an administrative agency may not be delegated with functions of a broadcaster. Current status of Adjara TV conflicts with para.2, Article 37 of the Law on Broadcasting of Georgia, which stipulates that owner of a broadcasting license/an authorized individual may not be an administrative agency. We view determining the status of Adjara TV as one of the priority issues today. In order to resolve the issue, it is important to put in place a legal framework for regulating activities of Adjara TV. We believe it is important to grant it with the status of a public broadcaster.
2012-11-02 12:15 See moreOn May 2, 2006, Zurab Vazagashvili and Aleksandre Khubulov were shot to death in a BMW by officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia following a special operation in Tbilisi near tennis court. According to official statement of MIA, these persons were on their way to committ a robbery and police officers fired only after shots were fired from the vehicle to the police. There were many questions about the case from the outset, indicating that MIA’s official statement was untrue. GYLA’s lawyers were defending interests of Zurab Vazagashvili’s legal successor. Although investigation was launched, we believe that it was conducted in a biased and subjective manner, resulting in termination of proceedings for no evident violation of criminal laws in actions of the police. The defence has now acquired important evidence. As public is aware, the only person sitting in the BMW during the shootout who survived is Bondo (Buba) Puturidze, who later signed a plea agreement. Up until now, it was reported that Puturidze had confessed to the charges. The statement that he gave before court confirmed that the Special Forces officers fired back after they resisted. On October 26, 2012, Bondo Puturidze gave a statement to GYLA’s lawyer Gagi Mosiashvili, rejecting his testimony before court and explaining that the testimony was obtained as a result of pressure. Pruidze noted in his statement that he and his friends had not intention of robbing and did not bear arms.
2012-10-30 13:22 See moreThe International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) and Transparency International – Georgia examined and published a number of reports about acts of pressure exerted on citizens, most of all about dismissals in public sector on political grounds. Dismissal from the Ministry of Education, Science and Monuments Protection, Ministry of Interior Affairs, Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs, local self-governments and their subordinate agencies, legal entities of public law were most frequent. NGOs apply to heads of all corresponding ministries and local self-government agencies to launch immediate probe within respective agencies into the circumstances of these dismissals in order to restore rights of illegally dismissed persons and to identify makers of illegal decisions in a timely manner.
2012-10-29 11:16 See moreSince October 12, 2012, the work of PIK TV Company has been disrupted and currently its journalists are unable to conduct their professional activities. The TV Company is broadcasting material prepared by them previously and the audience no longer has access to news through PIK TV Company. Pursuant to the government procurement agreement #3-1, dated January 13, 2012, concluded between the legal entity of public law Public Broadcaster and PIK TV Company Ltd., PIK must provide Channel 3 (First Caucasus Channel) with TV-content produced in Russian language. According to the public broadcaster, by staging a silent protest live on air and by unauthorized restoration of the channel’s broadcast via satellite on October 13, 2012, PIK grossly violated the agreement. This was communicated to PIK’s management by the public broadcaster’s general director on October 16. Further, according to the written correspondence of Alexandre Parulava, PIK’s General Director, the contract was suspended at the initiative of PIK TV Company. We believe that documents that have been published raise a number of questions about the public broadcaster as well as the management of PIK TV Company.
2012-10-25 08:53 See moreConstitutional Court of Georgia ruled in favor of GYLA and granted the claim for deeming unconstitutional the provision of the Law of Georgia on Operative Investigating Activities that allowed investigating authorities to intercept private internet communication. These norms allowed interception of private internet communication by means of password cracking or secret installation of other technical means. GYLA believed that the provision was unconstitutional since it did not allow the possibility of court control over interception of private internet communication which in turn constitutes a private, intimate field of an individual concerned, protected by Article 20 of the Constitution of Georgia. The latter stipulates that court warrant or urgent need is a necessary precondition for curtailing the right to privacy. None of these circumstances are considered by the Law on Operative Investigating Activities.
2012-10-25 08:05 See more