Alleged abduction and forcible return of Afgan Mukhtarli to his country of origin violates the principles of international law. Georgia, as a party to the European Convention on Human Rights, is responsible to ensure security of aliens, including Azerbaijani citizens, or stateless persons, residing within the territory of Georgia and prevent their forced return to the country of origin, where they might be subjected to politically motivated detention, torture or inhuman treatment.

We call upon the President of Georgia to, by way of exception, grant Georgian citizenship to Mustafa Emre Çabuk and his family members as well as to the teachers of Demirel College and Black Sea University who truly have merits to Georgia and who wish to become citizens of our country. We believe that their rights will be better guaranteed and protected on the territory of Georgia as a result of such a step.

იმისთვის რომ, მოქალაქეებს ნდობა აუმაღლდეთ სასამართლო ხელისუფლების მიმართ, საკონსტიტუციო სასამრთლომ უნდა შეძლოს ადამიანის უფლებების დაცვისთვის მნიშვნელოვანი გადაწყვეტილებების მიღება და უკვე მიღებული გადაწყვეტილებების დაცვა.

In order to dispel the questions that have appeared among the public regarding selective justice and political officials’ interference in the system of justice, the case must be investigated fully, objectively and quickly. In turn, the undersigned organizations will continue monitoring the hearing of the case in court.

The signatory organizations welcome the decision of the President of Georgia to veto the amendments to the Law on Broadcasting, which among others foresees the possibility to conduct the public procurement in non-transparent way, increasing the time for placing the commercial advertisements or sponsorship.

The Coalition believes that the rule for appointing interim Court Chairs and Deputies proposed in the draft is too general. It does not establish any restrictions for appointing an Interim Chair and his/her Deputy, thereby exacerbating the problems existing in practice. The absence of criteria and rules for selecting Court Chairs is also problematic. The draft does not address this issue.

The violations during the operation clearly show the need for the law enforcement system reform, which would change the nature of the police force, making them oriented to protection of human rights and earning trust of the public. This further demonstrates the urgency for creating the independent investigative mechanism for investigating crimes of law enforcement officers.

It should be noted that none of the above mentioned issues has been reflected in the initial text of the constitutional amendments and they were revealed at the last meeting of universal public discussions which was attended only by the representatives of the constitutional bodies. These amendments have neither been mentioned in the text of the explanatory memorandum.

We call on the Parliament of Georgia to turn down the proposal offered by the Ministry of Justice, which will limit freedom of information and weaken the right to access to public information in Georgia.