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15 March 2001
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HR/CERD/01/17
15 March 2001
COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
BEGINS CONSIDERATION OF INITIAL REPORT OF GEORGIA
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this afternoon started its consideration of the initial report of Georgia on how that country is complying with the tenets and mandates contained in the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.
A Government delegation from Georgia told Committee Experts that a group dealing with human rights issues had become a permanent body in January 2000 in order to prepare reports to the human rights instruments to which Georgia was a State party.
Rusudan Beridze, the Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council of Georgia on Human Rights Issues and the head of the delegation, said her country considered issues relating to human rights and freedoms as matters that significantly affected the national security of the country. That was why the post of Deputy Secretary on Human Rights Issues had been created.
Joining Ms. Beridze on the delegation was Amiran Kavadze, the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Georgia to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Alexander Kavsadze, the Minister Plenipotentiary at the Permanent Mission of George to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Alexander Nalbandov, the head of the Office for the Protection of Human Rights under the National Security Council of Georgia; and George Tskrialashvili, head of the International Relations Department of the Ministry of Justice.
Speaking about the protection of women in Georgia, Ms. Beridze said the Ministry of Internal Affairs organized special training courses for local police officers to raise awareness on gender-related issues as well as on matters linked to treatment of victims of violence and police conduct in cases of domestic violence. Next year, gender and violence-related issues would be included in the Ministry’s Academy Curricula.
Francois Lonseny Fall, the Committee Rapporteur on the report of Georgia, asked about minorities in Georgia and the obstacles that were preventing the Minorities Act from being adopted. He also said that while the Constitution guaranteed freedom of religion for all, there had been reports of violations of that right.
Other Committee Experts asked the Georgian delegation, among other things, about allegations of ethnic cleansing in the region; parties that disseminated racist ideas and championed racial discrimination; participation of minority groups in elections and legislative bodies; and whether the Press and Media Act had been used to prohibit the dissemination of racist messages.
The delegation of Georgia will return to the Committee on Friday morning to answer the questions raised by the Committee Experts.
Committee Experts posing questions to the delegation were Francois Lonseny Fall, Luis Valencia Rodriguez, Yuri A. Rechetov, Regis De Gouttes, Patrick Thornberry, Ion Diaconu, Raghavan Vasudevan Pillai, Patricia Nozipho January-Bardill, Tang Chengyuan, and Mario Jorge Yutzis.
The Committee also continued its discussions about the draft declaration and the programme of action for the upcoming World Conference against Racism, which will be held in Durban, South Africa from 31 August to 7 September.
The Committee will resume its meeting at 10 a.m. on Friday, 16 March to conclude its public consideration of the report of Georgia.
Report of Georgia
The initial report of Georgia (CERD/C/369/Add.1) describes, on an article-by-article basis, how the country is implementing the provisions and rights enshrined in the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, which it ratified on 2 June 1999. The report provides general information, specifically detailing the ethnic composition of the population, the status of women and international obligations. Additionally, it refers to the right to equal treatment before the tribunals and all other organs administering justice; the right to security of person and protection by the State against violence or bodily harm; the right to participate in elections on the basis of universal and equal suffrage and to take part in government; other civil rights; and economic, social and cultural rights.
The report states that the Georgian Constitution ensures that all persons are born free and equal in the eyes of the law, irrespective of their skin colour, race, language, sex, religion, political and other beliefs, national, ethnic and social origin, property and class status or place of residence. In also reports that aliens and stateless persons living in Georgia have the same rights and obligations as Georgian citizens, except as stipulated otherwise by the Constitution and the law. It is prohibited to extradite refugees who have suffered persecution on account of their political beliefs or who have committed an act which is not recognized as a crime under Georgian law. Further, the Citizenship Act states that aliens and stateless persons are guaranteed the rights and freedoms which are provided for by the norms of international law and the law of Georgia, including the right to protect their personal property and other rights through the courts and other State bodies.
Describing the composition of the population, the report revealed that Georgians made up 70.1 per cent of the population, according to 1989 figures. Armenians and Russians are the dominant ethnic minorities, at 8.1 per cent and 6.3 per cent of the population, respectively. Azerbaijanis and Ukrainians are also prevalent in society. Regarding anti-Semitism, the report says neither during the Soviet period nor subsequently has Georgia witnessed the kind of anti-Semitism which so often lay at the root of human rights violations in the Soviet Union. Half the synagogues that existed in the Soviet Union were built and flourished in Georgia. In the 1970s, Georgia was the only Soviet republic that permitted tens of thousands of Georgian Jews to emigrate to Israel.
The report details other economic, social and cultural rights like the right to nationality and the right to marriage and the right to own property alone. Georgian citizenship can be acquired by any adult who permanently resided on Georgian territory for the last 10 years; has the minimum prescribed knowledge of the Georgian or Abkhaz languages; has the minimum prescribed knowledge of Georgian history and the Georgian Constitution; and was employed or has immovable property in Georgia. An alien who marries a Georgian citizen can acquire Georgian nationality provided that he or she has resided in Georgian territory for the last three years, and provided the linguistic, historical and constitutional knowledge was also there. The legal marriage age in George is 18, although marriage at 16 is allowed if the parents consented. Aliens wishing to marry in Georgia require a declaration issued by the competent authorities of their country stating that there were no impediments to their marriage. Marriage is prohibited between two persons at least one of whom is already married; between blood relatives in the ascending and descending lines; between brothers and sisters of the whole and the half blood; and between two persons at least one of whom has been declared legally incapable by a court.
Presentation of the Report
RUSUDAN BERIDZE, Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council of Georgia on Human Rights Issues and the head of the delegation, said that since January 2000, the group dealing with human rights issues had become a permanent body to prepare State reports to the human rights instruments to which Georgia was a State party. Georgia considered issues related to human rights and freedoms as matters significantly affecting national security of the country. That was why the post of Deputy Secretary on Human Rights Issues been created.
Ms. Beridze said the Constitution of Georgia provided for the principle of non-discrimination towards aliens and stated that "foreign citizens and stateless persons living in Georgia and the citizens of Georgia had equal rights and duties unless otherwise stipulated exceptions by the Constitution and the law." One of the exceptions was the restriction of the political activity of foreigners and stateless persons. Human rights and freedoms specified in the Constitution were divided into two groups -- rights for everyone and rights for the citizens. Everyone in Georgia was guaranteed the right to life, prohibition of torture, right to labour, right to privacy, right to a fair trial, no punishment without law, right to respect for private and family life, freedom of conscience, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, right to marry, right to an effective remedy, prohibition of discrimination, protection of property, right to education, freedom of movement and equality between spouses. The rights which applied only to citizens were the right to free elections, prohibition of expulsion and extradition of nationals, right of expression concerning access to information maintained in the governmental bodies and protection of labour rights abroad.
Ms. Beridze said the Ministry of Internal Affairs organized special training courses for local police officers to raise awareness on gender-related issues as well as on matters linked to treatment of victims of violence and police conduct in cases of domestic violence. Next year, gender and violence-related issues would be included in the Ministry’s Academy Curricula. To facilitate contacts with women who became victims of violence, it was required that female police officers deal with such cases. There were 862 female police officers who worked at the Ministry, including 136 investigators. In 2000, 101 women were hired to bodies belonging to the Ministry as police officers, 27 of whom were investigators.
Prevention of crime was a key task of bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ms. Beridze said. Particular attention was paid to preventing crimes connected with domestic conflicts, particularly violence against women. Following the preventive steps taken by police in 2000, some 1,200 domestic conflicts were resolved, and further aggravation of situations were avoided. It was noted that domestic conflicts were mostly revealed through citizens' complaints, although conflicting parties often were reluctant to go to the police. Forty-five rapes were registered by police in 2000. In each case, the perpetrators were found and prosecuted. Unfortunately, this number of rapes reflected an increase of 40 per cent to 1999 statistics. Further, in 2000, investigative units of the Ministry had initiated 31 criminal cases in connection with acts of violence against women -- 15 acts of burglary and 16 bodily injuries.
Georgian legislation did not contain discriminatory norms against women. To the contrary, the labour code stipulated positive-discriminatory norms regarding women's labour conditions. However, significant problems still occurred. There was inadequate participation of women at the decision-making level in the legislative and executive authorities. There were only 17 women in the newly elected Parliament. In the executive branch, there were two ministers and nine female deputy ministers. Within the judicial system, the situation was better. Almost half of the judges were women.
Discussion
FRANCOIS LONSENY FALL, the Committee’s Rapporteur on the report, said it did not contain enough information about efforts to practically implement the provisions of the Convention.
Mr. Fall asked about minorities in Georgia. What were the obstacles that had prevented the Minorities Act from being adopted in 1994? What was the population of the Azeri region of Georgia?
Mr. Fall said the report said Georgia condemned racial discrimination in all its forms. Apartheid was not expressly condemned, as the Convention stipulated. If racial discrimination was not clearly deemed an offense, it could be difficult to prosecute. Racist expressions and propaganda also were not prohibited as required by the Convention.
Mr. Fall said Georgian nationality was acquired by birth. What were the legal provisions about the loss of nationality? It seemed excessive to lose nationality for living abroad and not registering with a Georgian consulate for two years without good reasons.
Referring to freedom of religion, Mr. Fall said that while the Constitution guaranteed freedom of religion for all, there had been reports of violations of that right. There had been violence and attacks against people of certain religious groups, particularly the Jehova's Witnesses. What role did the Orthodox Church play? Was it a state religion?
Mr. Fall welcomed the setting up of instruments and institutions that aided with the integration of minorities into society. It was also heartening to see the establishment of a Human Rights Committee, but there was no reference in the report to the achievements of those institutions.
Mr. Fall also said Georgia had not made the declaration under Article 14 under the Convention, and it should consider doing so.
Other Committee Experts asked the Georgian delegation, among other things, about the status of international treaties in domestic legislation and before the courts; programmes directed at increasing the standard of living among groups which resided in the high mountain region; allegations of ethnic cleansing in the region; parties that disseminated racist ideas and championed racial discrimination; the cost of initiating court proceedings; participation of minority groups in elections; participation of minority groups in legislative bodies; and if the Press and Media Act had been used to prohibit the dissemination of racist messages.
The Experts also asked about political associations that preached hate and racial discrimination; an International Monetary Fund project regarding social security; any conflicts between Georgia’s domestic laws and international treaties; cultural rights of minorities; anti-Semitism in Georgia; existence of non-governmental organizations (NGOs); information and proceedings of ethnic discrimination; human rights training for police officials, customs officials, prison officials, and the judiciary; efforts to improve minority membership in Parliament; a limitation of racist speech; the education of aliens; education for people whose mother tongue was not Georgian; Armenian and Azerbaijani schools; if the Convention was applied in all territories of Georgia; the political parties in Georgia; double citizenship; the extent of internally displaced persons; the status of Roma in Georgia; the protection of the rights of the Roma in Georgia; citizenship of foreigners; and special benefits from the Government to the Orthodox church.
* *** *
HR/CERD/01/17
15 March 2001
COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
BEGINS CONSIDERATION OF INITIAL REPORT OF GEORGIA
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this afternoon started its consideration of the initial report of Georgia on how that country is complying with the tenets and mandates contained in the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.
A Government delegation from Georgia told Committee Experts that a group dealing with human rights issues had become a permanent body in January 2000 in order to prepare reports to the human rights instruments to which Georgia was a State party.
Rusudan Beridze, the Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council of Georgia on Human Rights Issues and the head of the delegation, said her country considered issues relating to human rights and freedoms as matters that significantly affected the national security of the country. That was why the post of Deputy Secretary on Human Rights Issues had been created.
Joining Ms. Beridze on the delegation was Amiran Kavadze, the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Georgia to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Alexander Kavsadze, the Minister Plenipotentiary at the Permanent Mission of George to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Alexander Nalbandov, the head of the Office for the Protection of Human Rights under the National Security Council of Georgia; and George Tskrialashvili, head of the International Relations Department of the Ministry of Justice.
Speaking about the protection of women in Georgia, Ms. Beridze said the Ministry of Internal Affairs organized special training courses for local police officers to raise awareness on gender-related issues as well as on matters linked to treatment of victims of violence and police conduct in cases of domestic violence. Next year, gender and violence-related issues would be included in the Ministry’s Academy Curricula.
Francois Lonseny Fall, the Committee Rapporteur on the report of Georgia, asked about minorities in Georgia and the obstacles that were preventing the Minorities Act from being adopted. He also said that while the Constitution guaranteed freedom of religion for all, there had been reports of violations of that right.
Other Committee Experts asked the Georgian delegation, among other things, about allegations of ethnic cleansing in the region; parties that disseminated racist ideas and championed racial discrimination; participation of minority groups in elections and legislative bodies; and whether the Press and Media Act had been used to prohibit the dissemination of racist messages.
The delegation of Georgia will return to the Committee on Friday morning to answer the questions raised by the Committee Experts.
Committee Experts posing questions to the delegation were Francois Lonseny Fall, Luis Valencia Rodriguez, Yuri A. Rechetov, Regis De Gouttes, Patrick Thornberry, Ion Diaconu, Raghavan Vasudevan Pillai, Patricia Nozipho January-Bardill, Tang Chengyuan, and Mario Jorge Yutzis.
The Committee also continued its discussions about the draft declaration and the programme of action for the upcoming World Conference against Racism, which will be held in Durban, South Africa from 31 August to 7 September.
The Committee will resume its meeting at 10 a.m. on Friday, 16 March to conclude its public consideration of the report of Georgia.
Report of Georgia
The initial report of Georgia (CERD/C/369/Add.1) describes, on an article-by-article basis, how the country is implementing the provisions and rights enshrined in the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, which it ratified on 2 June 1999. The report provides general information, specifically detailing the ethnic composition of the population, the status of women and international obligations. Additionally, it refers to the right to equal treatment before the tribunals and all other organs administering justice; the right to security of person and protection by the State against violence or bodily harm; the right to participate in elections on the basis of universal and equal suffrage and to take part in government; other civil rights; and economic, social and cultural rights.
The report states that the Georgian Constitution ensures that all persons are born free and equal in the eyes of the law, irrespective of their skin colour, race, language, sex, religion, political and other beliefs, national, ethnic and social origin, property and class status or place of residence. In also reports that aliens and stateless persons living in Georgia have the same rights and obligations as Georgian citizens, except as stipulated otherwise by the Constitution and the law. It is prohibited to extradite refugees who have suffered persecution on account of their political beliefs or who have committed an act which is not recognized as a crime under Georgian law. Further, the Citizenship Act states that aliens and stateless persons are guaranteed the rights and freedoms which are provided for by the norms of international law and the law of Georgia, including the right to protect their personal property and other rights through the courts and other State bodies.
Describing the composition of the population, the report revealed that Georgians made up 70.1 per cent of the population, according to 1989 figures. Armenians and Russians are the dominant ethnic minorities, at 8.1 per cent and 6.3 per cent of the population, respectively. Azerbaijanis and Ukrainians are also prevalent in society. Regarding anti-Semitism, the report says neither during the Soviet period nor subsequently has Georgia witnessed the kind of anti-Semitism which so often lay at the root of human rights violations in the Soviet Union. Half the synagogues that existed in the Soviet Union were built and flourished in Georgia. In the 1970s, Georgia was the only Soviet republic that permitted tens of thousands of Georgian Jews to emigrate to Israel.
The report details other economic, social and cultural rights like the right to nationality and the right to marriage and the right to own property alone. Georgian citizenship can be acquired by any adult who permanently resided on Georgian territory for the last 10 years; has the minimum prescribed knowledge of the Georgian or Abkhaz languages; has the minimum prescribed knowledge of Georgian history and the Georgian Constitution; and was employed or has immovable property in Georgia. An alien who marries a Georgian citizen can acquire Georgian nationality provided that he or she has resided in Georgian territory for the last three years, and provided the linguistic, historical and constitutional knowledge was also there. The legal marriage age in George is 18, although marriage at 16 is allowed if the parents consented. Aliens wishing to marry in Georgia require a declaration issued by the competent authorities of their country stating that there were no impediments to their marriage. Marriage is prohibited between two persons at least one of whom is already married; between blood relatives in the ascending and descending lines; between brothers and sisters of the whole and the half blood; and between two persons at least one of whom has been declared legally incapable by a court.
Presentation of the Report
RUSUDAN BERIDZE, Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council of Georgia on Human Rights Issues and the head of the delegation, said that since January 2000, the group dealing with human rights issues had become a permanent body to prepare State reports to the human rights instruments to which Georgia was a State party. Georgia considered issues related to human rights and freedoms as matters significantly affecting national security of the country. That was why the post of Deputy Secretary on Human Rights Issues been created.
Ms. Beridze said the Constitution of Georgia provided for the principle of non-discrimination towards aliens and stated that "foreign citizens and stateless persons living in Georgia and the citizens of Georgia had equal rights and duties unless otherwise stipulated exceptions by the Constitution and the law." One of the exceptions was the restriction of the political activity of foreigners and stateless persons. Human rights and freedoms specified in the Constitution were divided into two groups -- rights for everyone and rights for the citizens. Everyone in Georgia was guaranteed the right to life, prohibition of torture, right to labour, right to privacy, right to a fair trial, no punishment without law, right to respect for private and family life, freedom of conscience, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, right to marry, right to an effective remedy, prohibition of discrimination, protection of property, right to education, freedom of movement and equality between spouses. The rights which applied only to citizens were the right to free elections, prohibition of expulsion and extradition of nationals, right of expression concerning access to information maintained in the governmental bodies and protection of labour rights abroad.
Ms. Beridze said the Ministry of Internal Affairs organized special training courses for local police officers to raise awareness on gender-related issues as well as on matters linked to treatment of victims of violence and police conduct in cases of domestic violence. Next year, gender and violence-related issues would be included in the Ministry’s Academy Curricula. To facilitate contacts with women who became victims of violence, it was required that female police officers deal with such cases. There were 862 female police officers who worked at the Ministry, including 136 investigators. In 2000, 101 women were hired to bodies belonging to the Ministry as police officers, 27 of whom were investigators.
Prevention of crime was a key task of bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ms. Beridze said. Particular attention was paid to preventing crimes connected with domestic conflicts, particularly violence against women. Following the preventive steps taken by police in 2000, some 1,200 domestic conflicts were resolved, and further aggravation of situations were avoided. It was noted that domestic conflicts were mostly revealed through citizens' complaints, although conflicting parties often were reluctant to go to the police. Forty-five rapes were registered by police in 2000. In each case, the perpetrators were found and prosecuted. Unfortunately, this number of rapes reflected an increase of 40 per cent to 1999 statistics. Further, in 2000, investigative units of the Ministry had initiated 31 criminal cases in connection with acts of violence against women -- 15 acts of burglary and 16 bodily injuries.
Georgian legislation did not contain discriminatory norms against women. To the contrary, the labour code stipulated positive-discriminatory norms regarding women's labour conditions. However, significant problems still occurred. There was inadequate participation of women at the decision-making level in the legislative and executive authorities. There were only 17 women in the newly elected Parliament. In the executive branch, there were two ministers and nine female deputy ministers. Within the judicial system, the situation was better. Almost half of the judges were women.
Discussion
FRANCOIS LONSENY FALL, the Committee’s Rapporteur on the report, said it did not contain enough information about efforts to practically implement the provisions of the Convention.
Mr. Fall asked about minorities in Georgia. What were the obstacles that had prevented the Minorities Act from being adopted in 1994? What was the population of the Azeri region of Georgia?
Mr. Fall said the report said Georgia condemned racial discrimination in all its forms. Apartheid was not expressly condemned, as the Convention stipulated. If racial discrimination was not clearly deemed an offense, it could be difficult to prosecute. Racist expressions and propaganda also were not prohibited as required by the Convention.
Mr. Fall said Georgian nationality was acquired by birth. What were the legal provisions about the loss of nationality? It seemed excessive to lose nationality for living abroad and not registering with a Georgian consulate for two years without good reasons.
Referring to freedom of religion, Mr. Fall said that while the Constitution guaranteed freedom of religion for all, there had been reports of violations of that right. There had been violence and attacks against people of certain religious groups, particularly the Jehova's Witnesses. What role did the Orthodox Church play? Was it a state religion?
Mr. Fall welcomed the setting up of instruments and institutions that aided with the integration of minorities into society. It was also heartening to see the establishment of a Human Rights Committee, but there was no reference in the report to the achievements of those institutions.
Mr. Fall also said Georgia had not made the declaration under Article 14 under the Convention, and it should consider doing so.
Other Committee Experts asked the Georgian delegation, among other things, about the status of international treaties in domestic legislation and before the courts; programmes directed at increasing the standard of living among groups which resided in the high mountain region; allegations of ethnic cleansing in the region; parties that disseminated racist ideas and championed racial discrimination; the cost of initiating court proceedings; participation of minority groups in elections; participation of minority groups in legislative bodies; and if the Press and Media Act had been used to prohibit the dissemination of racist messages.
The Experts also asked about political associations that preached hate and racial discrimination; an International Monetary Fund project regarding social security; any conflicts between Georgia’s domestic laws and international treaties; cultural rights of minorities; anti-Semitism in Georgia; existence of non-governmental organizations (NGOs); information and proceedings of ethnic discrimination; human rights training for police officials, customs officials, prison officials, and the judiciary; efforts to improve minority membership in Parliament; a limitation of racist speech; the education of aliens; education for people whose mother tongue was not Georgian; Armenian and Azerbaijani schools; if the Convention was applied in all territories of Georgia; the political parties in Georgia; double citizenship; the extent of internally displaced persons; the status of Roma in Georgia; the protection of the rights of the Roma in Georgia; citizenship of foreigners; and special benefits from the Government to the Orthodox church.
* *** *