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Georgia Crossing the Line Georgia’s Violent Dispersal of Protestors and Raid on Imedi Television
HRW Index No.: D1908 December 20, 2007 Download PDF, 2270 KB, 102 pgs Purchase online Download E-Book Singled Out Russia’s Detention and Expulsion of Georgians This 78-page report documents the Russian government’s arbitrary and illegal detention and expulsion of Georgians, including many who legally lived and worked in Russia. HRW Index No.: D1905 October 1, 2007 Also available in 
Download PDF, 323 KB, 78 pgs Purchase online Download E-Book Undue Punishment Abuses against Prisoners in Georgia This 101-page report documents the conditions in which the majority of the country’s 13,000 prisoners are being held. In many facilities, prisoners live in severely overcrowded, filthy and poorly-ventilated cells. In the last two years, the prison population has nearly doubled due to the routine use of pretrial detention, even for nonviolent offences. Nearly two-thirds of the country’s prisoners are still awaiting trial. In many facilities, conditions of detention constitute degrading treatment in violation of Georgia’s own laws and its international human rights obligations. HRW Index No.: D1808 September 14, 2006 Download PDF, 566 KB, 104 pgs Purchase online Download E-Book Georgia: Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 From the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers It is alleged that during the civil war in Abkhazia, illegal recruitment methods, including press-ganging, were used by the armed forces when legal forms of recruitment failed to achieve the necessary number of recruits. There were reports that children under 18 were among those forcibly recruited. According to UNICEF, there are currently no under-age recruits in the country. June 12, 2001 Backtracking on Reform: Amendments Undermine Access to Justice In a report released today, Human Rights Watch documents Georgia's repeal of reforms that would have widened access to the courts to hear torture and other complaints of abuses by the police, procuracy, and security forces.The Georgian parliament repealed these important reforms just weeks after Georgia was voted into the Council of Europe in April 1999. Since then, Georgia's abysmal record on torture has shown no improvement, and the report shows how the backtracking on legal reforms last year has contributed to continuing widespread, unchecked abuses. The reforms affected the criminal procedure code, which governs criminal investigations and trials. Council of Europe experts had reviewed and the Georgian parliament had adopted the reformed criminal procedure code prior to Georgia's April 1999 admission to the organization. October 1, 2000 Purchase online Georgia Backtracking on Reform Amendments Undermine Access to Justice As a result of the findings contained in this report, Human Rights Watch is calling on the Georgian government to take a number of steps to amend the applicable laws and improve practices so as to safeguard against torture, and to meet United Nations and other international standards regarding fair trials and the treatment of persons held in pre-trial detention. This report reiterates the U.N. Human Rights Committee's April 1997 call for the government of Georgia to investigate and prosecute complaints of torture, as well as to conduct a systematic and impartial review of all past convictions that were based on confessions allegedly made under torture. Human Rights Watch also calls on the international community to press the Georgian government vigorously to adopt legislation that meets international standards in order to safeguard detainees, to combat widespread corruption involving law enforcement, and to foster accountability for law enforcement and security force's actions in light of the substantial bilateral and multilateral security assistance Georgia currently receives. October 1, 2000 Download PDF, 374 KB, 66 pgs Printer friendly version Georgia: Landmine Monitor Report 2000 Key developments since March 1999: It appears that Georgian groups continue to lay antipersonnel mines inside Abkhazia. The Georgian government acknowledges that it is considering mining the Chechen stretch of the Russian-Georgian border. Russian aircraft dropped mines inside Georgia in what Russia called an accident. August 1, 2000 Violations of the Laws of War and Russia’s Role in the Conflict On August 14, 1992, a fratricidal war broke out on the resort beaches of Abkhazia, a small territory located on the Black Sea coast of the newly independent Republic of Georgia. A 16-month conflict ensued between Abkhaz forces and the central government of Georgia. The Abkhaz fought for expanded autonomy and ultimately full independence from Georgia; the Georgian government sought to maintain control over its territory. Intensive battles raged on land, air and sea. Several thousand were killed and many more wounded on both sides; hundreds of thousands were displaced from their homes in clear violations of the laws of war. March 1, 1995 Georgia/Abkhazia Violations of the Laws of War and Russia's Role in the Conflict This report documents war crimes in order to determine responsibility for them, and to inform the international community about events in the region so as to mitigate and prevent additional abuses. The roughly 200,000 displaced persons who fled the conflict zone, mostly in a mass exodus at the end of 1993, are being deprived of their unconditional right to return home. Once returned, they may either perpetrate or be the victims of discrimination and physical abuse. Perpetrators of war crimes on both sides of the conflict are not, by and large, being prosecuted and punished, and there is a near certainty that individuals accused of war crimes will not receive fair trials. March 1, 1995 Download PDF, 446 KB, 60 pgs Printer friendly version Trial in Georgia Draws to a Close This report is an urgent update on violations in a criminal trial of 19 men charged with crimes carrying the penalty of death, and was issued as the trial drew to a close after 16 months in court. In a detailed report released in August 1994 (see D611), we compiled the evidence that some, and likely all, of the defendants in case no. 7493810 confessed guilt under torture and intimidation and were subsequently denied basic due process rights. Since the first report was issued, one defendant was still being tortured in jail and 12 of the defendants were prevented from attending their own trial. Of those absent from the courtroom, only 4 were represented by lawyers of their choosing; most were denied the right to counsel altogether. January 1, 1995 Georgia Urgent Update: Trial in Georgia Draws to a Close This report is an urgent update on serious human rights violations in a criminal trial in Tbilisi, the capital of the Georgian Republic, as the trial draws to a close after sixteen months in court. In a detailed report released in August 1994, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki compiled the evidence that some, and likely all, of the nineteen defendants in case no. 7493810 - men charged with crimes ranging from murder and terrorism to theft of perfume from a factory - confessed guilt under torture and intimidation and were subsequently denied basic due process rights. Sixteen of the nineteen men are charged with crimes that carry a maximum penalty of death; executions are practiced in Georgia, usually soon after sentencing. Since that report was issued, one defendant continues to suffer torture in jail and twelve of the defendants have been prevented from attending their own trial without justification. Of those absent from the courtroom, only four are being represented by lawyers of their choosing; most are denied the right to counsel altogether. The court is likely to hand down a ruling in early February 1995. January 1, 1995 Download PDF, 136 KB, 14 pgs Printer friendly version Torture and Gross Violations of Due Process in Georgia: An Analysis of Criminal Case No. 7493810 One result of the legacy of political resentment against the late President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, was the arrest in 1992 of nineteen men on charges ranging from illegal arms possession to murder. The investigation and trial of these cases — united into Case No. 7493810 — have been riddled with gross violations of due process, including torture, and are cause for concern that at least some of the charges have been brought to punish and silence opposition to current President Eduard Shevardnadze. August 1, 1994 Torture and Gross Violations of Due Process in Georgia An Analysis of Criminal Case No. 7493810 Between May and October 1992, nineteen men were arrested in Georgia on a variety of criminal charges; by September, their cases were united into one - Case No. 7493810 - along with the case against former President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia for abuse of power and related political crimes. Today, almost two years later, President Gamsakhurdia is dead, but the legacy of the political resentment against him lives on at the trial in the form of massive violations of due process, including the torture of the defendants. Prosecuted under the government of Eduard Shevardnadze, who came to power several months after Gamsakhurdia's ouster on January 6, 1992, the defendants face charges ranging from illegal arms possession to murder, and sentences from three years of imprisonment to, in the case of sixteen of the defendants, death. August 1, 1994 Download PDF, 207 KB, 20 pgs Printer friendly version Bloodshed in the Caucasus: Violations of Humanitarian Law and Human Rights in the Georgia-South Ossetia Conflict Tensions between Georgians and Ossetians began in late 1989 and by 1991 took the form of armed conflict between South Ossetian and Georgian paramilitary groups. At the root of the conflict is South Ossetia's desire to separate from Georgia and be part of Russia. Throughout 1991 Helsinki Watch received alarming reports about human rights violations in the violent conflict. The armed conflict in South Ossetia included the shelling (by both sides) of both Georgian and Ossetian villages, blockades, and hostage taking, claiming at least 250 lives and wounding at least 485 people. This report documents violations of the laws of war and human rights abuses committed during the conflict, following the introduction of the Georgian militia into Tskhinvali in January 1991. HRW Index No.: ISBN 1-56432-058-8 April 1, 1992 Violations of Humanitarian Law and Human Rights in the Georgia-South Ossetia Conflict Tensions between Georgians and Ossetians began in late 1989 and by 1991 took the form of armed conflict between paramilitary groups. At the root of the conflict is South Ossetia's desire to separate from Georgia and be part of Russia. The armed conflict included the shelling (by both sides) of Georgian and Ossetian villages, blockades and hostage taking. HRW Index No.: ISBN 1-56432-058-8 April 1, 1992 Bloodshed in the Caucases Violations of Humanitarian Law and Human Rights in the Georgia-South Ossetia Conflict Tensions between Georgians and Ossetians began in late 1989 and by 1991 took the form of armed conflict between South Ossetian and Georgian paramilitary groups. At the root of the conflict is South Ossetia's desire to separate from Georgia and be part of the RSFSR (later the Russian Federation). This report documents rules of war violations and human rights abuses committed during the conflict, following the introduction of the Georgian militia into Tskhinvali in January 1991. March 1, 1992 Download PDF, 531 KB, 68 pgs Printer friendly version Human Rights Violations in the New Georgia Major human rights violations go far to explain the ouster of Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia. Helsinki Watch hopes that the new rulers of Georgia are mindful of these violations as they consolidate power and establish a new government. There are, however, several disturbing incidents which suggest that this may not be the case. January 17, 1992 Download PDF, 21 KB, 1 pgs Printer friendly version Conflict in Georgia Human Rights Violations by the Government of Zviad Gamsakhurdia Helsinki Watch has sent two fact-finding missions to Georgia in recent months that have documented severe violations of human rights on the part of the Gamsakhurdia government, including violations of freedom of speech and the press, violations of the right to free assembly, the imprisonment of political opponents, some of whom have not used or incited others to violence, the torture and mistreatment of political prisoners and the support of or indifference to armed attacks against the independence-minded South Ossetians. December 27, 1991 Download PDF, 126 KB, 18 pgs Printer friendly version
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