Georgia

The October 2018 presidential election brought Georgia’s past and current human rights problems to the forefront of political debates. Allegations of vote-buying and abuse of government resources to sway the outcome marred the vote. Authorities took steps to establish a mechanism to investigate abuse by law enforcement, but did not give it full independence. Other areas of concern include unjustifiably harsh drug laws, occupational safety and labor rights, discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, and threats to media pluralism.