The Parliament’s Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee has started consideration of the implementation of the recommendations issued by the Parliament’s resolution of June 24, 2016, following the Public Defender’sReport on the Situation of Human Rights and Freedoms in Georgia in 2015.

On 27 February, 2017, the report of the Prosecutor's Office was presented by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Goga Gogadze and the Head of the Human Rights Department of the Prosecutor's Office, Salome Shengelia.

The Public Defender considers that according to the report, the recommendation on the collection and maintenance of statistics on the journalists who became victims of crimes due to their professional activities has not been responded, while trainings about freedom of expression and the national and international standards of application of the measure of detention were attended only by 62 intern prosecutors.

The recommendation on the investigation of high-profile cases of June 15, 2009, and January 3, 2011, in a reasonable time in order to indentify perpetrators and punish them in accordance with the Georgian legislation has not been implemented.

The recommendation on the prompt, impartial and effective investigation of each case of torture and inhuman treatment has been partially implemented, since investigations were launched concerning each proposal of the Public Defender with regard to the alleged ill-treatment, though no criminal persecution has been launched.

The recommendation on the timely completion of the investigation into the cases relating to the handover of agricultural lands has been partially implemented as well.

The qualification of the criminal investigation into the cases of ill-treatment is still a problem. Thus, the recommendation is still in force.

We welcome the fact that in case of commission of crimes on the territory of prison or police institutions under Articles 144¹, 144²და 144³of the Criminal Code of Georgia (torture, threats, inhuman or degrading treatment), investigation is carried out by the Prosecutor's Office in accordance with the Public Defender's recommendation.

In order to prevent early marriage and sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 16, the Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation only after the appeal of the Public Defender.

The law enforcement agencies still do not take relevant measures to identify alleged crimes in case of actual marriage/cohabitation.

The representatives of the Prosecutor's Office have not provided a reasoned reply to the question of the Public Defender's Office concerning the delayed investigation into the case of violence committed against lawyer Mdinaradze.

Implementation of the Public Defender’s recommendations concerning the protection of human rights in the field of defense was discussed by Deputy Defense Minister Nukri Gelashvili.

According to the report submitted by the Ministry of Defense, the Public Defender’s recommendation on the full abolition of the penalty for breaching the terms ofa professional military personnel contract has not been implemented. The amount and the validity of the penalty have not been decreased since 2012. According to the Ministry of Defense, abolition of the penalty may have a negative impact on the maintenance of the military personnel. In addition, it is unclear what kinds of efforts are under way for raising soldiers’ motivation, so that the penalty not to be only reason for them to stay in the military service.

The recommendation on the substantiation of the orders on suspension of professional military servants from their dutiesand indication of the reason for dismissal has been implemented as a result of the Constitutional Court's decision of 30 September 2016.

The Public Defender considers that the recommendation to transfer an apartment to any military servant in case of necessity relating to the service in accordance with the Law of Georgia on the Status of Military Servants and the transfer not to depend only on the recommendation of the Chief of the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces has not been implemented.

It should be noted that apartments are transferred to military servants if they meet certain criteria. In other cases, a recommendationof theChief of the Joint Staff is needed. Accordingly, military personnel do not have the opportunity to directly ask a commission to give them apartments in case of necessity relating to their service.

According to Maia Bitadze, Deputy Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia, the Ministry prepared a package of draft amendments and submitted it to the governmental session for consideration. The amendments are aimed at creating the kind of system of environmental impact assessment that will ensure participation of the public in the decision-making process or compliance of the related norms with the international standards. As a result, the Public Defender’s recommendation has been implemented.

The report of the Ministry of Culture and Monuments Protection was presented at the Committee meeting by Deputy Minister Giorgi Bakradze.

The Public Defender praised the measures taken for the rehabilitation of Tbilisi Petros Adamyan Armenian Theater, including the project planning and announcement of a tender for conducting rehabilitation, and hopes that rehabilitation of the theater will be launched in the nearest future. As for the rehabilitation of Tbilisi Heydar Aliyev Azerbaijani theater, the relevant recommendation has not been implemented, as according to the Ministry, the building cannot be repaired and it would be better to consider construction of a new building.

The report on the implementation of the recommendations by the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure and the local authorities was presented by Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure Kakhaber Guledani.

The recommendation on the promotion of women's participation at all stages of development and implementation of rural development programs, making analysis of the planned programs and focusing on gender aspects during definition of priorities has not been implemented.

It is true that a number of city councils and municipal administrations carry out gender sensitive projects aimed at empowerment of women, but the Ministry itself does not consider it necessary to carry out any project for the empowerment of women and does not make gender analysis of the planned programs either.

The recommendation on setting up structural units responsible for gender equality issues at the level of the city councils, as well as expanding the scope of activities, authority and resources of persons responsible for gender equality issues at the municipal administration level, has been partially implemented, since 14 municipalities have advisers on gender issues and 27 municipalities have part-time employees, though nobody works in this direction in 20 municipalities.

The recommendation to the municipal authorities on the improvement of the performance of the competition commission at all stages has not been fulfilled, like the recommendation on the creation of a database on the needs of homeless people and procedures for providing housing for them, creation of infrastructure resources, implementation of social-economic rehabilitation programs for shelter beneficiaries and preparation of various social programs. In addition, it is unclear what measures are being taken to overcome the mentioned problems.

1. Reports of Prosecutor's Office on Implementation of Public Defender’s Recommendations
2. Reports of Ministry of Defense on Implementation of Public Defender’s Recommendations
3. Reports of Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection on Implementation of Public Defender’s Recommendations
4. Reports o Ministry of Culture and Monuments Protection on Implementation of Public Defender’s Recommendations
5. Reports of Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure on Implementation on Implementation of Public Defender’s Recommendations