The new law on foreign agents in Georgia is a turning point for the country’s democracy and foreign policy, and its passage could be a point of no return, writes Paata Gaprindashvili.
Paata Gaprindashvili is director of the Georgia’s Reforms Associates (GRASS) think tank.
On March 2, the majority of the Georgian Dream backed a bill that reminded everyone of Russia’s “Foreign Agent” law, which eventually wiped out Russian civil society.
Amid protests from civil society and the opposition, a joint session of the parliamentary committees on Defense and Security and External Relations was held, at which some MPs, CSOs, were forcibly removed from the hearing [civil society organisations] were not allowed to participate properly and dozens were arrested.
The registration of the draft law follows a discrediting campaign against independent civil society organizations that have been vocal about democratic backsliding in Georgia.
Leaders of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party have absurdly accused nonprofit organizations of undermining peace and stability and conspiring to drag Georgia into war with Russia.
The portion of the Georgian Dream majority that technically initiated the bill had a nearly year-long campaign accusing EU and US officials of dominating Georgian NGOs and the opposition in their “harmful projects.”
While some DG leaders falsely claimed that the law was not aimed at western donors, the DG chair publicly stated that the EU was funding polarization in Georgia and that this draft law would solve this problem.
The law initiated by the DG intends to designate NGOs and media that are at least 20% funded by foreign donors – almost all Georgian CSOs – as agents of foreign influence. This witch hunt will target organizations that receive Western support, thereby identifying US and European donors and international organizations such as the UN as suspicious forces.
The General Directorate’s approval of the draft law amounts to Georgia’s departure from democratic values, the formation of an autocratic regime and the sabotage of all the work, struggles and aspirations of generations of Georgians on the road to EU and NATO membership. The law contradicts the constitution, which requires all constitutional bodies to take all measures to ensure Georgia’s full integration into the EU and NATO.
It has become a textbook case for autocrats to falsely refer to US FARA to justify restrictions on independent votes.
The Georgian Dream has followed Russia’s lead, falsely claiming that the law is modeled after American FARA and that the law aims to increase the transparency of non-profit organizations, not restrict them.
As early as 2012, the author of the Russian law, Alexander Sidyakin, member of the United Russia Duma, argued that the draft was aimed at “ensuring transparency” and would “under no circumstances interfere”. [NGO] Activities.”
In reality, the law is all about silencing civil society and the media by requiring them to register as agents of foreign influence, which is equivalent to the enemy in Georgia. The mechanisms enshrined in the draft law are reminiscent of the spirit of the Stalinist regime’s methods of exposing the “enemy of the people”.
President Salome Zurabishvili has vetoed the draft law (which can easily be overturned), arguing that it is unconstitutional and distances Georgia from the EU. The President went so far as to state that “the activities of all political parties that conform to the principles of the Constitution and the [Euro-Atlantic] The path taken by our country and its people should be declared unconstitutional and banned.”
Hundreds of Georgian NGOs, media organizations, students, teachers and academics have publicly condemned the law, and all opposition parties oppose it. Western scholarship and Georgian CSOs have played, and still play, a crucial role in the country’s democratic development, helping vulnerable groups and Georgians trying to improve their communities’ livelihoods, and building bridges to communities in Russian-occupied Abkhazia. regions etc.
Aside from undermining democratic freedoms in Georgia, the “Foreign Agents Law” violates at least two of the 12 EU priorities given to Georgia for EU membership candidacy, thereby running counter to the country’s EU aspirations. In legal terms, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the European Court of Justice, citing examples from Russian and Hungarian laws, ruled that they were unjustified as violating fundamental rights and EU values.
The introduction of the law has sparked outrage among Georgia’s international partners, who have repeatedly urged lawmakers not to pass the law. The US publicly stated that the law would undermine Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic future.
EU officials also raised concerns about the draft law, saying the law violates international law and European values.
The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated unequivocally that the adoption of the draft law would negatively affect bilateral cooperation between the two countries. Samantha Power, head of USAID, stressed that foreign agent laws seriously threaten Georgians’ ability to fulfill their own economic, social and other aspirations.
Dunja Mijatovic, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, sent a special letter to the Speaker of Parliament and parliamentarians to oppose the bill.
The DG doesn’t seem to care about the criticism – its chairman absurdly claims that the law will help Georgia gain EU candidate status because it will create depolarization in Georgia.
This law is a turning point in Georgian democracy and Euro-Atlantic foreign policy, and its passage could mark a point of no return.
If the Georgian public fails to stop the law from being passed now, the EU will have no choice but to sanction human rights abuses, and not just against politicians in Georgia, after the law has come into force and its implementation demonstrated is devastating for democracy and the rule of law in Georgia.
The country is also being sanctioned, as at least international donors would be driven out of Georgia by implementing this draconian law.
Before the ship sets sail, however, the EU should issue a direct and unequivocal warning that MPs who vote for the law would face personal sanctions, including the suspension of visa-free travel. deterrence can still work.
