Georgia should ensure the effective implementation of anti-discrimination legislation and improve human rights protection in the areas of labor and the environment

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, today published the report following her visit to Georgia in February 2022 with recommendations to combat discrimination against LGBTI people and members of religious minorities and to protect human rights in the areas of labor and the environment.

In order to ensure that LGBTI people and members of religious minorities live free from violence and discrimination, the Commissioner calls on the authorities to address and eliminate the insufficient implementation of legal norms and the persistent shortcomings in combating impunity for hate crimes and incitement to violence discriminatory obstacles to exercising their rights.

The Commissioner notes that cases of hate crime and pervasive discrimination continue to affect LGBTI people in Georgia. She calls on the authorities to increase their efforts to combat impunity for human rights violations against them and stresses that raising public awareness and training relevant professionals on the importance of their role in promoting equality, dignity and non-discrimination should be a priority. She adds that hate speech against LGBTI people is a matter of public concern and that an appropriate response to hate speech, including when expressed by officials, religious and community leaders and media professionals, is required through effective use of law enforcement channels and others Mechanisms such as prevention, monitoring, self-regulation and counter-speech. In the face of repeated instances where LGBTI people have been denied their right to peaceful assembly, the Commissioner stresses that the authorities should take comprehensive measures to allow LGBTI people to freely express their views and to assemble. Regarding transgender people, authorities should facilitate legal gender recognition without invasive medical requirements and in a fast, transparent and accessible manner.

Regarding religious minorities, the Commissioner urges the authorities to ensure effective investigations, prosecutions and dissuasive and proportionate sanctions for hate crimes committed based on religion and discriminatory barriers to accessing places of worship and regulating tax and religious property matters to eliminate. “An open dialogue with all religious communities should be established,” she said. To support this dialogue, she emphasizes the need for a meaningful partnership between the relevant authorities and religious denominations, for changes in the relevant regulations and for continuous training and awareness-raising activities for officials and the general public. In addition, the Commissioner notes that the authorities should continue their efforts to eliminate religious prejudice and stereotypes from school textbooks.

Noting that a decade of deregulation and the abolition of the Labor Inspectorate in 2006 have led to a significant deterioration in workers’ rights protection in Georgia, the Commissioner welcomes the recent comprehensive legal and institutional reforms and urges the authorities to fill the remaining legal loopholes by then include creating a minimum wage that meets international standards, ensuring equal access to parental leave, and developing clear guidelines on the duration and compensation of overtime. “It is now important to ensure full implementation of labor standards, including anti-discrimination provisions,” she said. To this end, it is crucial to provide the labor inspectorate with sufficient and adequately trained staff and an adequate budget. While the Commissioner welcomes recent progress in reducing accidents at work, he urges the authorities to further improve safety at work. She also recommends promoting and supporting diversity and equality in the workplace, including with regard to the integration of people with disabilities. The Commissioner also recommends that the authorities address the gender pay gap and gender stereotypes in employment, continuously raise awareness of sexual harassment, reporting options and available remedies, and take decisive action to tackle child labor and prevent and combat child trafficking.

With regard to human rights and the environment, the Commissioner calls on the authorities to strengthen the implementation of the existing national legal framework, to ensure public access to information and meaningful and transparent public participation in environmental decision-making processes at different levels of government, to improve air quality and to track air pollution. They should also develop and implement preventive measures to reduce the risk of environmental disasters and ensure the protection of the rights of people displaced by such disasters or as a result of climate change. Authorities should also create a safe and conducive environment for environmental human rights defenders and activists and support their work.