Liberal International has once again raised the alarm at the United Nations Human Rights Council over the accelerating erosion of democracy and ongoing human rights violations in Georgia. In its latest written statement, Liberal International calls on the Georgian authorities, the United Nations, and the wider international community to take urgent and decisive action to address the country’s deepening democratic crisis and uphold fundamental rights.

See the full statement below

Situation of human rights in Georgia on the occasion of the adoption of the outcome of its 4th Universal Periodic Review

I. Introduction

Liberal International (LI) submits the present written statement on the occasion of the adoption by the Human Rights Council of the outcome of the fourth Universal Periodic Review of Georgia, conducted by the Working Group on 26 January 2026.

Together with the Europe-Georgia Institute and Civic IDEA, LI transmitted a joint stakeholders’ submission documenting systematic acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment committed by State agents against participants in the pro-European demonstrations of November 2024 to January 2025. LI notes with concern that the National Report of Georgia contains no reference to those events, to the findings of the Public Defender of Georgia, or to the legislative measures that prompted the great majority of the more than 300 recommendations addressed to Georgia by 106 Member States – among the highest number formulated in the present cycle, and a reflection of the rapid democratic backsliding observed since the previous review in 2021.

II. Torture, ill-treatment and excessive use of force

LI endorses the recommendations calling for prompt, independent and impartial investigations into police violence, torture and ill-treatment during the dispersal of peaceful assemblies, in conformity with articles 7 and 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture. The Public Defender of Georgia identified 282 cases of ill-treatment between 28 November 2024 and 28 January 2025, and 70.5 per cent of the 343 persons who visited her Office in that period were found to be victims of abuse. Documented patterns include water cannons filled with unidentified chemicals, the targeted use of pepper spray, beatings inside transport vehicles, the systematic concealment of officers’ identification, credible reports of enforced disappearance, and violence committed by informal armed groups operating with apparent State acquiescence.

LI further notes with grave concern that, more than a year after the first acts of police violence were documented and notwithstanding the consistent findings of the Public Defender of Georgia, the Office of the Prosecutor General and the Ministry of Internal Affairs have failed to initiate a single substantive investigation against any of the senior officials credibly identified as bearing command responsibility for the events of November and December 2024. Accountability for those engaged in violence against peaceful protesters is not an optional addendum to reform: it is the indispensable precondition for any credible commitment by the Government of Georgia to the rule of law.

III. Civic space and freedom of association

Liberal International joins Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Norway and Canada, among others, in calling for the repeal of the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1 April 2025 and the amendments to the Law on Grants of 16 April 2025, in conformity with articles 19, 21 and 22 of the Covenant and the Urgent Opinion of the Venice Commission of 21 May 2024. A free civil society is not a luxury that follows prosperity: it is the precondition for legitimate democratic governance. We cannot accept a legal architecture, modelled on instruments adopted elsewhere in the region, that brands as foreign agents the very organisations that document abuse and defend the rights of Georgian citizens.

IV. Law on the Protection of Family Values and Minors

LI endorses the recommendations calling for the repeal of the Law on the Protection of Family Values and Minors and its accompanying amendments. LI respectfully observes that the framing of this legislative package as a child-protection measure does not withstand examination: the Law restricts assemblies and public information, prohibits the use of the terms “gender” and “gender equality” in legislative drafting, criminalises gender-affirming medical care, and authorises dismissal on these grounds, with a chilling effect that extends well beyond lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons to teachers, journalists, medical professionals and human-rights defenders. Equal dignity and protection from discrimination are not optional features of a democratic order.

V. Freedom of opinion and expression

LI joins the recommendations on the safety of journalists and the establishment of an enabling environment for independent media. With its partners, LI has documented 108 cases of violations against journalists between November 2024 and February 2025. The ban on the international funding of television broadcasters, combined with criminal proceedings against media owners and editors, places the survival of independent broadcasting in Georgia in immediate jeopardy. There is no democratic society without a free press.

VI. The case of Ms Mzia Amaglobeli

LI draws the particular attention of the Council to the situation of Ms Mzia Amaglobeli, founder of Batumelebi and Netgazeti and laureate of the 2025 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought of the European Parliament. Arrested in January 2025 during a peaceful demonstration in Batumi, she was sentenced on 6 August 2025 to two years’ imprisonment. The Appeals Court upheld the sentence on 18 November 2025, and on 4 March 2026, the Supreme Court of Georgia declined to consider her further appeal. The trial-fairness assessment published by TrialWatch on 16 January 2026 identified serious violations of her rights under article 14 of the Covenant. Her eyesight has reportedly deteriorated drastically in detention, with one eye at 10% vision and the other capable only of light perception. International press-freedom organisations have unanimously recognised her as a political prisoner. Her case has become the defining symbol of an attempt to silence independent journalism through criminal prosecution.

VII. The case of Ms Elene Khoshtaria

Liberal International draws the attention of the Council to Ms Elene Khoshtaria, founder and chair of the opposition party Droa! and a leader of the Coalition for Change. On 24 March 2026, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced her to eighteen months’ imprisonment under article 187 of the Criminal Code for writing “Russian Dream” on an election poster of the candidate of the ruling Georgian Dream party for Mayor of Tbilisi; the Prosecutor’s Office assessed the material damage at 570 Georgian lari. Amnesty International has assessed the sentence as politically motivated. During an earlier administrative detention in March 2025, Ms Khoshtaria reported having been forcibly stripped naked by female police officers, bound and physically injured — treatment condemned as inhuman and degrading by the Public Defender of Georgia. She is, at the date of the present submission, the only female leader of a political party currently imprisoned in Georgia.

VIII. Political pluralism and the rule of law

Liberal International remains gravely concerned by the politically motivated detention of opposition leaders, by the four-fold extension of administrative detention from 15 to 60 days, and by the punitive financial regime imposed on participants in peaceful assemblies. Protesters routinely receive fines of 5,000 Georgian lari – nearly four times the median monthly income of 1,238 Georgian lari – and cumulative fines imposed since November 2024 have exceeded 2 million Georgian lari. The amendments adopted on 12 December 2025 to the Law on Assemblies and Manifestations have been used to detain persons for merely standing on a sidewalk near the Parliament of Georgia, and to handcuff students on the premises of their own universities, including Tbilisi State University, Ilia State University and the Agricultural University of Georgia. The parliamentary elections of 26 October 2024 were assessed by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights as having taken place in an environment marked by pressure on voters, regression in the legal framework and frequent compromises in the secrecy of the vote. Liberals cannot accept an electoral process that fails these basic tests, nor a unilateral executive departure from the constitutional commitment, enshrined in article 78 of the Constitution of Georgia, to European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

IX. Recommendations

In light of the foregoing, Liberal International is calling to the Government of Georgia to:

(a) Establish, within twelve months, an independent mechanism to examine, on its own motion, allegations of police violence, torture and ill-treatment, and bring those responsible, including senior officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to justice, in conformity with articles 7 and 9 of the Covenant and the Convention against Torture;

(b) Adopt a State-funded reparation mechanism providing free medical, psychological and legal assistance to victims of police violence and of attacks by informal armed groups, and guarantee their protection from retaliation;

(c) Introduce mandatory, continuous training for law-enforcement personnel on the rights of participants in peaceful assemblies, de-escalation and the proportional use of force;

(d) Repeal the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, the Foreign Agents Registration Act and the amendments to the Law on Grants, in conformity with articles 19, 21 and 22 of the Covenant and the Venice Commission Opinion of 21 May 2024;

(e) Repeal the Law on the Protection of Family Values and Minors and its accompanying amendments, reinstate the terms “gender”, “gender identity” and “gender equality” in domestic legislation, and protect all persons from discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and sex characteristics;

(f) Release, immediately and unconditionally, Ms Mzia Amaglobeli, ensure her access to adequate medical care, and drop all charges against journalists, opposition figures and human-rights defenders detained for the legitimate exercise of rights under articles 19, 21 and 22 of the Covenant;

(g) Repeal the four-fold extension of administrative detention and safeguard the independence of the judiciary in conformity with article 14 of the Covenant;

(h) Restore the constitutional commitment, enshrined in article 78 of the Constitution of Georgia, to full integration into the European Union and NATO, and resume in good faith the EU accession negotiations;

(i) Extend a standing invitation to the Special Procedures of the Council, in particular the Special Rapporteurs on human-rights defenders, torture, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, and judicial independence, and the Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity;

(j) Initiate prompt, independent and impartial criminal investigations against officers and senior officials bearing direct or command responsibility for torture and excessive use of force, in conformity with articles 4, 12 and 13 of the Convention against Torture;

(k) Repeal the 5,000 lari fines and other disproportionate penalties for peaceful assembly, annul fines imposed since November 2024 and reimburse sums collected, in conformity with articles 19 and 21 of the Covenant;

(l) Repeal the 12 December 2025 amendments to the Law on Assemblies, end detentions for standing on a sidewalk, and prohibit law-enforcement entry onto university premises to detain students, in conformity with articles 19, 21 and 22 of the Covenant;

(m) Prohibit, without exception, the forced undressing of detainees; investigate every documented instance and hold those responsible to account, in conformity with article 7 of the Covenant and article 16 of the Convention against Torture;

(n) Release, immediately and unconditionally, Ms Elene Khoshtaria, quash her conviction of 24 March 2026, release all opposition leaders detained on politically motivated charges, and discontinue the November 2025 prosecutor’s investigation, in conformity with articles 14, 19 and 25 of the Covenant.

Liberal International respectfully invites Member States of the Council, the European Union and other competent actors:

(o) to keep under active review, and to consider expanding where necessary, the targeted restrictive measures already adopted against individuals bearing responsibility for human rights violations in Georgia, including those imposed under the Global Magnitsky regime and the visa restrictions imposed by the European Union, in the event that the recommendations set out above are not implemented by the State under review in good faith and within a reasonable period of time.