(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is a joint 26 January 2004 ARTICLE 19 and PRESS NOW letter to the president of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, Aslan Abashidze: Aslan Abashidze President of Autonomous Republic of Adjara GEORGIA 26 January 2004 Dear Mr. President ARTICLE 19, the Global Campaign for Free Expression, and PRESS NOW are […]
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is a joint 26 January 2004 ARTICLE 19 and PRESS NOW letter to the president of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, Aslan Abashidze:
Aslan Abashidze
President of Autonomous Republic of Adjara
GEORGIA
26 January 2004
Dear Mr. President
ARTICLE 19, the Global Campaign for Free Expression, and PRESS NOW are deeply concerned about the harassment of civil rights activists and journalists by law enforcement bodies of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara during January 2004 and call upon the Autonomous Republic’s authorities to fulfil their human rights obligations under international law.
To date, representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Adjarian Autonomous Republic have detained approximately a dozen activists of the youth movement ‘Kmara’ and their family members, who were putting up posters and distributing leaflets containing slogans such as “Enough, Abashidze’s dictatorship!”, “Enough, because I love Georgia”, “Enough Inaction”, as well as demands to lift the ban on private broadcaster Rustavi 2 in the region.
On January 6, Romeo Chkhartishvili, father of one of the Kmara activists, Irakli Khajomia and his father Juri Khajomia, as well as David Surmanidze and Lika Djincharadze were arrested. Juri Khajomia, David Surmanidze and Lika Djincharadze were released after 4 hours detention. Romeo Chkhartishvili and Irakli Khajomia were sentenced to three months of preliminary detention by the Batumi district court. Three more Kmara activists, Irakli Chkhetia, Archil Chkhetia and Beka Murvanidze, were detained on January 7. They were sentenced to 10 days detention. According to reports from the region, detainees experience undue delay in accessing their lawyers. The lawyers also reported that the arrested showed traces of physical abuse. While Irakli Chkhetia, Archil Chkhetia and Beka Murvanidze were released on January 18, Romeo Chkhartishvili and Irakli Khajomia still remain in pre-trial detention premises. On January 19, servicemen of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Adjara arrested Nemo Ananidze and Vaja Kakhidze, both members of the political party “National Movement”. Allegedly, law enforcers also forced their way into private houses of some of the detained and carried out searches without any official search warrants.
The Adjarian authorities had recently banned a number of nationwide Georgian TV and radio companies, including Rustavi 2 and Imedi TV, from broadcasting in the Autonomous Republic. The ban was lifted on 25 January. On several occasions over the past twenty days, journalists of these and other media outlets, trying to cover demonstrations directed against the Government of Adjara, were physically attacked and beaten by police officers or unidentified men dressed in black. Equipment was confiscated or destroyed.
The above-mentioned actions of the Adjarian security forces and the Ministry of Interior violate basic human rights guaranteed in the Georgian Constitution and Georgia’s obligations under international law. Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights guarantee the right to freedom of expression in similar terms. Article 19 of the ICCPR states that everyone has the ‘freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print [. . . ] or through any other media of his choice’. According to these human rights instruments – both legally binding for Georgia – the government not only is under an obligation to refrain from interference with media so that they can fulfill their democratic role to report about matters of public interest, it also must create an environment encouraging plurality of political debate, where a diversity of media can operate safely and without obstruction.
We strongly condemn the above-mentioned events, and call upon the Government of Adjara to:
* Release anyone who has been detained for the mere non-violent expression of their political opinion;
* Conduct a full and independent inquiry into the above-mentioned incidents and bring the responsible to justice;
* Promote a safe working environment for media in Adjara;
* Satisfy the citizens of Adjara’s right to receive information from a diversity of sources and ensure the continued broadcasting of Rustavi 2 and other private broadcasters in Adjara.
Yours sincerely,
For ARTICLE 19: Andrew Puddephatt, Executive Director: andrew@article19.org
For PRESS NOW: Dessi Damianova, Media Programme Coordinator: damianova@pressnow.nl
CC.
Nino Burjanadze, Speaker of Parliament
Zurab Jvania, State Minister
Irakli Okruashvili, General Prosecutor
Zurab Adeishvili, Minister of Justice
Tedo Japaridze, Minister of Foreign Affairs
David Japaridze, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara
Council of Europe
OSCE
Mass Media
Similar appeals can be sent to:Aslan AbashidzePresident of Autonomous Republic of AdjaraGeorgiaPlease copy appeals to the source if possible.Similar appeals can be sent to:Aslan AbashidzePresident of Autonomous Republic of AdjaraGeorgiaPlease copy appeals to the source if possible.</paragraph
Similar appeals can be sent to:
Aslan Abashidze
President of Autonomous Republic of Adjara
Georgia
c/o Representation of Adjara in Tbilisi
Fax: +99 532 921 386
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
<Similar appeals can be sent to:Aslan AbashidzePresident of Autonomous Republic of AdjaraGeorgiaPlease copy appeals to the source if possible.</paragraph
Similar appeals can be sent to:
Aslan Abashidze
President of Autonomous Republic of Adjara
Georgia
c/o Representation of Adjara in Tbilisi
Fax: +99 532 921 386
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
</paragraph
Similar appeals can be sent to:Aslan AbashidzePresident of Autonomous Republic of AdjaraGeorgiaPlease copy appeals to the source if possible.Similar appeals can be sent to:
Aslan Abashidze
President of Autonomous Republic of Adjara
Georgia
c/o Representation of Adjara in Tbilisi
Fax: +99 532 921 386
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
</paragraph
Similar appeals can be sent to:
Aslan Abashidze
President of Autonomous Republic of Adjara
Georgia
c/o Representation of Adjara in Tbilisi
Fax: +99 532 921 386
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
