The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR) has issued a detailed critical recommendation recommending the Georgian Government completely abandon amendments to the country’s law on manifestations.
The armaments to the Law on Assemblies and Demonstrations and the Administrative Offenses Code would ban the erection of tents and other temporary structures such as stage during rallies and demonstrations.
"The opinion details the incompatibility of the draft law with international standards. The OSCE/ODIHR notes that the range of grounds included to justify the proposed new prohibition is broad and not clearly defined, which may lead to arbitrary or discriminatory application of the law by the authorities.
The OSCE/ODIHR points out that the prohibition of the erection of temporary structures if they are deemed unnecessary or unrelated to the assembly or demonstration does not appear to pursue any of the legitimate aims exhaustively listed in the European Convention on Human Rights or the UN Conventions, and therefore appears unjustified on this basis alone,” the recommendation says.
According to the OSCE/ODIHR, the proposed amendments would indirectly discriminate against those expressing political dissent or opposition. The document also evaluates negatively the accelerated procedure under which the draft amendments were adopted," the Public Defender's Office said.
Georgian Dream started pushing the amendments following the State Security Service claiming that the United States Agency for International Development was backing a “Maidan-style” revolution in Georgia
The amendments are being pushed through under an 'emergency' procedure.
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