Human Rights in Georgia

SOURCE: AP/Shakh Aivazov

Gay rights activists stage a protest at the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, Friday, May 18, 2012.

By Cory Welt | September 13, 2012

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CAP Adjunct Fellow Cory Welt briefs the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Read his full remarks (CAP Action)

Thank you to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for convening this briefing. I appreciate the opportunity to join my fellow panelists in this discussion of human rights in Georgia.

Before commencing I would like to acknowledge our commemoration today of the attacks of September 11, the victims of those attacks and those who have later fallen, and their loved ones. I also want to acknowledge the steadfast support and participation of Georgia in the fight against violent extremism and post-conflict operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In my remarks I will not provide a comprehensive scorecard of human rights in Georgia today. Nor will I discuss the egregious human rights abuses that have been inflicted on Georgian citizens in territories not under Georgian state control.

Instead, I will provide some context for considering the state of human rights in Georgia, including highlighting certain accomplishments. Then, given the timing of this briefing on the eve of a heavily contested parliamentary election, I will focus on issues relevant to the rights of political participation but that also relate more broadly to the state’s ability to cultivate a culture of human rights protection.

CAP Adjunct Fellow Cory Welt briefs the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Read his full remarks (CAP Action)