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Amnesty International publishes report on Georgia

13 May 2011 [16:31] - TODAY.AZ
Investigation of violations committed during the Russian-Georgian war and internally displaced people’s housing conditions remain as the main problems in human rights protection in Georgia, Amnesty International report reads.

"Concerns continued over the progress of investigations into crimes under international law during the war between Georgia and Russia in August 2008 and in its immediate aftermath. Despite some progress, solutions for the housing and integration of internally displaced people remained insufficient," the report says.

"The May municipal elections, while assessed favourably by international observers, were accompanied by reports of harassment and intimidation of some opposition candidates. In October, amendments to the Constitution due to enter into force in 2013 were made which will significantly reduce the presidential powers, and increase the powers of the Prime Minister and the government," the report reads.

The document also reads that the situation remained tense in and around Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The authors of the report note that civilians also continued to suffer from harassment and insecurity in the Gali region of Abkhazia, where shoot-outs and killings were reported.
Amnesty International also notes that in September, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture reported some progress in preventing ill-treatment of people by police during pre-trial detention, but concerns remained regarding ill-treatment on arrest and in police stations.

"New stop-and-search powers for the police were adopted on 24 September. Several local human rights organizations expressed concerns as the law failed to specify either the exact circumstances in which the police could use these powers, or the length of the time a person could be held under them," the report reads.

The authors stress that investigations stalled on the reported incidents of harassment, intimidation and beating of protesters by police and unknown masked men during demonstrations against the President between April and July 2009.

"The government failed to effectively investigate and bring to justice police officers who had, according to reports, recklessly fired impact projectiles at demonstrators on May 6, 2009, injuring several people. Details of an internal investigation by the Ministry of Interior into the alleged excessive use of force by police officers during the dispersal of peaceful demonstrators outside the Tbilisi police headquarters on 15 June 2009 were not publicly disclosed," the report reads.


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URL: http://www.today.az/news/regions/86145.html

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