Mister Chair,
I am delivering this statement on behalf of the following participating States: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and my own country, Estonia.
Over the past year, democratic backsliding in Georgia has intensified dramatically and it is with great concern that we have witnessed Georgian authorities continue taking steps away from their international commitments, including those undertaken at OSCE.
These include:
[1] Excessive use of force against individuals exercising their freedom of expression and assembly accompanied by a persistent failure by the Georgian authorities to investigate allegations of violence and hold those responsible to account.
[2] Growing repression of citizens, civil society actors, independent media and journalists, including the enactment of sweeping legislative initiatives that have increased administrative detention periods, imposed fines for peaceful protest activities and introduced new and vaguely defined criminal provisions penalising actions such as “insulting” officials.
[3] Targeting of political opposition, including legal initiatives aimed at banning political parties and imprisoning opposition leaders.
Further, we regret that an invitation by the Georgian authorities to ODIHR for election observation of the recent local elections was issued less than a month before election day, leaving insufficient time to ensure credible and meaningful observation, and thereby depriving the Georgian people of an impartial, transparent, and comprehensive assessment.
Mister Chair,
As OSCE participating States, we have committed to upholding and defending fundamental human rights, democracy and the rule of law across our region. As agreed in the 1991 Moscow Document, third-dimension commitments are matters of direct and legitimate concern to all participating States, and do not belong exclusively to the internal affairs of the State concerned.
It is within this spirit that we, as part of a wider group of states, have sought to engage in dialogue with the Georgian authorities and encourage the return to the path of respect for Human Rights and democratic norms and values, in line with our shared OSCE commitments. It is with regret that we note, that these efforts have so far proved futile. On the contrary, we have seen the Georgian authorities’ pushback against the OSCE Chairperson-in-office for observing a peaceful demonstration during a visit intended to facilitate dialogue with all actors in Georgia and reiterate the OSCE institutions' readiness to support Georgia in the implementation of its commitments on fundamental freedoms and rule of law.
Nevertheless, we will continue to press for meaningful and inclusive dialogue within Georgia and for tangible steps towards upholding our OSCE principles and commitments, including by demanding an end to politically motivated prosecutions and the release of opposition leaders and others detained on such grounds. We will continue to call on the Georgian authorities to refrain from acts that would further shut down the democratic space and we stress the need to uphold the independence of the judiciary and to ensure the right to a fair trial. And, we will continue to explore, together with like-minded participating States, appropriate OSCE avenues to ensure that human-rights violations are objectively documented and addressed.
We call on the Georgian authorities to engage with OSCE executive structures in good faith and to take full advantage of the support they offer, in order to implement Georgia’s international commitments, including those undertaken at OSCE, in a comprehensive and non-selective manner.
Finally, we reiterate our solidarity with the Georgian people and their pursuit of a democratic, peaceful, and European future.
Thank you.