HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS ARISING FROM THE NOVEMBER 7

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 TBILISI 002893 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/CARC E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/14/2017 TAGS: PGOV PHUM GG SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS ARISING FROM THE NOVEMBER 7 OPPOSITION DEMONSTRATION REF: A. TBILISI 2774 ¶B. TBILISI 2777 ¶C. TBILISI 2802 ¶D. TBILISI 02814 ¶E. TBILISI 02813 Classified By: Ambassador John F. Tefft, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Events before, during, and after the violence of the November 7 Opposition protest in Tbilisi have raised a number of human rights issues. NGOs, participants in the demonstrations, and others have alleged abuses, including disproportionate use of force, abridgment of freedom of assembly, silencing of the media, and wide-scale arrests of participants. The GoG denies that human rights abuses are wide-scale, arguing that law enforcement took appropriate measures when faced with a larger and more aggressive crowd than it was capable of handling without force. This cable reviews many of these charges, and includes comments from NGO's, opposition members, and government officials. End Summary. -------------- Disproportionate Use of Force -------------- ¶2. (C) Since the November 7 Opposition protest, some participants in the November 7 events, as well as the Public Defender's office, Human Rights Watch (HRW),and Transparency International (TI),have charged that police used a disproportionate amount of force to quell unrest that day. Television coverage of the events did show police using rubber batons, rubber bullets, tear gas, and beating protesters. The Public Defender himself, Sozar Subari, was beaten with a rubber baton, even after he verbally identified himself and his function to police. Several other members of his office who were observing the protests were also beaten. Two of them required a hospital examination (ref B). Numerous opposition supporters reported injuries, including the Republican Party's Tinatin Khidasheli, who was hit in the head with a tear gas canister when police began to use gas against protesters to get them to disperse. ¶3. (C) In one case, Koba Davitashvili of the People's Party said he was in a market making a purchase of equipment for the demonstration when a group he identifies as military and civilian police assaulted him and forced him into a car at gunpoint. He said he listened to them make a twenty minute cell phone call, during which they discussed whether they ;should kill him or release him. His captors transported him to Gori military hospital where he was treated for injuries and later released. He has asked the Prosecutor General to investigate this incident. The Gori Regional Criminal Police have contacted him to investigate, but he feels their involvement is not sufficient because the assault happened in Tbilisi (ref A). Ambassador and DAS Bryza raised the Davitashvili case with Vano Merabishvili, the Minister of Internal Affairs on November 16. Merabishvili said he did not know who had attacked Davitashvili. The Ministry of Internal Affairs subsequently said it was investigating the incident and has told us that it was definitely not carried out by police. ¶4. (C) According to HRW and TI reports, police pursued protesters down side streets and into shops and buildings as violence escalated on November 7. HRW says police targeted journalists, particularly those from Imedi television, for beatings throughout the day. Ministry of Internal Affairs representatives with whom HRW spoke said these were isolated incidents, but HRW believes similarities in the incidents indicates they were not coincidental. As described by the HRW, the use of force on November 7 culminated outside the Imedi station when 100 police forced journalists outside of the building, firing rubber bullets and tear gas at the journalists as they ran. ¶5. (C) According to Kakha Kukava, Chairman of the Conservative Party, criminal groups disguised as police took part in the beatings, wearing yellow rain slickers or black masks. He alleges that these individuals are associated with MP David Kirkitadze, Secretary of the ruling National Movement. He named some members of the Georgian Sports Federation as having criminal ties and assisting with the breaking up of the demonstrations. David Gamkrelidze, New Rightists Party and Zurab Tkemaladze, Industrialist Party, have also mentioned activity by groups they deem to be "Nika Rurua's people." (Rurua is an MP and Deputy Chairman of the Parliament's Defense Committee.) The Public Defender's preliminary report of the events of November 7 identifies these forces as a special tasks group from the Penitentiary TBILISI 00002893 002.2 OF 004 Department, and argues the unit has no authority to use force outside of the prisons. ¶6. (C) The GoG stressed that no action was taken against the protesters as long as they were peaceful. It contends that it was only when demonstrators became aggressive - trying to enter Parliament and then attacking police - that police used force. Several Georgian officials have told us they were simply not prepared for such a large number of aggressive protesters. They say there were only 600 trained special police in Tbilisi (many remain stationed hours away in the Upper Kodori Gorge) and other police on the scene were not trained or equipped to deal with rioters without resorting to truncheons and tear gas. GoG representatives have said that they will take responsibility for any police misbehavior, and the police will conduct an internal assessment (ref D). Nevertheless, thus far they have not identified a case of abuse by police. Georgian officials dispute opposition claims of large numbers of injured civilians, saying that in fact police bore the brunt of serious injuries. On November 9, the Ministry of Health announced that in all, 587 people were injured in the protests. Of these 569 were released from the hospital after being treated for minor injuries. Only three required surgery. Reportedly, 34 policemen were injured, two of whom reportedly received knife wounds from demonstrators. No deaths were confirmed. -------------- Abridgment of the Right to Assemble -------------- ¶7. (C) Opposition members have complained that their right to freely assemble was violated by the imposition of a State of Emergency. During the State of Emergency, television and radio stations other than the state-owned channel were not permitted to broadcast news programs (ref B),and citizens were not allowed to assemble in large groups. The Georgian NGO Human Rights Center (HRC),cites efforts by the government to limit peaceful assembly, even prior to November 7 . According to its report, persons identified as law enforcement officials assaulted opposition MPs Bejan Gunava and Bidzina Gujabidze on October 28 in Zugdidi as they tried to lead an anti-government demonstration. Other reports state the attackers were not police, but hot-headed government supporters. In an interview, influential MP Giga Bokeria said that other than the incident at Zugdidi, the opposition carried out a vigorous campaign for nearly a month before November 7 without experiencing problems. He stated that all persons who participated in the Zugdidi incident had been identified and the two people who participated in the scuffle with Gunava had been sentenced to two months of detention. ¶8. (C) The HRW report alleges that cars attempting to make their way to Tbilisi from other towns in Georgia to participate in the November 2 demonstrations were met with serious obstacles. The government allegedly seized cars, keys and car registration papers from drivers, blocked motorways and slashed car tires. Some drivers were reportedly assaulted and roads coming into Tbilisi were blocked. Poloff heard the same from some embassy employees and other Georgians. Evening news broadcasts showed a blockage at the Chakvi Tunnel, the most direct route from Western Georgia to Tbilisi. ¶9. (C) Early on, there was confusion related to the State of Emergency and to which regions it applied. On November 7 Prime Minister Noghaideli announced that the State of Emergency applied only to Tbilisi. On November 8, Giorgi Arvaladze, Minister of Economy, announced that the restriction was country-wide, which was the case. According to GYLA, this confusion affected protesters in Batumi and Telavi, who appeared not to know about the State of Emergency when they gathered and then were forcibly dispersed by the police on November 8. GoG officials told us that as the events on November 7 turned violent, there was serious discussion within the cabinet as to what actions the government should take and the decision to impose the State of Emergency was not taken lightly (ref E). Parliament approved lifting the State of Emergency on November 15, effective 1900 hours Tbilisi time on November 16. -------------- Silencing the Media -------------- ¶10. (C) The opposition's most important complaint has been against the closure of the Imedi television station. The GoG's State of Emergency banned all TV and radio stations, other than the state-funded Georgian Public Broadcasting TBILISI 00002893 003.3 OF 004 television, from broadcasting news programs. Three media outlets were closed under the State of Emergency: nationwide broadcaster Imedi, local Tbilisi station Kavkazia, and Batumi's Channel 25 (ref A). Although the restrictions did not apply to newspapers or the Internet, most newspapers have a small circulation and only seven percent of the country has Internet. Imedi was the country's most watched television station and its shut-down silenced the most outspoken critic of the government. Even those opposition members who privately admit that Imedi's coverage was biased are concerned that free and open elections cannot occur under such conditions. Along with the U.S. government, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, EU Foreign Policy Chief, NATO Secretary General, and Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe have all expressed their concern about the limits on dissemination of information by independent media. Human Rights Watch quotes media reports that police prevented journalists from filming the riot police in action, forcibly broke up peaceful protesters, and confiscated and destroyed several television cameras. HRW reports list two journalists as being hospitalized with severe injuries due to police brutality. Imedi's Managing Director, Bidzina Baratashvili, said the police who raided Imedi on November 7 were "well behaved, though a few were quite aggressive." According to Lewis Robertson, Imedi's General Director, the Imedi control room was "completely destroyed" (ref A). The OSCE Human Rights Officer told Poloff that OSCE media monitors present at the demonstration on November 7 saw police confiscate cameras from journalists. Cameras were later returned without film. ¶11. (C) GoG representatives accuse Imedi of inciting violence and the overthrow of the government. In one incident, an Imedi reporter allegedly claimed on air on November 7 that police were preparing to storm Tbilisi's Sameba Cathedral and religious people should go there to defend it. Officials also allege that Imedi journalists had been overheard discussing provoking the killing of demonstrators in order to inspire people to overrun the Parliament building. -------------- Surprise Arrests -------------- ¶12. (C) Opposition members allege that the fallout of the November 7 actions included large scale detention of participants. Opposition leader Kukava said he and other opposition leaders are personally concerned about possible retaliation by the government. Kukava said the government has been quietly arresting opposition members who participated in the protests, especially in the regions. GYLA representatives told Poloff that they too had heard this, and family members had approached them with concerns about family members being arrested. When GYLA offered free legal counsel, the families told them that they were too frightened of the consequences, and did not want their names released to the international community for fear of reprisals. GYLA also told Poloff that community police canvassed neighborhoods with photographs of protesters asking about identities. ¶13. (C) The Public Defender, Sozar Subari, gave a press conference on November 12 in which he appealed to the President and the Parliament to stop "political persecution" of November 7 participants. Subari has given the Embassy specific examples of protesters, including both civilian and government employees, who were dismissed from their jobs for their participation in the demonstration on November 7. He said the head of the anti-government Equality Institute in Kutaisi was arrested and some Okruashvili associates were dismissed from their jobs as well. Subari called for the government to stop arresting protesters and to examine the activities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Constitutional Security and Special Operations Departments, which he alleges have a past history of illegal activities. Reports of the number of demonstrators arrested vary widely. Opposition estimates range from 80 to 1000, while MOIA representatives told us that approximately 30 people were detained in connection with the violence, of whom 10 still remain in jail. EUR DAS Bryza and Ambassador have raised many of these cases with Georgian government officials. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶14. (C) The use of force to prevent demonstrators from retaking the street in front of the Parliament was a shock to Georgia, which has not seen the government use force against TBILISI 00002893 004 OF 004 its own citizens since the civil war in 1992. Georgian police have had little or no experience in controlling large crowds. Government officials defend their actions, but have also admitted in various conversations with the Ambassador and Matt Bryza that some police went too far in assaulting and beating demonstrators. They have vowed that demonstrators who provoked violence will be prosecuted, although for the most part it appears that they are receiving relatively light sentences. Parliament Speaker Nino Burjanadze told Western Ambassadors on November 19 that allegations of excessive use of force by police would be investigated. ¶15. (C) We will monitor carefully reports by human rights organizations and the Georgian government Ombudsman as well as investigations by the government into police misconduct. Clearly the most damaging step taken by the government from the point of view of the functioning of democracy was the shutdown of all news reporting on television and radio under the state of emergency, other than the government channel. With the ending of the state of emergency, media outlets are open and functioning again, with the exception of Imedi TV (septel). TEFFT