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.

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Disproportionate Use of Force
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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.

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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.

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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.

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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