GEORGIA: PUBLIC DEFENDER AND LAWYERS NGO WORK TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 000748

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM GG
SUBJECT: GEORGIA: PUBLIC DEFENDER AND LAWYERS NGO WORK TO
STAY OBJECTIVE ON PROTESTS

REF: A. TBILISI 0735

B. TBILISI 0693

Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOHN F. TEFFT FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (SBU) Summary: As protests drag on in front of Parliament
in Tbilisi (ref A),two local organizations continue to
monitor the situation. The government's Public Defender's
Office (PDO) has maintained its monitoring teams (Ref B) with
24-hour coverage since April 9. The PDO uses uniformd
four-man teams, consisting of two PDO personnel and two
volunteers, at each protest venue. The NGO Georgian Young
Lawyer's Association (GYLA) has provided 25 of the PDO's 40
volunteers. GYLA is providing legal counsel assistance to
the PDO and released a statement calling on the police to
investigate recent alleged attacks on protesters. On April
15, Poloff met each organization for an update on their
activities. End summary.

PDO MONITORING CLOSELY


2. (SBU) Sophie Benashvili, Head of the PDO's Freedom and
Equality Department, said the PDO is continuing its
monitoring plan and will as long as protesters remain. The
PDO is paying close attention to several recent allegations
of assaults on supporters of the protests; specifically four
over the night of April 14. Reportedly, groups of masked men
have assaulted or threatened various persons shortly after
they left the protests late at night. The PDO is collecting
information from their observation teams, and meeting with
some of these alleged victims and other sources to document
the cases. Public Defender Sozar Subari held a press
conference the evening of April 15, urging the Ministry of
Internal Affairs (MOIA) to respond to these instances and
detain the criminal groups. (Comment: The press conference
was not covered by the national TV stations. Newspapers and
Maestro TV did cover it. End comment.)


3. (C) Benashvili previously told us that the PDO would
provide its information on specific attacks to the MOIA after
Subari's press conference. (Note: The MOIA has told us that
they are aggressively trying to verify and respond to these
incidents. They said they could confirm only one of
approximately 60 allegations over the weekend. End note.)
Benashvili said that communication between the PDO and MOIA
is rigid and requires formal paperwork. When pressed, she
said Subari and Deputy Public Defender Giorgi Chkheidze have
informal channels with the MOIA. Poloff encouraged the PDO
to continue its monitoring program and communicate
proactively with MOIA.


4. (C) Benashvili agreed that the first few days of the
protest were "kind of quiet," but said tension had risen by
April 15. She said that some alleged attacks bear similarity
to the protests of 2007, but these groups are less
recognizable. She did not know who could be behind the
attacks, but doubted it was the MOIA. Benashvili said the
PDO will monitor MOIA's investigations into the cases they
provide, but did not expect any information anytime soon.
She did not speculate as to what will happen next with the
protests. However, she lamented that all sides continually
speak of dialogue but none have taken concrete steps in this
direction.

NGO's Support PDO Efforts


5. (C) Poloff met GYLA Chairwoman Tamar Khidasheli and
Executive Director Besarion Bokhashvili (Note: Tamar is
cousin to former GYLA Chairwoman and Republican Party
firebrand Tina Khidasheli. However, the two are reportedly
not close. GYLA's board fully supported Tamar's candidacy
despite any association with Tina. End note.) Bokhashvili,
himself a PDO volunteer, said that in addition to GYLA, local
Qhimself a PDO volunteer, said that in addition to GYLA, local
NGOs ISFED, the Human Rights Council, and the Ethnic
Minorities Council are providing PDO volunteers. He
confirmed that observers are working around the clock at the
different venues (Parliament, the public broadcaster, and
presidential office),and reporting through the PDO. He
confirmed that observers have seen some young protesters
verbally taunting police at the presidential residence.
Otherwise, they have not witnessed conflicts, altercations,
or any of the recent alleged attacks (which reportedly
happened some blocks away from the protests.


6. (C) Khidasheli said GYLA was providing legal assistance to
the PDO, as well as any protesters who ask for it, including
alleged victims. She explained GYLA's April 15 public
statement (emailed to EUR/CARC),which called on the MOIA to
respond to and investigate reports of attacks on protesters
in accordance with Georgian law. Khidasheli called MOIA's

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comment regarding the April 11 clash between street cleaners
and protesters on Rustaveli -- which said police did not
respond due to the conflict's short duration -- unacceptable.
She said GYLA has investigated, in conjunction with the PDO,
several of the alleged attacks and then provided that
information to the MOIA. In two cases, Khidasheli said that
victims had been threatened in front of uniformed police, who
took no action. She believes that the police are turning a
blind eye to these "assaults," because although they have the
responsibility and capability to investigate them they do
not. Ambassador Tefft continues to raise with MOIA each case
of intimidation and misconduct brought to our attention.



7. (C) Ultimately, Bokhashvili said GYLA is trying to be "as
objective as possible." Khidasheli acknowledged that the
police are in a tight spot, as some of the protesters want to
spur a conflict. However, she said, this does not absolve
them of the responsibility to report, respond to, and
investigate a crime -- especially if they witness it. She
said that on some issues (TIP/domestic violence),the MOIA
works closely with GYLA, but not on others. Poloff
encouraged both executives to continue the monitoring program
and communicate (along with the PDO) with the MOIA.


8. (C) Comment: We believe both PDO and GYLA are working to
be objective and responsible, despite their general
anti-Saakashvili orientation. The PDO monitoring plan is
unprecedented and commendable. The alleged attacks are
difficult to confirm or deny and the police are trying to
minimize intervention with protesters for understandable
reasons. Neither group could predict what may come of the
protests and both acknowledge the intransigence of the
opposition. We will continue to encourage the monitoring
groups to communicate proactively with MOIA and vice versa.
End comment.
TEFFT