Georgia: Relentless onslaught on fundamental rights condemned

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‘PEN International stands with Georgia’s writers, journalists, and activists, as the authorities continue to borrow from the Kremlin’s playbook by enacting Russia-style laws aimed at silencing all criticism and dismantling civil society. Such repressive legislations must be urgently repealed.’ Ma Thida, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee.  

 03 October 2024 – The Georgian authorities must stop their ever-growing onslaught on freedom of expression and other fundamental rights, PEN International and PEN Georgia said today, following the adoption of a Family Values bill that would notably prevent journalists from reporting on LGBTI issues and ban public gatherings that the law describes as ‘promoting LGBT propaganda’. The Georgian authorities must immediately take steps to amend, reform or repeal all laws that can be used to violate the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, in line with Georgia’s national and international human rights obligations.  

 On 17 September 2024, Georgia’s Parliament adopted in its third reading a Family Values bill that seeks to amend 18 existing laws, including the Law on Freedom of Speech and Expression. The new amendments would prohibit broadcasters from disseminating content that ‘promotes identification with a gender other than one’s biological sex or relationships between individuals of the same biological sex based on sexual orientation’, with penalties for individuals of 1,000 GEL (approximately € 350) and for legal entities of 3,000 GEL (approximately € 1,050). The amendments ban public gatherings or demonstrations that promote ‘LGBT propaganda’ and would further provide a legal basis for the authorities to censor films and books. The bill generated a national and international outcry, with Georgia’s President Salomé Zourabichvili refusing to endorse it and returning it to Parliament on 2 October. The Speaker of Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, a co-sponsor of the bill and member of the ruling Georgian Dream party, is expected to sign the bill into law and publish it within five days, as per Georgia’s Constitution. The bill would come into force in 60 days, after the 26 October parliamentary elections. 

 This move is the latest in a series of Russia-style laws put forward by Georgia’s Parliament in recent months, including the repressive ‘foreign agents’ law adopted in May 2024 despite mass protests marred by police violence, and brutal assaults against peaceful protestors by unknown individuals. Under this law, organisations receiving more than 20% of annual funding from sources outside Georgia – including PEN Georgia – must register as ‘organisations pursuing the interests of a foreign power’ and they face draconian reporting requirements. The law further authorises Georgia’s Ministry of Justice to conduct ‘thorough investigations’ to ensure the organisations comply. 

 Georgia’s Constitution guarantees the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly. Georgia is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and therefore has obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the rights set out in these treaties. PEN International and PEN Georgia urge the Georgian authorities to stop flouting their domestic and international human rights obligations, and to immediately repeal and amend all laws stiffing free expression, starting with the ‘foreign agents’ law and the Family Value bill. Attempts to introduce further Russian-style laws to stifle independent voices in Georgia must end at once.  

 Note to editors: 

For further details contact Aurélia Dondo, Head of Europe and Central Asia Region at PEN International: [email protected]