The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) awarded partial satisfaction to Georgian protesters on Tuesday, citing procedural flaws in the government’s handling of a 2019 protest. The case concerned the excessive use of force by Georgian police during the dispersal of a protest in front of the Georgian Parliament in Tbilisi on June 20 and 21, 2019.
In the case, the ECHR considered the violation of five articles of the European Convention on Human Rights which were brought forward by 26 applicants who had participated in the demonstration or were journalists reporting on it. In particular, the applicants raised their complaints in reliance of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment), Article 10 (Freedom of Expression), Article 11 (Freedom of Assembly and Association), article 13 (right to an effective remedy) and Article 38 (Examinations of the Case) of the Convention.
In its judgment, the court only found a partial violation of Article 3. In their application, the protestors had complained about the unjustified use of rubber bullets during the crackdown on the protest and further argued that no effective criminal investigation had been carried out. The court agreed with the applicants only about the procedural aspects of Article 3 stating that “the ongoing criminal investigation has fallen short of the requirement of effectiveness within the meaning of the procedural aspect of Article 3.” More specifically, the court cited numerous reasons, among them being the failure to adequately assess the anticipated escalation risk and the absence of appropriate charges despite years of investigation.
With regard to articles 10 and 11, the court found no violation, noting that the investigation by the Georgian authorities is still ongoing and in the court’s view feasible and therefore refrained from further examining the complaints. During the proceedings, it was also alleged that the Georgian government had failed to proactively inform the court of developments relevant to the case under Article 38, however, here too no violation was found.
The 2019 protest was sparked after a member of the Duma, the lower house of the federal assembly of Russia, had sat in the chair reserved for the speaker of the Georgian Parliament and delivered a speech during a session of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy. Diplomatic relations between Russia and Georgia have been complex and marked by conflict. In 2008, a war escalated between the two countries in a territorial dispute over the Georgian region of South Ossetia which has since been occupied by Russia.
As a result of the proceedings, Georgia was ordered to pay damages of up to €15.000 to four applicants, €5.000 ($5,37) to 18 applicants, and €1,800 ($1 ,934) to two applicants.
