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The Observatory has been informed about the administrative harassment of over 20 civil society organisations, including FIDH’s and OMCT’s member organisation, Human Rights Center (HRC), and OMCT’s network members, the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) and the Georgian Centre for Psychosocial and Medical Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (GCRT), as well as the judicial harassment of leading civil society organisations (CSO) leaders.

On 15 September 2025, the Human Rights Center received a letter from the Anti-Corruption Bureau requesting extensive documentation, including grant agreements, donor information, activity reports, and work contracts, to assess alleged violations of the Law “On Grants”. The letters did not detail the legal basis or the factual circumstances warranting an inspection by the Anti-Corruption Bureau. Overall, according to a joint statement of Georgian civil society organisations published on 22 September 2025, at least 20 civil society organisations received similar letters, including leading organisations providing legal and psychosocial support for victims of torture and ill-treatment, as well as organisations working on gender equality and LGBTQIA+ rights. 

As of 22 September 2025, the Anti-Corruption Bureau submitted several motions to the Tbilisi City Court, which already issued orders against nine civil society organisations, obliging them to provide the requested information to the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

The Observatory recalls that this is the third round of undue inspections initiated by the Anti-Corruption Bureau against civil society organisations, after CSOs received requests to disclose extensive information, including personal data of beneficiaries, to the Georgian authorities in June and August 2025. All targeted organisations publicly refused to provide any information to the Anti-Corruption Bureau, citing their obligations to ensure data confidentiality vis-à-vis their beneficiaries, and declared that they had partially destroyed sensitive information.

In parallel, in early September, the prosecution authorities questioned several CSO leaders, including Human Rights Center’s Executive Director Mr Aleko Tskitishvili, Social Justice Center Director Ms Tamta Mikeladze and Ms Eka Gigauri, Executive Director of Transparency International Georgia, in relation to the ongoing investigations for “sabotage”.

Initially, the investigation launched in March 2025 resulted in the freezing of the bank accounts belonging to five civil society organisations and initiatives, including Human Right House Tbilisi and the Shame Movement, for providing protesters with financial, legal, and medical support. The leaders of the organisations were subjected to interrogations and searches of their homes and offices, and some organisations, including Human Rights House Tbilisi, were forced to cease operations. Additionally, the Georgian authorities conducted several home searches, including in the house of Aleko Tskitishvili, whose personal belongings were confiscated and have not been returned to date.

Subsequently, on 27 August 2025, as part of this investigation, the bank accounts of seven further civil society organisations, including the Civil Society Foundation, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), Sapari and the Social Justice Center had been frozen. The Prosecutor’s Office alleged that the “leaders of the aforementioned organisations” took “coordinated action (...) to weaken law enforcement agencies and disrupt their normal functioning” by purchasing protective equipment that was “actively used by the protesters during violent confrontations with the police”, and by providing financial and legal support for protesters who were arbitrarily detained and fined for their participation in the mass demonstrations against the adoption of the Law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” and the unilateral suspension of the accession to the European Union.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the authorities are investigating these acts as “sabotage” (Article 318, part 1 of Georgia’s Criminal Code), “attempted sabotage under aggravating circumstances” (Article 318, part 2 of the same Code), “assistance to a foreign organisation and an organisation under foreign control in hostile activities” (Article 314 of the same Code), and “mobilisation of funds for activities directed against the constitutional order and foundations of national security of Georgia” (Article 315 of the same Code). If convicted under these charges, individuals would face lengthy prison terms ranging up to life imprisonment, as provided under Article 314 of Georgia’s Criminal Code. However, the details of the investigation remain unknown at the time of publication of this urgent appeal.

The Observatory recalls that the targeted organisations conduct legitimate and independent human rights work. In the past years, these organisations had been providing crucial financial and legal support to protesters arbitrarily detained during the mass demonstrations, with some paying the administrative fines unlawfully imposed against them, and some providing legal assistance and other forms of support.

The investigations against them and the freezing of the organisations’ bank accounts form part of a systematic campaign targeting leading Georgian civil society organisations, obstructing their work, silencing CSOs, and leaving their staff members and beneficiaries in positions of vulnerability.

The Observatory recalls that since April 2024, the Georgian authorities have massively intensified their crackdown on civil society and dissenting voices, notably by introducing legislation aimed at restricting human rights and civic space. This includes the adoption of the Law on “Transparency of Foreign Influence” in 2024, as well as the subsequent 2025 “Foreign Agents Registration Act” and the recent amendments to the Law “On Grants”, which are designed to stigmatise, defund and suppress civil society organisations and independent media. The Observatory further recalls that amid the widespread violence used by law enforcement officers against protesters to repress the peaceful demonstrations against the adoption of the Law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence”, many protesters, human rights defenders and journalists were physically assaulted, including by law enforcement officers. 

The Observatory strongly condemns the ongoing administrative and judicial harassment against the Human Rights Center and all human rights defenders and civil society organisations targeted by the Georgian authorities, as they seem to be only aimed at punishing them and criminalising their legitimate human rights activities.

The Observatory calls on the Georgian authorities to immediately stop the administrative and judicial harassment against CSOs, and to respect in all circumstances the internationally recognised rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly.

Please write to the authorities of Georgia asking them to:

Immediately cease all acts of harassment, including at the administrative and judicial level, against Human Rights Center and all other civil society organisations and their representatives targeted by the Georgian authorities for their legitimate human rights work;

Immediately repeal the Law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence”, the Foreign Agents Registration Act and the latest amendments to the Law “On Grants”, as well as all other laws that unduly restrict the rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association, as enshrined in Articles 19 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
 
Addresses:

• Mr. Irakli Kobakhidze, Prime Minister of Georgia. E-mail: info@gov.ge. X: @GovernmentGeo
• Mr. Gela Geladze, Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia. E-mail: police@mia.gov.ge. X: @MiaofGeorgia
• Mr. Giorgi Gvarakidze, Chief Prosecutor of Georgia. E-mail: presscenter@pog.gov.ge. X: @OfficialPOG)
• Mr. Shalva Papuashvili, Chair of Parliament of Georgia. E-mail: contact@parliament.ge X: @Geoparliament
• Mr. Levan Ioseliani, Public Defender (Ombudsman) of Georgia. E-mail: info@ombudsman.ge
• Permanent Mission of Georgia to the United Nations in Geneva. E-mail: geomission.geneva@mfa.gov.ge
• Embassy of Georgia to Belgium, Luxembourg and Mission of Georgia to the European Union. E-mail: eomission.eu@mfa.gov.ge. X: @GEOmissionEU

Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Georgia in your respective countries.

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Paris-Geneva, 25 September 2025

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.