GYLA Warns of Sharp Decline in Rights and Freedoms in Georgia in 2025
By Liza Mchedlidze
Thursday, December 11, 2025
The Georgian Young Lawyers' Association marked Human Rights Day on December 10 with a report describing 2025 as a year in which key democratic freedoms were sharply restricted. In its 48-page assessment, the organization said, "Two thousand twenty-five is the year of curtailed freedoms," adding that autocratic lawmaking and disproportionate limits on civil liberties placed heavy pressure on expression, assembly, and association.
According to GYLA, the authoritarian drift it observed in 2024 continued throughout 2025. The group wrote that authorities "deliberately undermined human rights and democracy" through weakened legislation, physical violence, arbitrary detentions, politically driven prosecutions, and coordinated disinformation.
Freedom of association was described as one of the hardest hit areas. The report pointed to the Foreign Agents Registration Act, changes to the Law on Grants, and a series of investigations and bank account freezes targeting NGOs. GYLA said these measures "stigmatize civil society, restrict access to resources, and criminalize its activities."
The watchdog also concluded that freedom of expression faced sustained pressure. It cited the ban on insulting officials, changes to defamation law, the prohibition on foreign funding for broadcasters, and restrictions on media activity in court buildings. "Throughout 2025, the state attempted to create an environment of self-censorship," the report stated.
GYLA documented a similar pattern regarding freedom of assembly. Amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses, the Criminal Code, and the Law on Assemblies and Manifestations were described as incompatible with human rights standards. The group said that new offenses, heightened sanctions, groundless detentions, heavy fines, and physical force became common features of protest policing.
The report identified politically motivated prosecutions as one of the most serious problems. GYLA said that 147 activists and opposition figures were charged in connection with protests in 2024 and 2025, including 66 arrested after the events of October 4. "Criminal prosecution mechanisms are aimed not only at preventing alleged crimes, but at suppressing freedom of assembly and expression," the organization wrote.
GYLA accused the state of continuing degrading treatment of demonstrators, noting the February 2 rally and the lack of accountability for torture documented in late 2024. The group criticized the government's July decision to abolish the Special Investigation Service, which previously handled investigations of police abuse.
The report added that civil servants seen as critical of the ruling party continued to face dismissals and weakened labor protections, leaving them vulnerable to discrimination.
On equality and vulnerable groups, the organization said the government left many communities without opportunities for advocacy or access to services. It argued that anti-gender rhetoric and legislation encouraged sexism and hostility toward LGBTQ+ people. "There were also cases in which the police themselves used gender motivated insults, physical violence, and sexual harassment against women participating in protests," the report said.
GYLA concluded that economic, social, and cultural rights remained neglected, noting persistent failures in housing and public safety. The group warned that several deaths in 2025 may have stemmed from the state's failure to meet its basic obligations to protect life.
