GYLA Says EU Report Confirms Third Consecutive Year of Rights Deterioration
By Messenger Staff
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
The Georgian Young Lawyers' Association (GYLA) said the European Union's 2026 Report on Georgia once again confirms the alarming state of human rights in the country.
In a statement, the organisation said the report, which covers the period from 1 September 2025 to 1 September 2026, describes an "extremely grave reality" and, as previous editions did, points to a continued decline in Georgia's progress towards EU accession. "The report itself indicates that the country has been experiencing a deterioration in fundamental rights for the third consecutive year," GYLA said, adding that this "once again confirms the dire situation" that local rights defenders, international organisations and monitoring mechanisms have flagged for three years.
According to GYLA, the report says human rights have been "significantly restricted and undermined" by repressive legislation that infringes on freedom of expression, assembly and association, as well as the principles of equality and non-discrimination.
The organization said legal safeguards against torture and other ill-treatment "remain inadequate," with unsatisfactory responses to incidents and weak follow-up examinations. Georgia has yet to address gaps in the Code of Administrative Offences, GYLA said, including deficiencies in procedural guarantees, unclear standards of proof and "the absence of an effective right to appeal detention decisions."
The report points to a lack of adequate accountability for police violence. It notes that the Prosecutor General's Office charged five police officers in May 2026 with abuse of official authority over violence during the 2024 demonstrations, but that "the vast majority of cases" involving torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement remain uninvestigated. It also says no independent investigation has been carried out into allegations that chemical substances were mixed into the water cannons used against protesters in 2024.
Legislation governing assemblies remains restrictive, GYLA said, and developments over the period point to "the gradual entrenchment of restrictive policing practices" at both the legislative and practical levels.
Freedom of expression has deteriorated for the third consecutive year, according to the statement. GYLA said the safety of journalists and the media environment continue to be "negatively affected by systematic incidents of harassment, intimidation and attacks" against independent and critical outlets, including online campaigns whose scale is amplified by pro-government media.
The report records a further decline in the state of democracy over the period, GYLA said. It says the proceedings before the Constitutional Court seeking to ban the main opposition parties "pose a threat to the foundations of the country's democracy."
The authorities have taken no steps towards comprehensive electoral reform despite longstanding recommendations, the organization said. The report assesses that the October 2025 local self-government elections took place in a "highly polarised and repressive environment" that significantly undermined the competitiveness and transparency of the process.
The justice sector has also deteriorated for the third year running, GYLA said. The report expresses concern that the "harsh and disproportionate sentences" imposed on demonstrators suggest the judicial system is being used as an instrument for enforcing a repressive mechanism.
The report stresses that last year's recommendations remain unimplemented and relevant, and calls on the state to take immediate action to implement them.
