GYLA

Today, on March 11, the Senior Justice Advisor of the Bureau of INL, Michael Wasco, along with other representatives of the U.S. Embassy in Georgia, visited GYLA’s office. During the meeting, the current situation regarding human rights in the country was discussed.

🔵On March 8, GYLA highlights challenges to women’s rights in Georgia. Amid this, “Georgian Dream” actions and legislation targeting civil society further restrict women’s and girls’ access to legal aid and support services. Read more ⬇ gyla.ge/en/post/8marti…

🇬🇪On February 23, GYLA, together with partner organizations, submitted a written position to the European Court of Human Rights regarding 36 cases related to the 2008 war. FOR MORE: gyla.ge/en/post/GYLA-2…

We appreciate your engagement in supporting human rights, rule of law, and democracy in Georgia. 🇬🇪🇪🇺

📣 GYLA submitted information, within the framework of the OSCE Human Dimension Mechanism, regarding the state of human rights and the rule of law in Georgia. ❗GYLA submitted 7 thematic reports and the corresponding sources. FOR MORE⬇ gyla.ge/en/post/OSCE_G…

📣The proceedings of the cases of Mzia Amaghlobeli before the Strasbourg Court are actively ongoing. For information, refer to the link: gyla.ge/en/post/strasb…

📣 On 22 December, the election of the Chairperson of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) was held. The Association’s board elected Tamar Oniani as chairperson of GYLA. ⚖️ Tamar Oniani (@OnianiTamara) has served as the Director of the Human Rights Program at the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) since 2023 and, since 2022, as the Deputy Chair and a member of GYLA’s Board. She is simultaneously pursuing the Master of Science in International Human Rights Law at the Oxford University with full scholarship support. Tamar also teaches as an invited lecturer at several universities. ⚖️ Since 2021, she led GYLA’s international litigation team, and she originally joined the organization in 2018 as a strategic litigation lawyer. In that role, Tamar represented and supervised strategic human rights cases before the European Court of Human Rights, involving freedom of assembly and expression, prohibition of torture, and violations occurring in the occupied territories and border-adjacent regions, among others. 🔷 Nona Kurdovanidze (@NKurdovanidze) leaded the Association for a period of three years. Following the expiry of her term of office, and in accordance with the GYLA Charter, she was no longer eligible to participate in a subsequent election. The GYLA team expresses its sincere appreciation for the work and contributions made by Nona Kurdovanidze. Under her leadership, the Association was able to effectively defend human rights during a particularly challenging period. GYLA will continue its activities with renewed commitment. The full biography of the newly elected Chair of GYLA (Tamar Oniani) is available at the following link: gyla.ge/en/who-we/gyla…

On 10 December 2025, GYLA published a report summarising the human rights situation in Georgia in 2025. 2025 is a year of curtailed freedoms, meaning that autocratic law-making and the disproportionate restriction of freedoms exerted particular pressure on the freedoms of expression, assembly, and association - the rights that render democracy functional. In 2025, one of the most significant problems was politically motivated criminal justice. The ill-treatment of demonstrators continued. Individuals responsible for systemic torture committed in November–December 2024 still remain unpunished. FOR MORE ⬇ gyla.ge/en/post/adamia… SEE THE REPORT ⬇ admin.gyla.ge/uploads_script…

We thank Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights defenders, for the attention and supportive public statement. This engagement holds significant importance for our organization (GYLA) and for human rights defenders in Georgia.

📢 Within the investigation initiated in connection with the BBC’s investigative film, the State Security Service summoned, as witnesses, the Director and an employee of the Human Rights Protection Program of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA). Our employees will be questioned in the presence of a magistrate judge. ❗️ The summoning of GYLA’s employees as witnesses within the investigation launched by the State Security Service raises a strong suspicion that the aim is not to establish the truth, but rather to exert pressure on those individuals and organizations who speak about systemic rights violations. ❗️ We wish to state explicitly that such attempts at pressure will not alter our activities or objectives. GYLA’s employees will provide the investigation with information concerning the violations identified through monitoring. We continue to identify and document systemic human rights violations and to inform the public. THE FULL STATEMENT ⬇️ gyla.ge/en/post/GYLA-B…

#PS51 🇬🇪 Georgian Young Lawyer's Association spoke on the place of civil society, political prosecutions, and torture in #Georgia and recommended that the State protect freedom of association, reinforce the rule of law and judicial integrity, and eliminate all forms of torture.

❗️Despite medical assessments that clearly demonstrate the alarming deterioration of Mzia Amaglobeli's vision during her stay in prison and despite numerous requests, she has not been provided with the examinations necessary for planning treatment, nor has she received an appropriate medical consultation, which is essential for making an informed decision regarding treatment to preserve her vision. ❗️In addition to her liberty, Mzia Amaghlobeli has been deprived of the right to undergo examinations in a clinic equipped with medical technology compatible with her diagnosis, to receive information, based on proper examinations, what procedures are necessary to preserve her vision at a minimal level. 📢 We adress the Minister of Justice of Georgia, Paata Salia, to immediately ensure that Mzia Amaghlobeli undergoes appropriate high-tech examinations on both eyes in a properly equipped medical facility and, based on the examinations, that treatment is planned to preserve her vision. 📢 We adress the Public Defender of Georgia, Levan Ioseliani, to promptly provide a written assessment as to whether the state has fulfilled its obligation to ensure access to adequate medical treatment for Mzia Amaghlobeli. Including, if necessary, engaging medical experts with appropriate specialization in preparing the assessment, in accordance with his mandate. THE FULL STATEMENT ⬇️ gyla.ge/en/post/mziaam…

📣 Accodring to the “Georgian Dream”, Georgian citizens residing outside the country would no longer be able to participate in parliamentary elections. This initiative is fundamentally incompatible with the principle of universal suffrage guaranteed by the Constitution of Georgia. ❗ The possibility of voting abroad enables citizens living abroad to continue taking part in the political life of their country, even if they are not physically present on its territory.This issue is particularly important in the case of Georgia, because of the large and constantly growing number of citizens being in emigration. ❗ In a context of democratic backsliding in the country, the adoption of such measures once again demonstrates the intentions of Georgian Dream and further undermines the possibility of holding elections in a democratic environment. 📸 Photo: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty SEE THE FULL STATEMENT ⬇ gyla.ge/en/post/sazgva…

📢 GYLA has lodged another application before the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of political prisoner Mzia Amaghlobeli. The application concerns Mzia Amaghlobeli’s unlawful administrative arrest and the violations committed in the course of the administrative offence proceedings conducted against her. 📢Mzia Amaghlobeli’s administrative arrest, as well as the conduct of the administrative offence proceedings, resulted in a violation of such fundamental rights under the European Convention on Human Rights as: ❗️Right to Liberty and Security (Article 5 of the Convention) and the Right to an Effective Remedy (Article 13); ❗️Right to a Fair Trial (Article 6 of the Convention); ❗️Freedom of Expression (Article 10 of the Convention), Freedom of Assembly and Association (Article 11); FOR MORE ⬇️ gyla.ge/en/post/mziaam…

📣 The Anti-corruption mechanisms are being repurposed not to hold those in power accountable, but to target independent civil society organizations in Georgia. ❗While high-ranking officials of the "Georgian Dream" and businesses associated with them are embroiled in corruption, the oversight mechanisms created by the "Georgian Dream" are being used against the very organizations that seek to expose this corruption. ❗This cannot be construed as anti-corruption policy. Instead, it is a protection racket for corruption, one that persecutes the independent civil sector fighting to expose them. THE FULL STATEMENT ⬇ gyla.ge/en/post/antiko…