Tbilisi, Georgia

For several nights now, protesters in Tbilisi have blocked key streets to oppose the government’s announcement that it will not proceed with EU accession talks until 2028.

The police have responded by deploying water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets in what Amnesty has described as a “violent crackdown which has inflicted physical, psychological and legal harm on those exercising their right to protest”.

Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia deputy director, said: “Hundreds of protesters, dispersed and arrested by police, have faced violence that, in some cases, amounts to torture and other ill-treatment.

“It has become increasingly clear that the police are operating as if enjoying an assurance of impunity from the government, using sporadic acts of violence by protesters, often provoked by their own actions, as a pretext for repression.

“Lawyers and witnesses report that detainees are being denied timely medical care and access to legal counsel, while facing retaliatory administrative or criminal proceedings without due process. 

“This recurring pattern of violence and human rights violations – well-documented since last year’s protests – reveals the Georgian government’s strategy to deploy the full machinery of the state to punish and suppress dissent.

“All demonstrators detained solely for peacefully participating in protests must be immediately and unconditionally released, while all officials responsible for unlawful use of force – including acts of torture and other ill-treatment – must be held fully accountable.”