‘DEFENDING HUMAN RIGHTS IS A CALLING’
Anna Kamushadze meets Sozar Subari
The Messenger, Georgia
May 18 2007
He spent a year at Davit Gareji and two years in Dmanisi as an
altar server serving God, and now he serves the people of Georgia by
defending their human rights. He sees no real difference between the
two professions. Human Rights Ombudsman Sozar Subari thinks that to
defend human rights is not just a job, but a calling.
"I don’t like to make grandiose statements, but if you can’t take
a person’s difficulties and problems close to your heart, you can’t
defend human rights. Otherwise it would be a boring, unbearable job,"
says the Ombudsman.
Subari has a background in journalism, working as a journalist for
ten years focusing, not surprisingly, on human rights issues. He also
worked as an editor for a time with the newspaper Kavkasioni. The
experienced journalist says that the Georgian media is independent-but
not completely.
"On the whole, our media reflects everything that is important to
reveal, and we can’t say that it is not independent. But there will
always be an influence on the media in every country."
He was also a member of the Liberty Institute NGO, which played an
important role in the Rose Revolution. When asked if he was content
with the results of the revolution, if it justified his hopes, he
comments, "We were in mud and there was no way out. It was a period
of total corruption and inactivity. The revolution pulled us out of
the mud, but of course it did not fulfill our hopes 100 percent."
According to Subari the revolution was like a raging river, which
broke through the mud of stagnation, but burst its banks and washed
away many unprotected things in its path. He names small kiosks,
restaurants, and the Gori market as examples. "This river needs a
bed and that bed is the supremacy of law."
Subari saysa person should not decide what to do according to their
whim, but in accordance the law. It will take Georgia years to become
a European country, and this process will be quickened if there will
be supremacy of the law, he stresses.
"For example, the head of [Tbilisi Municipality] Supervisory Agency
writes to me that they destroyed a building in front of the prison
in Ortachala, as it did not ‘fit it’ with the overall view of Tbilisi.
Who decides what ‘fits in’ to the city’s view and what doesn’t,
I wonder? Why should a supervisory agency decide that issue?"
According to Subari, to tear down this building was a personal decision
that had no logical correspondence with the law, and the people who
made the decision should be punished.
"When the Eiffel Tower was built it did not ‘fit in’ with the whole
view of Paris and there were a number of critics, but today the Eiffel
Tower is the symbol of Paris. I don’t mean that all buildings destroyed
in Tbilisi are pieces of art, but their construction and destruction
must be regulated by the law," the ombudsman says.
Subari points to the very serious problems in the prison system,
saying that government officials often forget that prisoners are
people as well. "[A prisoner] has the same rights as others, a right
to breathe fresh air for at least for five minutes. He also has the
right to drink clean water."
The ombudsman explains that in the prisons in Rustavi the water
undrinkable. Relatives bring water into the prisons for their loved
ones to drink, but they are only allowed to bring 30 kg of water
monthly-the limit allowed from the outside for ‘personal items’. He
argues basic necessities such as water should not be considered a
prisoner’s personal item.
"Just imagine in summer when it is hot and prisoners are only delivered
30 kg of water. In ten days they will have used it all."
Subari says ethnic minorities are treated better in Georgia than say,
Russia, but admits there is still aggression towards some ethnic
groups. He thinks that if the government had the willingness these
problems would be solved. "But MPs themselves use such kind of
expressions as ‘Armenian plague’ and ‘Chinese threat,’" he laments.
He adds in addition to ethnic minorities, other minorities’ rights
are also not protected including sexual and religious minorities.
The ombudsman is very concerned by the increase in violent crimes
among young people. He says he has no solutions to it yet to this
very troubling issue, as there is no simple formula to solve it. He
says this issue needs to be taken seriously and finances need to be
devoted, including investing more money in schools.
"Whatever importance the roads and army holds, the problems among
our youth must be placed as a top priority, as they are the future
of our country."
Subari says that the work he does is very difficult, but there is joy
in its complexity. "As it is written in the Gospels ‘my yoke is easy
and my burden is light’ and that is my job exactly."
"When you see the results of your efforts it covers over all the
sorrows and troubles. But it is bitter when in many cases you can’t
achieve what you want, and you look at the person who is punished
unfairly and you can do nothing to help him. You can just stand and
sigh with him."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress