THE OBSERVATORY URGES THE GEORGIAN AUTHORITIES TO GUARANTEE THE RESPECT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS

AZG DAILY
07-04-2009

International; Georgia

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a
joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests
your urgent intervention in the following situation in Georgia.

The Observatory has been informed by the Human Rights Centre (HRIDC)
about acts of harassment against Mr. Arnold Stepanian, a defender
of the human rights of minorities in Georgia, Chairman of the human
rights NGO "Multinational Georgia" and co-founder of the Multiethnic
Resource Centre for Civil Education Development.

According to the information received, on March 19, 2009, a district
police inspector visited, for the first time, the offices of the
Multiethnic Resource Centre for Civil Education Development, though
they are located next to the Ministry of Defence in an area closely
monitored by law enforcement bodies, and asked questions about the
organisation and its leadership.

On the same day, a person, who refused to identify himself, called
and asked a staff member whether Mr. Arnold Stepanian was Chairman of
"Multinational Georgia", whether he was at the moment in the office
and when he would come to the office.

In addition, on March 19, 2009, the Tax Inspection Office of
the Ministry of Finance closed down a small business called
"Arnold Stepanian", which was established in 2000 and was run by
Mr. Stepanian’s father in his flat and a company called "Giperioni
Limited", which was co-established by Mr. Arnold Stepanian in 2006.

These acts follow the transmission to the Council of Europe,
early 2009, of a critical alternative report on the protection of
minority rights in Georgia, of which Mr. Stepanian, as Chairman of
"Multinational Georgia", is one of the authors. Mr. Stepanian is also
an expert in the field of inter-ethnic relations, an active member of
the Assembly of Tbilisi Armenians and Co-founder of the NGO Coalition
"For Democracy". Finally, Mr. Stepanian is a member of a group that
organised a demonstration held in Tbilisi on March 15, 2009 calling
for justice and freedom.

The Observatory expresses its deepest concern about these acts of
harassment against Mr. Arnold Stepanian, which seem to merely aim at
sanctioning his human rights activities.

The Observatory recalls that as a Participating State of the
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Georgia
must conform with paragraph 8 of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
Resolution on Strengthening OSCE Engagement with Human Rights Defenders
and National Human Rights Institutions, which states that the OSCE
Participating States recognise "the need for particular attention,
support and protection for human rights defenders by the OSCE, its
institutions and field operations, as well as by participating States".

The Observatory also urges the Georgian authorities to conform to the
Declaration of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on
Human Rights Defenders, so as to create an environment conducive to
human rights defenders, to take effective measures to protect, promote,
and respect them, to ensure their access to effective remedies and
to take action to prevent attacks and harassment against them.

Please write to the Georgian authorities urging them to:

– Take all necessary measures to guarantee, in all circumstances,
the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Arnold Stepanian;

– Conduct a prompt, effective, thorough, independent and impartial
investigation into the above-mentioned acts of harassment against
Mr. Arnold Stepanian, the result of which must be made public, in order
to identify all those responsible, bring them before a competent,
independent and impartial tribunal and apply to them the penal,
civil and/or administrative sanctions provided by the law;

– Put an end to any act of harassment against Mr. Arnold Stepanian
as well as against all human rights defenders in Georgia;

– Comply with the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights
Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998,
in particular Article 1, which states that "everyone has the
right, individually or collectively, to promote the protection and
fulfilment of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national
and international levels" and Article 12.2, which provides that "the
State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by
the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association
with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto
or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary
action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the
rights referred to in the present Declaration";

– Guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in
accordance with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other
international human rights instruments ratified by Georgia.

The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the
protection of human rights defenders and aims to offer them concrete
support in their time of need. The Observatory was the winner of
the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic. To contact the
Observatory, call the emergency line: Tel and fax OMCT : + 41 (0)
22 809 49 39 / + 41 (0) 22 809 49 29, Tel and fax: FIDH : +33 (0)
1 43 55 20 11 / 33 (0) 1 43 55 18 8, Email: Appeals@fidh-omct.org