GEO 001 / 0508 / OBS 082
Arbitrary detention / Judicial proceedings
Georgia
May 16, 2008
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Georgia.
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources of the arbitrary detention of Mr. Sabir Makhetiev, one of the most active election observers of the Public Movement “Multinational Georgia” (PMMG).
According to the information received, on April 23, 2008, Mr. Sabir Mekhtiev was arrested by law enforcement authorities in Marneuli, where he was involved in pre-election monitoring prior to the forthcoming parliamentary elections scheduled to take place on May 21, 2008.
Prior to this event, Mr. Sabir Mekhtiev had been subjected to a series of attempts aimed at exerting pressure by representatives from the local branch of ProCredit Bank, where he subscribed a loan of 4,000 Georgian Lari (1,781.33 euros) in 2004, probably in order to persuade him to cease his human rights activities.
Indeed, on April 18, 2008, the representative of Gamgeoba administrative area and territorial unit Sadakhlo had called Mr. Sabir Mekhtiev, asking him to cease his activities concerning the pre-election monitoring in order to begin working for the authorities instead, and promised - in turn - to call off the Bank and law enforcement employees. A few hours later, bank representatives accompanied by 20 members of law enforcement authorities came to his house and threatened to confiscate his property in order to, according to them, pay off his outstanding debts.
The arrest of April 23, 2008 occurred subsequent to an alleged “armed resistance” of Mr. Sabir Mekhtiev towards his visitors during the April-18 visit. Accordingly, Mr. Mekhtiev was charged for his intention to go to the kitchen to get knife from there, under the Article 353, Paragraph I of the Criminal Code (“resistance, threat or violence against a defender of public order or a governmental official”) .
On April 24, 2008, the Marneuli District Court fixed a two-months detention period as preventive punishment. Mr. Sabir Mekhtiev is currently awaiting trial. However, no information could be obtained as to the place of detention of Mr. Mekhtiev and to the date of the upcoming trial.
The Observatory expresses its deep concern about the arbitrary detention of Mr. Sabir Mekhtiev as it seems to merely aim at sanctioning his human rights activities. The Observatory further 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 conductive 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:
Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Georgia in your respective countries.
Geneva - Paris, May 16, 2008
Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
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: FIDH : +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 33 (0) 1 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT : + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 (0) 22 809 49 29
Email : Appeals@fidh-omct.org
| Tweet |
English