Members of the Network of Human Rights Houses condemn the recent actions of the Georgian authorities against independent human rights organisation Human Rights House Tbilisi and call for immediate stop of the investigation and reversal of the decision to freeze all of the organisation’s bank accounts.
We, the undersigned members of the Network of Human Rights Houses, condemn the recent actions of the Georgian authorities against independent human rights organisation Human Rights House Tbilisi (HRHT) and call for immediate stop of the investigation and reversal of the decision to freeze all of the organisation’s bank accounts. This move represents an attempt to criminalise solidarity within Georgian society and forces a halt of legitimate human rights activities of the organisation.
HRHT was established 15 years ago, by a group of reputable Georgian human rights organisations. In line with its organisational charter, HRHT’s primary goals are protection and empowerment of human rights defenders (HRDs), as well as strengthening of human rights organisations and groups. HRHT is a key regional actor providing psychosocial, legal, rehabilitation and professional development services for at-risk HRDs from Georgia and the wider Eastern Europe region, having supported hundreds of HRDs over the past decade. A dozen of defenders and human rights groups were receiving assistance from the HRHT at the time accounts of HRHT were frozen. The work has been organised in accordance with Georgia´s Constitution and all applicable legislation. HRHT is a member of the Network of Human Rights Houses and the EU Temporary Relocation Platform for HRDs at risk.
On 17 March 2025, Georgian authorities froze the bank accounts of HRHT. This was taken on the basis of an investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia into the mobilisation of funds for activities “against the constitutional order and foundations of national security of Georgia”, among others. In reality, HRHT had been crowdfunding since spring 2024 and additionally received funding from two major Georgian banks in an effort to alleviate the heavy burden of fines against peaceful protestors.
The actions taken by the Georgian authorities against HRHT are part of a broader environment of repression against civil society and a crackdown on dissenting and opposition voices in Georgia, which deepened and intensified in 2024. In May 2024, the Georgian Parliament passed a “foreign agent” law which targeted independent civil society and media. This prompted large-scale protests against the law to which law enforcement responded with illegal and largely disproportionate force. At the same time, a coordinated campaign of hate and intimidation was launched against HRDs and journalists. The walls and entryways of human rights organisations, including HRHT, and private homes of HRDs, including members of HRHT, were vandalised with insulting graffiti and posters. Some HRDs were assaulted and many received threatening phone calls. After almost a year later, all these acts remain uninvestigated.
On 28 November 2024, following highly contested parliamentary elections in October, Georgia’s ruling party announced a halt to the EU accession process. Mass protests erupted across Georgia. Nearly four months later, the protests continue. In response, the Georgian authorities have imposed increasingly authoritarian measures and legal amendments to silence dissent and punish citizens for exercising the right to protest, leading to a broader erosion of fundamental freedoms. Law enforcement and affiliated unidentified masked individuals (“titushkis”) have employed the use of extreme violence. This has resulted in more than one hundred cases of ill-treatment, including some cases of torture.
In December 2024 and February 2025, the Georgian Parliament passed legislative amendments banning all face coverings at rallies, increasing ten-fold the fines for blocking streets, and extending the administrative detention period from 15 to 60 days. The amendments forbid spontaneous gatherings and criminalise the blocking of highways and bridges. Hundreds of demonstrators have received extremely high fines. Some have received multiple fines. The courts are rubber-stamping the law enforcement requests, disregarding the due process. The fines imposed so far total over 660,000 euros. The Venice Commission and the OSCE ODIHR have requested Georgia to remove or review, define and narrow down severe sanctions and prohibitions introduced in the last three months, which infringe freedoms of assembly and expression. Moreover, the ODIHR noted that a disproportionate penalty may, in itself, amount to a violation.
On 17 March 2025, the law enforcement froze bank accounts of all five foundations and organisations, including Human Rights House Tbilisi, who were collecting money to cover the fines of unjustly fined demonstrators. On 1 April 2025, the Parliament passed into law the “Foreign Agents Registration Act” targeting civil society. While the law is a copy of the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), the intended use mirrors Russia’s implementation of restrictive “foreign agent” legislation. It introduces criminal liability for HRDs and their organisations who fail to register under a stigmatising label of a “foreign agent” for receiving any foreign funding for their legitimate human rights work.
Legitimate human rights work of our Georgian partners is in effect halted because of the organisation’s solidarity with the Georgian public and resistance to the shrinking civic space. We, the undersigned organisations, stand shoulder to shoulder with our colleagues and call on the Georgian authorities to:
- Stop the investigation and reverse the decision to freeze accounts of Human Rights House Tbilisi, and other foundations immediately;
- Repeal all legislative acts and revise the amendments that target, undermine, and criminalise the activities of civil society organisations and violate Georgia’s international human rights obligations, including the “Foreign Agents Registration Act”, the Law on “Transparency of Foreign Influence”, and amendments to the Law on Assemblies and Demonstrations, Criminal Code and the Code of Administrative Offences;
- Stop targeting human rights defenders, journalists and their organisations and promptly investigate all attacks against them.
Signed by
- Human Rights House Yerevan (Armenia) and its member organisations
- Pink Human Rights Defender NGO
- PEN Armenia
- ‘Socioscope” NGO
- Legal Education Society (Azerbaijan)
- Belarusian Human Rights House
- Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Banjaluka (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- Zdravo da ste (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- PEN Belarus
- Human Rights Center “Viasna” (Belarus)
- Belarusian Helsinki Committee
- Human Rights House Zagreb and its member organisations
- B.a.B.e. Be active. Be emancipated.
- Croatian Platform for International Citizen Solidarity
- Human Rights House Oslo and its member organisations
- Human Rights House Foundation
- Krisesentersekretariatet
- The Women’s Front of Norway
- Mental health and human rights info
- Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (Poland)
- Human Rights House Belgrade and its member organisations
- Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights YUCOM
- Educational Human Rights House Chernihiv and its member organisations
- Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union
- FREERIGHTS
- Human Rights House Crimea and its member organisations
- CCE “Almenda”
- Human Rights Centre ZMINA
- NGO Crimean Process
- Regional Center for Human Rights
- ZMINA
- Index on Censorship (United Kingdom)