Tolerance and Diversity Institute

News
TDI
Mar/1523

Five NGOs Submit a Report on Minority Rights to UPR

On March 22, 2015 five non-governmental organizations - United Association of Georgia (UNAG), Media Development Foundation (MDF), Georgian Democracy Initiative (GDI), Tolerance and Diversity Institute (TDI and European Center of Minority Issues (ECMI) submitted a report on Minority Rights in Georgia to the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

The organizations express concerns and provide recommendations regarding the following issues:

  • Failure of the Government to investigate incidents of religious violence against religious minorities;
  • Infringement of Autonomy of Religious Organizations by the newly established State Agency on Religious Affairs;
  • Religious Indoctrination at Schools and breach of neutrality in academic teaching; failure of the Government to return places of worship to their true owners;
  • Manifestation of hate speech, xenophobia and homophobia by high ranking political officials and politicians;
  • Improper self-regulation mechanisms in media and manifestation of hate speech on the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB);
  • Access of information in minority languages and ensuring minority voices to be heard on GPB;
  • Ensuring repatriationof deported Meskhetians;
  • Integration of Roma population in society.

The UPR was created through the resolution 60/251 of UN Human Rights Council in 2006 and reviews the human rights records of all UN Member States.