OSCE releases report on Georgia under Moscow Mechanism
The OSCE has published a report on Georgia prepared under the framework of Moscow Mechanism. The report reviews developments in the country since spring 2024, focusing on human rights and fundamental freedoms, and provides a set of recommendations.
“On 29 January 2026, the Moscow Mechanism of the human dimension of OSCE was invoked with respect to Georgia by 23 OSCE participating States. The mandate of the mission was phrased as follows: ‘to establish a fact-finding mission to assess Georgia’s implementation of its OSCE commitments, with a particular focus on developments since spring 2024’. More specifically, the mission was tasked, inter alia to: ‘[d]ocument recent developments in Georgia in respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms; [a]ssess the impact of these developments including for Georgian civil society, freedom of the media, the rule of law and independence of the judiciary, political pluralism and other structural components of a democratic society which underpin the OSCE’s comprehensive definition of security; [p]rovide recommendations on how to address matters of concern’.
The wide mandate required particular efforts to analyse the large amount of material in a very limited time of 14 days. The Rapporteur immediately (on the first day of her mission, on 11 February 2026) turned to the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Georgia with the request to facilitate a visit to Georgia and provide the position of Georgia on matters of concern. The Permanent Representative of Georgia, H.E. Alexander Maisuradze, in his response of 13 February 2026 informed the Rapporteur about Georgia’s willingness to facilitate the country visit. The Rapporteur met with the Georgian authorities and representatives of political opposition on 17 February and 18 February 2026 in Tbilisi. In addition, the Rapporteur held a series of online meetings with various stakeholders, received numerous written submissions, and collected publicly available materials which then served as the object of analysis in the present report.
The main findings are as follows. In the period covered by the mandate, a marked democratic backsliding has taken place in Georgia. The Rapporteur could discern a pattern of violence and other abuses against protesters, leaders of political opposition and journalists (in some instances the violence has arguably reached the threshold of torture), combined with almost complete impunity of perpetrators of those abuses. Authorities have gradually limited the freedom of expression and freedoms of assembly and association by introducing legislation targeting civil society, political opposition, independent media and the LGBT+ community. Moreover, those freedoms were unduly limited by restrictive execution of administrative measures like high fines and administrative detention, as well as by launching criminal proceedings against the government critics. The ongoing attempt to ban the main opposition parties threatens the existence of political pluralism. The atmosphere of hostility towards actors independent of the government is compounded by virtually unchecked instances of violence committed by unidentified groups of men who occasionally assault government critics, often in public spaces and broad daylight, with apparent impunity. This atmosphere is also driven by the fierce, stigmatizing rhetoric of government-affiliated individuals. There are, furthermore, certain concerns related to the right to fair trial of those facing criminalization on account of their engagement in some form of dissent.
As warranted by the mandate, the Rapporteur assessed relevant developments in the light of the international obligations of Georgia and, on this basis, made recommendations to the Republic of Georgia, to the OSCE participating States and to the broader international community, which could contribute to addressing the outstanding challenges.
The analysis is structured as follows. First, the report foregrounds recommendations. It then proceeds to discuss, in the Introduction, the background of the mission, including the wording of its mandate and related limitations. Further, the report lists the relevant human rights treaties binding upon Georgia, as some of them later serve as the backdrop to thelegal analysis, and discusses the methodology used in the course of producing this report. Then, in Part II, the report turns to describing legal and material developments which occurred in the period covered by the mandate and are related to its thematic scope. Finally, Part III assesses those developments in light of Georgia’s international obligations,” the report states.
In addition, the report provides recommendations:
” Recommendations to the Republic of Georgia:
About free elections:
1. Conduct independent and impartial investigation into all allegations concerning election irregularities.
2. Implement the necessary changes to the organization of the elections, according to the recommendations made by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODHIR) in its report concerning the parliamentary elections of 2024.
3. Invite external observers (in particular an OSCE/ODHIR mission) to observe future elections. An invitation should be sent sufficiently in advance to enable ODHIR to conduct the election mission meaningfully.
4. Refrain from spreading defamatory information about the opposition and from rhetorical campaigns of intimidation and threats.
5. Refrain from the arbitrary initiation of procedures banning political parties in the Constitutional Court. Withdraw the currently pending applications.
6. Withdraw arbitrarily brought charges against leaders of political opposition (in particular based on Article 225, Article 318 and 319 of the Criminal Code)
About legislative reforms:
1. The Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence (TFI), the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), and the provisions concerning foreign grants in the Law on Grants should be repealed. Given the breadth of their incompatibility with Georgia’s international obligations, the Rapporteur does not consider them capable of being brought to compliance with those obligations by way of targeted amendments. In the event that Georgia does not decide to repeal these laws, they should be, at the minimum, amended in accordance with the recommendations of the Venice Commission. This means, in particular, striking out the obligation to reveal sensitive information about beneficiaries and cooperators of entities subject to the mentioned legislation; lowering the penalties for violations of the mentioned laws; significant limitations on the obligation to register as ‘agents of foreign principals’ by taking into account whether an entity indeed acts at foreign directions or not. The language throughout these laws should, furthermore, be much more precise.
2. Similarly, the recent amendments to the Law on Broadcasting concerning foreign financing and restrictions on content of broadcasting (Article 54) should be repealed.
3. The Law on Family Values should be repealed. This concerns, particularly but not exclusively, equation of same-sex relationships and transgender identity with incest, prohibition of ‘popularization’ of these notions, including through gatherings, a ban on gender-affirming care and change of sex markers in identity documents and civil acts.
4. The premises of the crime of high treason should be narrowed and made more specific so as to preclude interpretation that allows prosecuting mere critique of the government by entities falling within the scope of TFI or FARA.
5. Regulations which introduced an absolute ban on covering of faces during demonstrations should be repealed. Other regulations disproportionately limiting the right to assembly (such as automatic detention and disproportionately high fines) should be repealed or revised in order to ensure a proper balance between this right and considerations of public order.
6. In the course of reforming higher education, the autonomy of academic institutions should be respected.
About the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment
1. Immediately cease the disproportionate use of physical force, in particular torture and other forms of ill-treatment against peaceful protesters, journalists and political opponents.
2. Ensure the proportionate use of force also against those protesters who exhibit violent behaviour.
3. Conduct immediate, independent and impartial investigations into allegations of torture and ill-treatment.
4. Ensure that the process of apprehension and transportation of detained persons conforms with the requirements of human dignity. Ensure decent conditions of detention.
5. To the extent possible, protect children from the impact of police raids and adopt childsensitive practices during police operations.
About the right to liberty and security:
1. Immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners held for political reasons, in particular members of the opposition. Refrain from detaining them for political reasons in the future.
2. Immediately release journalists and other participants of public debate held for exercising their freedom of expression. Refrain from detention in similar circumstances in the future.
3. Respect the principles of legality, proportionality and due process when it comes to deprivation of liberty.
About the right to fair trial
1. Ensure that the standards of fair trial are respected, including presumption of innocence, equality of arms, and the speedy access to legal assistance in criminal proceedings.
2. Guarantee and respect judicial independence, including, in particular, through the appropriate reform of the High Council of Justice.
3. Cease to place the accused, if there are no compelling security concerns, in any kinds of cages during judicial proceedings.
4. Ensure that legal representatives have access to relevant information, files and documents in sufficient time to provide effective legal support.
5. Ensure the adequate transparency of judicial proceedings.
6. Reform administrative offence procedures to ensure that detention cannot be based solely on uncorroborated police testimony.
About freedoms of assembly, association and expression
1. Ensure the freedom of peaceful assembly in line with international standards like the General Commentary 37 of the UN Human Rights Committee of 2020 and case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
2. Respect the right to spontaneous assemblies as part of the right to assembly.
3. Cease to target journalists covering protests.
4. Refrain from arbitrarily detaining and fining peaceful participants of protests.
5. Refrain from arbitrary sanctioning of natural persons and organizations critical of government policies and actions.
6. Ensure the protection of human rights defenders in accordance with the UN Human Rights Defenders Declaration of 1998 and the OSCE/ODIHR Guidelines on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders of 2014.
7. Limit restrictions on receiving foreign support by non-governmental organizations and broadcasters in Georgia to what is strictly necessary in order to safeguard national security and public order.
8. Refrain from any undue repression related to the performance of journalists’ duties, and from the unjustified seizure of and damage to their equipment and footage.
9. Abolish the excessive restrictions on content of broadcasting under the Law on Broadcasting.
About the right to privacy
1. Cease the campaign of stigmatization and intimidation against political opponents, civil society organizations (CSOs)and LGBT+ individuals and amend relevant laws accordingly.
2. Ensure that no unnecessary personal data is collected and no sensitive data is publicly available, including with respect to the implementation of TFI and FARA.
About accountability:
1. Provide the necessary means and resources to the Office of Public Defender of Georgia in order to enable it to perform all the Office’s tasks, including those related to the national preventive mechanism.
2. Promptly investigate all allegations of torture and ill-treatment by police/security forces and unidentified, masked persons.
3. Provide effective judicial remedies for alleged violations of human rights.
4. Provide full redress and compensation to all victims of ill-treatment at the hands of State authorities.
5. Take appropriate disciplinary measures against officials credibly implicated in serious abuses.
About international cooperation
1. Cooperate with the Venice Commission as well as other relevant international bodies whose mandate extends to Georgia and entertain their recommendations.
2. Cooperate with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to clarify the allegations concerning the use of chemicals against protesters.
3. Recognize the competence of the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission according to the First Additional Protocol to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and ratify the remaining amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, having in mind the occupation of parts of Georgian territory by the Russian Federation.
4. Ratify the 2006 International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
Recommendations to the OSCE Participating States:
1. Request and support the implementation of the above recommendations by the government of Georgia.
2. Ensure systematic follow-up to the findings of the Moscow Mechanism, including through periodic review in the Permanent Council.
3. Consider imposing targeted sanctions against persons responsible for the particularly serious violations described in the present report.
4. Continue efforts at facilitating a dialogue between all relevant actors.
5. Deploy an election observation mission for upcoming elections to ensure transparency and fairness.
6. Consider opening an OSCE office in Georgia.
7. Support independent civil society actors in Georgia and Georgian CSOs in exile.
Recommendations to the International Community:
1. Support initiatives aimed at reporting and documenting human rights violations in Georgia.
2. Consider bringing perpetrators of torture and inhumane treatment and their responsible superiors to justice in national courts, wherever possible, including through invoking universal jurisdiction.
3. Provide protection and assistance to people who had to leave the country, including through the grant of international protection where relevant as well as through the treatment of injuries and trauma related to human rights violations.
4. Provide support to human rights defenders and civil society organizations promoting and protecting human rights, including through facilitation of registration of CSOs in exile.
5. Provide support to Georgia for the purpose of introducing the necessary legal reforms.
6. Facilitate the involvement of the UN special procedures in the protection and promotion of human rights and consider the establishment of a country office of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights in Georgia. Among the UN Special procedures and other mechanisms of the Human Rights Council, the special consideration should be given to: a. Working Group on arbitrary detention (WGAD) – particularly useful as there is no requirement to exhaust national remedies b. Special Rapporteur on torture and other ill-treatment c. Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression d. Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association e. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders f. Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers g. Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons h. Special Rapporteur on minority issues i. Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy j. Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity k. Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences l. Working Group on discrimination against women and girls
7. Actively engage in the follow-up to the Universal Periodic Review of Georgia.
8. States Parties to the 1992 Convention on Chemical Weapons may consider requesting the Executive Council of OPCW to clarify the alleged use of chemical weapons by Georgian authorities in accordance withArticle IX of the 1992 Convention on Chemical Weapons.
9. States Parties to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention on Human Rights; ECHR) may consider submission of inter-state application to the ECtHR in accordance with Article 33 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
10. States Parties to the ECHR, as well as other bodies like Venice Commission, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights and CSOs may consider intervening in ongoing and future proceedings in the European Court of Human Rights.
11. In case of the issuance of the judgments by the ECtHR, States Parties to the ECHR, as well as CSOs, may actively engage in implementation of judgments through the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
12. States Parties to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) may consider submission of inter-state communication to the Committee against Torture.
13. States Parties to CAT may consider submission of the application to the International Court of Justice.
14. The Committee Against Torture as well as the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture (SPT) should give special consideration to the situation in Georgia.
15. The Venice Commission should be involved in further assessments of relevant draft legislation.
16. States Parties to the Rome Statute may consider referral of the situation in Georgia to the International Criminal Court, taking into account the growing number of examples of political persecution, torture and other inhumane acts.
17. The Council of Europe (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights may consider a mission to Georgia.
18. The Secretary General of the CoE may request Georgia to furnish an explanation of the manner in which its internal law ensures the effective implementation of any of the provisions of the ECHR (Article 52 ECHR),” the report reads.