Freedom Institute (Georgia)
The Freedom Institute ( Georgian თავისუფლების ინსტიტუტი, Tavisuplebis Instituti ) is a non-profit, non-partisan foundation in Georgia that advocates a free civil society . Their seat is Tbilisi . In addition to the student organization Kmara! she was one of the supporters of the Rose Revolution in Georgia in 2003.
aims
The institute tries to promote civil rights, public accountability, the rule of law , transparency and a free market economy in public life, politics, legislation and public institutions in Georgia through civic campaigns, debates, surveys and educational measures . It has set itself the goal of individual freedom, including the right to freedom of assembly, association, freedom of the press, religion, speech and petitioning, the right to privacy, due process, equal legal protection, freedom of information, and good governance for everyone to receive and promote by legal and reasonable means.
Personnel pool for the Saakashvili government
After the rose revolution in 2003, the majority of the institute's founders were elected as members of the Georgian parliament. The human rights program coordinator Giga Bokeria became vice-chairman of the parliamentary legal committee, member of the parliamentary defense and security committee and one of the spokesmen of the presidential party National Movement - Democrats . He initiated various laws to strengthen civil rights in Georgia.
The journalistic coordinator Giwi Targamadze became chairman of the parliamentary defense and security committee. Together with other members of the Freedom Institute and the student group Kmara! he advised the Kyrgyz opposition during the tulip revolution . Dawit Zurabishvili resigned from the National Movement - Democrats in 2005 and now leads the opposition faction Democratic Front . In 2004 the member of the Freedom Institute, Sosar Subari, was elected by parliament to the ombudsman , who is supposed to monitor the observance of civil rights in the country. Former Freedom Institute member Giorgi Ugulawa became mayor of Tbilisi, and former member Zurab Chiaberashvili became Georgian ambassador to the Council of Europe . In 2005, Tamara Kinzurashvili was elected the first General Director of the Georgian Public Broadcasting Board.
Of the founders, only Levan Ramishvili remained with the Freedom Institute . He continues to work with young civil rights activists who previously worked in the student organization Kmara! were active.
history
When the Freedom Institute was founded in 1996, there were few civil rights organizations in Georgia. The start-up activities were triggered by the government's threat to the private television station Rustavi 2 . The communications ministry had revoked his broadcasting license a month earlier. The founders saw this as a blatant violation of the freedom of the press .
The Freedom Institute now publishes an annual report on the human rights situation in Georgia and publishes the monthly magazine Freiheit . In addition to the main office in Tbilisi, it has five regional offices in Georgia. Several thousand people are advised on legal issues there every year.
Parliamentary lobbying
On the initiative of the Freedom Institute, a total of eleven laws were amended or newly introduced in the Georgian parliament. In 1999 the Parliament passed an Administrative Code, the chapter on Freedom of Information prepared by the Freedom Institute. It regulates public access to administrative and government information. In 2003, at the proposal of the Institute, Georgia's constitution was amended and the jury system was introduced in the judiciary. A law on the confiscation of illegally acquired property was also introduced.
After the Rose Revolution, in 2004 and 2005, with the participation of the institute, new education and higher education laws were created that guaranteed academic freedom and student rights. The law on freedom of speech was amended and a broadcasting law was passed that gave state TV and radio a public-law structure based on the Western European model. The institute is currently promoting an amendment to the Georgian Code of Criminal Procedure.
The government of President Mikheil Saakashvili has adopted various concepts from the institute. These include the strategy against corruption and the concept of educational reform.
Public campaigns
corruption
In addition to human rights issues, the institute has expanded its activities to various new fields. It supports the spread of investigative journalism in Georgia. Between 1998 and 2000, it carried out its own research that led to the dismissal of the ministers for communications, agriculture and energy. As part of its anti- corruption activities , it exposed criminal activities by an MP and a governor, tobacco, gasoline and alcohol smuggling by employees of the Ministry of Interior and Security, and illegal dealings by members of the family of former President Eduard Shevardnadze .
Since 2001, the institute and student organizations have been working against corruption at Tbilisi State University . A survey was carried out, names of corrupt employees and lecturers were publicly named. University funds abuse and various other financial abuses have been disclosed. The documents found were made available to the public prosecutor and the Council against Corruption .
Religious violence
In 1999 the institute was one of the first organizations in Georgia to turn against religiously motivated violence. It protested against riots from the ranks of the Georgian Orthodox Apostle Church against religious minorities and the confiscation of non-Orthodox literature by the state. In two cases the institute sued the Constitutional Court for violations of religious freedom .
Law enforcement abuses
One of the main goals of the institute is to protect against illegal arrests, torture in pre- trial detention and other human rights violations by law enforcement agencies. In 1998 the institute launched a special project to monitor police raids . Illegal assaults and cases of torture were uncovered. In 2000, on the initiative of the Freedom Institute at the Ministry of Justice, a public advisory board was set up to monitor compliance with civil rights in Georgian prisons. Together with the ombudsman appointed by Parliament, public advisory boards were set up in 2004 which have the right to visit pretrial detention centers and police stations at any time without any conditions.
Support to youth organizations
The institute supported the development of youth movements such as self-governing student bodies at universities and the creation of a youth network for civil rights. In 2003, with the help of the institute, the youth organization Kmara! Otpor! -Activists taught around 800 Georgian students how to organize non-violent political change in the institute's rooms. The Institute is currently conducting a series of youth debates in the Georgian province to promote human rights and anti-corruption morality.
media
In 2003, the institute set up the first professional standards for mass media in Georgia. The code has been adopted by all major print and electronic media in Georgia.
Attacks against the institute
The Freedom Institute has repeatedly been the target of attacks. On July 10, 2002, the Tbilisi office was vandalized by a group of 15 thugs. She beat various employees with clubs and iron bars, including Levan Ramishvili, Sosar Subari, Dawit Zurabishvili, Giga Phrangishvili and Dali Tskitishvili. Witnesses to the incident were scientific staff from the Council of Europe who were present in the office. Although the raid received a great deal of publicity, it has not yet been investigated.
On September 28, 2006, political analyst Irakli Kakabdze and three senior officials at the Freedom Institute were arrested for allegedly spraying protest slogans on the facade of the Presidential Administration in Tbilisi. Civil rights organizations demanded their immediate release.