Human Rights And Changing Authorities

GEORGIA: HUMAN RIGHTS AND CHANGING AUTHORITIES

Contemporary Georgian society inherited all the characteristics of the Soviet totalitarian regime. It is questionable whether the present authority is trying to destroy the totalitarian consciousness or, on the contrary, preserve it. Methods used by various Georgian authorities to create public opinion, prove that anti-democratic, totalitarian mentality will be preserved in Georgia for a long time.

After the collapse of the Communist regime in Georgia, national forces, renown for their anti-Soviet activities, came to power. Unfortunately, this authority could not resist the temptation and, instead of struggling against the totalitarian social mentality, exploited it. Thus, a slogan was advanced: "First independence and then democracy." Naturally, all opposition forces were declared traitors and foreign spies.

Armed groups took advantage of increasing civil protests and opposition; it overthrew President Gamsakhurdia's regime in the beginning of 1992. Ironically, those who had once struggled for democracy and human rights, pursued anti-democratic policies shortly after coming to power. The government outlawed the supporters of the former President (so called "Zviadists") as primary enemies of emerging Georgian democracy and, therefore, subjected them to illegal arrests, tortures. One could bring numerous examples of persecution during 1992-93. Moreover, four times the guerrilla organisation "Mkhedrioni" "visited" Samegrelo (Western Georgia), region supporting the former President. During these "trips" the armed groups not only violated human rights but also robbed, tortured and killed civilians. The authority did not react, it maintained a fixed policy ( all the "Zviadists" were enemies. Meanwhile, the political surface was calm ( the country elected the Parliament and the Head of State (the elections were held in October 1992).

A CAMPAIGN

Later, a new "enemy" was created in Georgia. It was a member of the Parliament, fomer Defense Minister Mr. Tenguiz Kitovani along with his supporters. During the rebellion of 1991-92, Mr. Kitovani was the head of the military forces that overthrew President Gamsakhurdia. In January 1995, Mr. Kitovani with almost one thousand fighters, left for Samegrelo. Eventually, they planned to fight for Abkhazia captured by the separatists in September 1994. The authorities arrested Mr. Kitovani and his companions (about 400 people) and accused them with of struggle against Georgian statehood. Mr. Kitovani and some of his supporters were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. During the trail, the authority roughly violated the rights of the detainees, their apartments were searched without the court order. On August 29, 1995 there was an attempt to assassinate President Eduard Shevardnadze. Georgian law-enforcement bodies arrested several people, some of whom later admitted their participation in the terrorist act. Since the members of "Mkhedrioni" were among the primary suspects, its leader Mr. Jaba Ioseliani and hundreds of its members were arrested.

1993-94 MKHEDRIONI'S ASCENT

The organisation Mkhedrioni was created by Jaba Iseliani in 1989-90 years. It was a military organisation and many young people joyfully joined it. The organisation mostly consisted of young patriots who liked arms. The leader of Mkhedrioni distributed arms, although it was illegal. From the day of its creation, it was clear that Mkhedrioni was armed illegally. After the Parliamentary elections of October 1992, Mr. Ioseliani was lobbying the authority to enlist his organisation among other groups armed legally. However, Georgian Parliament did not give Mkhedrioni right to carry arms. Later, President Shevardnadze issued a decree allowing Mkhedrioni carry arms. Military organisation was transformed into "Rescue Corps" and entered legal military structures. Mr. Ioseliani became the second person in Georgia and his organisation violated human rights with impunity. The population was indignant to Mkhedrioni's robberies and murders in Samegrelo region, but did dare to protest. The formula "the authority has the right to do whatever it pleases" remained supreme for them. The authority justified the oppression against human rights activists by the war in Abkhazia. Georgia lived in military times and it had to obey to the military laws, the population must endure the misdeeds by the fellows fighting in Abkhazia. (Many members of Mkhedrioni indeed sacrificed their lives in the battle.) As for the political opposition and human rights activists, their intense criticism during the war, could only be called high treason. This logic was very effective in manipulating the public opinion and rough human rights violations remained undetected during this period.

CAMPAIGN CONTINUES

In September 1994 military actions were completed in Abkhazia and in 1994 the civil war in Georgia ended. Georgia suffered a defeat in the war with Abkhazian separatists, and the Zviadists suffered a defeat in the civil was with the authority. The campaign against the Zviadists strengthened because the authority was searching for scapegoats to explain the losses in Abkhazia. A new formula was established: "Georgia lost Abkhazia because the Zviadists betrayed national interests." The civil war undoubtedly weakened Georgia in its struggle against Russia in Abkhazia, but by shifting blame onto the Zviadists, the authority tried to diminish its own responsibility. Subsequent to such accusations, many Zviadists were arrested and charged with treason. Meanwhile, Mkhedrioni's spree in Georgia continued. Most of its members committed crimes with impunity and many criminals joined the organisation, making it a perfect shelter for the criminals. Only few honest people remained in Mkhedrioni - many died in Abkhazia or left the organisation themeselves. Finally, Mr. Shevardnadze struggled against Mkhedrioni himself.

As mentioned above, Mkhedrioni members and Mr. Igor Giorgadze, the former chief of Security Service, were accused of attempting to assassinate Mr. Shevardnadze on August 29, 1995. Naturally, Mr. Giorgadze emerged as a new scapegoat. Before the trial determines the truth about the terrorist blast on August 29, we are publishing the information about the violations against those suspected in the assassination attempt.

TODAY EVERYBODY IS ASKING: "WHO IS GUILTY?"

Afraid to be labeled as terrorist defenders, almost everybody in Georgia refrains from defending suspects of the attempt to assassinate President Shevardnadze on August 29, 1995. Past relations between the government and its opposition have been marked with mutual political accusations. The political opposition accused President of Georgia and the ruling body of provoking the Abkhazian conflict and protecting Mkhedrioni. In its turn, President's team accused its opponents of unleashing the war in Abkhazia. As for Mkhedrioni, the authority had a clear explanation. When Mr. Shevardnadze returned to Georgia, anarchy was raging. Among different illegal armed formations raiding the country, Mkhedrioni was the strongest. Lacking power to control guerrilla formations, the Head of the State had to cling to Mkhedrioni and close his eyes towards its illegal activities. When Mr. Shevardnadze gathered his strength, he destroyed these formations, including Mkhedrioni.

We shall not interfere in political dispute. We shall only mention the facts illustrating human rights violations by Georgian authorities. The cases of human rights violations have been confirmed by both local and international organizations for human rights.

Regarding the search for the guilty party, it is a vain effort. Mostly, it is the representatives of the authority, defining internal or foreign policy of the country, who are responsible for human rights violations. Recently, Mr. Shevardnadze, Mr. Ioseliani and many others were in the supreme control of Georgia. Some of them are still members of the authority, while others are in prison, awaiting their trials ( or already convicted ), and some former members of the authority have fled from Georgia.

THE YEAR 1996

The 1996 year put an end to the existence of guerrilla formations in Georgia, though human rights are still being violated. An accurate monitoring of human rights status are more necessary today, because often terrible violations is hidden under the surface of apparent stabilization. In our bulletin, we systematically write about human rights violations by the representatives of the authority. The campaign of witch-hunting is still being conducted against Mkhedrioni and those accused of the August 29 terrorist act, and it will continue until the end of their trials. These trials will begin soon and they will hopefully answer many questions. According to media publications, Mr. Ioseliani's trial will be closed, though the representatives of the authority claim the opposite and promise an access to the trial for all interested parties. We hope to have a possibility to attend these and discuss them in our bulletin. We know that during their detention and preliminary investigation, some members of Mkhedrioni were subjected to physical or psychological pressure and forced to take the blame upon themselves.

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