Freedom in the World 2004 - Georgia

Political Rights: 4
Civil Liberties: 4
Status: Partly Free
Population: 4,700,000
GNI/Capita: $590
Life Expectancy: 77
Religious Groups: Georgian Orthodox (65 percent), Muslim (11 percent), Russian Orthodox (10 percent), Armenian Apostilic (8 percent), other (6 percent)
Ethnic Groups: Georgian (70 percent), Armenian (8 percent), Russian (6 percent), Azeri (6 percent), Ossetian (3 percent), Abkhaz (2 percent), other (5 percent)
Capital: Tbilisi

Overview

After a decade as president, Eduard Shevardnadze stepped down in 2003 in the face of a popular uprising against his rule. Widespread reports of serious fraud during the November parliamentary election provoked three weeks of mass, peaceful protests that culminated in the storming of the parliament building during the legislature's opening session. The dramatic confrontation led to the resignation of Shevardnadze the following day, the cancellation of the proportional component of the parliamentary election, and the scheduling of new presidential elections for January 4, 2004. Meanwhile, relations with Russia continued to be marked by tensions, while a final settlement to the protracted conflicts in the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia remained elusive.

Absorbed by Russia in the early nineteenth century, Georgia gained its independence in 1918. In 1922, it entered the U.S.S.R. as a component of the Transcaucasian Federated Soviet Republic, becoming a separate union republic in 1936. An attempt by the region of South Ossetia in 1990 to declare independence from Georgia and join Russia's North Ossetia sparked a war between rebels and Georgian forces. Although a ceasefire was signed in June 1992, the territory's final political status remains unresolved.

Following a national referendum in April 1991, Georgia declared its independence from the Soviet Union, which then collapsed in December. Nationalist leader and former dissident Zviad Gamsakhurdia was elected president in May. The next year, he was overthrown by opposition forces and replaced with former Georgian Communist Party head and Soviet foreign minister Eduard Shevardnadze. Parliamentary elections held in 1992 resulted in more than 30 parties and blocs gaining seats, although none secured a clear majority.

In 1993, Georgia experienced the violent secession of the long-simmering Abkhazia region and armed insurrection by Gamsakhurdia loyalists. Although Shevardnadze blamed Russia for arming and encouraging Abkhazian separatists, he legalized the presence of 19,000 Russian troops in Georgia in exchange for Russian support against Gamsakhurdia, who was defeated and reportedly committed suicide. In early 1994, Georgia and Abkhazia signed an agreement in Moscow that called for a ceasefire, the stationing of Commonwealth of Independent States troops under Russian command along the Abkhazian border, and the return of refugees under UN supervision. In parliamentary elections in November and December 1995, the Shevardnadze-founded Citizens' Union of Georgia (CUG) captured the most seats, while Shevardnadze was elected with 77 percent of the vote in a concurrent presidential poll.

The ruling CUG repeated its victory four years later, in the October 1999 parliamentary election. Election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) concluded that despite some irregularities, the vote was generally fair. In the April 2000 presidential poll, Shevardnadze easily won a second five-year term with a reported 81 percent of the vote. While Shevardnadze's win was widely anticipated, the large margin of his victory led to accusations of electoral fraud. Election monitors noted numerous and serious irregularities, including the stuffing of ballot boxes, inflated voter turnout figures, and a strong pro-Shevardnadze bias in the state media.

Following the parliamentary elections, various competing factions developed within the CUG, which had dominated Georgian politics for much of the 1990s. Shevardnadze himself faced growing opposition from prominent members, including then speaker of parliament Zurab Zhvania and then Justice Minister Mikhail Saakashvili, who criticized the president's failure to contain widespread corruption throughout the country. While Shevardnadze resigned as CUG chairman in September 2001, Saakashvili left the CUG to form his own party, the National Movement, and a formal party split was ratified in May 2002. Local elections held in June saw the CUG lose its long-standing dominance to several rival parties, including the New Rights Party, which was formed by many prominent businessmen, the National Movement, and the Labor Party. Subsequently, Saakashvili was named to the influential post of chairman of the Tbilisi City Council.

With Shevardnadze legally required to step down after his second consecutive full term in office, the November 2, 2003 parliamentary election was watched closely as a prelude to the 2005 presidential vote that would determine his successor. According to official Central Election Commission (CEC) results, the For New Georgia pro-presidential coalition – led by Shevardnadze and composed of the CUG, Socialist Party, National Democratic Party (NDP), and Great Silk Road movement – received 21 percent of the vote. The Union of Democratic Revival (UGR), a party led by Aslan Abashidze, the leader of the republic of Ajaria, won almost 19 percent of the vote. Saakashvili's National Movement came in a close third with 18 percent, followed by the Labor Party with 12 percent. The only other two parties to pass the 7 percent threshold to enter parliament were the opposition Burjanadze-Democrats alliance formed by Zhvania and Speaker of Parliament Nino Burjanadaze, which captured almost 9 percent of the vote, and the New Rights, which secured 7 percent.

A domestic monitoring organization, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), conducted a parallel vote tabulation, concluding that the National Movement had won the election with nearly 27 percent of the vote, with For New Georgia placing second with about 19 percent. Monitors from the OSCE reported that the elections fell short of a number of international standards for democratic elections. Among the violations noted were ballot-box stuffing, inaccurate voter lists, biased media coverage, harassment of some domestic election monitors, and pressure on public employees to support pro-government candidates.

Over the next three weeks, major opposition party leaders, including Saakashvili, Zhvania, and Burjanadze, launched a series of mass public protests against widespread reports of serious electoral fraud. The demonstrations, which received extensive coverage by the popular independent television station Rustavi-2, were a culmination of years of deep discontent over widespread poverty, separatist conflicts, and corruption during Shevardnadze's long tenure in office. A November 9 meeting between Shevardnadze and the opposition failed to resolve the situation. The political crisis climaxed on November 22, when a large group of protestors led by Saakashvili burst into the parliament chamber where Shevardnadze was addressing the legislature's opening session. Saakashvili declared "the velvet revolution has taken place in Georgia," while he and his followers distributed flowers throughout the chamber. A startled Shevardnadze, who was quickly led out of the building by bodyguards, called the revolt a coup d'etat and declared a state of emergency. However, the country's military and police refused to back Shevardnadze against the demonstrators, and no serious incidents of violence were reported.

Russia's foreign minister was dispatched to Georgia to mediate between Shevardnadze and the opposition, while U.S. government officials worked behind the scenes to ensure a peaceful transfer of power. Georgia's stability was regarded as crucial for both Moscow and Washington, which have key – and often competing – strategic and economic interests in the region. After receiving assurances for his personal safety, Shevardnadze announced his resignation the following day, and Burjanadze was named interim president. The Supreme Court cancelled the results of the election under the proportional, party-list system (but not the results of the single-mandate races). Snap presidential elections were scheduled for January 4, 2004, with Saakashvili widely considered to be the favorite for president. As of November 30, the date of new parliamentary elections had not yet been approved. Observers view the upcoming polls as an important test of whether the authorities will be willing to hold democratic elections and can restore public confidence in the country's election process.

Georgia's relations with Russia, which had become especially tense during 2002 over charges that Georgia was harboring Chechen rebels in its lawless Pankisi Gorge region bordering Russia, continued to be strained in 2003. In March, parliament ratified a bilateral security pact with the United States, drawing angry reactions from the Russian parliament already concerned by a U.S. antiterrorist training program for the Georgian military initiated the previous year. Tbilisi and Moscow continued to disagree over a timetable for the withdrawal of Russian troops from two military bases in Georgia, with Russia insisting that it needs about a decade to do so. In May, the appeals chamber of Georgia's Supreme Court ruled against extraditing three Chechens to Russia, a decision that further irritated the Kremlin. At the same time, Russia made inroads into Georgia's energy sector when Georgia signed a 25-year deal with the Russian energy company Gazprom in July, and Russia's Unified Energy Systems (UES) purchased a majority of Tbilisi's electricity distribution network, Telasi, in August from the U.S. energy firm AES.

Long-standing demands of greater local autonomy continued unresolved throughout the year. A final agreement to the protracted conflict in Abkhazia remains elusive, as leaders in Tbilisi and Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia, continued to disagree on key issues, including the territory's final political status. While the Georgian government has stated its willingness to grant the territory broad autonomy, Abkhazia's leadership continues to insist on full independence. South Ossetia has maintained de facto independence from Tbilisi since 1992. In the southwestern region of Ajaria, Aslan Abashidze exercises almost complete control over the territory, which has retained considerable autonomy since 1991.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

The November 2003 parliamentary elections fell short of international standards for democratic elections. No voting took place in the separatist territory of Abkhazia and parts of South Ossetia, which remained largely outside central government control. Subsequent opposition-led mass public protests resulted in the cancellation of the results of the poll under the proportional, party-list system (but not the results of the single-mandate races), the resignation of President Eduard Shevardnadze, and the scheduling of fresh presidential elections for January 4, 2004. As of November 30, the date of new legislative elections had not been decided. Most political parties tend to be more centered around specific individuals than detailed policy platforms.

Although the government initiated a high-profile anticorruption campaign in 2000, corruption remains endemic throughout all levels of Georgian society. The prevalence of corruption undermined the credibility of Shevardnadze's government and is an obstacle to foreign investment. In its 2003 Corruption Perceptions Index, Transparency International ranked Georgia 124 out of 133 countries surveyed.

While the country's independent press often publishes discerning and critical political analyses, economic difficulties limit the circulation of most newspapers, particularly outside the capital. Independent newspapers and television stations face some harassment by the authorities, and journalists in government-controlled media frequently practice self-censorship. In March, several men forced the independent Dzveli Kalaki radio station off the air when they knocked its rooftop antenna to the ground. The station is known for its willingness to report on politically sensitive issues, including corruption. In July, a former police officer was sentenced to 13 years in prison for the 2001 murder of journalist Georgy Sanaya. Many of Sanaya's family members and former colleagues maintain that his killing was politically motivated and that those who masterminded his murder remain unpunished. The independent television station Rustavi-2, which for years faced harassment and politically motivated tax audits for investigative reporting on issues including government corruption, broadcast reports of voter fraud in the November 2003 election and the subsequent protests that led to Shevardnadze's resignation. Libel laws inhibit investigative journalism; the Rustavi-2 investigative program "60 Minutes" lost two separate politically motivated libel cases in 2003. In June, parliament ratified an amendment to the criminal code imposing longer jail sentences for slandering government officials. Although the government does not limit Internet access, widespread poverty limits its availability to much of the population.

Although the government does not restrict academic freedom, the quality of the country's educational system has been compromised by endemic corruption. Students frequently pay bribes to receive high marks or pass entrance examinations.

Freedom of religion is respected for the country's largely Georgian Orthodox population and some minority religious groups traditional to the country, including Muslims and Jews. However, members of nontraditional religious minority groups, including Baptists, Pentecostals, and Jehovah's Witnesses, face harassment and intimidation by law enforcement officials and certain Georgian Orthodox Church extremists. Over the years, police have failed to respond to repeated attacks by followers of defrocked Georgian Orthodox priest Father Basili Mkalavishvili against Jehovah's Witnesses and members of other faiths. The attacks have included burning religious material, breaking up religious gatherings, and beating parishioners. The Georgian Orthodox Church and the government signed an agreement in October 2002 giving the Church a more privileged status than other religions, although it stopped short of naming the Church as the official church of Georgia.

The authorities generally respect freedom of association and assembly. A series of opposition-led demonstrations in November against election fraud proceeded without incident. However, on November 19, a peaceful opposition demonstration was violently attacked by pro-government supporters in the southern Bolnisi district while police did not intervene. Other instances of violence occurred during earlier opposition demonstrations in September in Bolnisi and in October in the republic of Ajaria. Nongovernmental organizations, including human rights groups, are able to register and operate without arbitrary restrictions.

The constitution and Law on Trade Unions allow workers to organize and prohibit anti-union discrimination. The Amalgamated Trade Unions of Georgia (ATUG), the successor to the union that existed during the Soviet period, is the principal trade union confederation. It is not affiliated with and receives no funding from the government. The ATUG has reported cases of workers being warned by management not to organize unions, and some workers have been threatened for engaging in union activities. Collective bargaining practices, though legally permitted, are not widespread.

The judiciary is not fully independent, with courts influenced by pressure from the executive branch. The payment of bribes to judges, whose salaries remain inadequate, is reportedly common. In 2003, Shevardnadze openly pressured the judiciary, including in August when he called on the Constitutional Court to consult with the government before making important decisions. Police reportedly beat prisoners and detainees to extract confessions and fabricate or plant evidence on suspects. Kidnapping for ransom occurs frequently throughout the country, with senior law enforcement officials allegedly involved. In June, three UN hostages were freed after having spent five days in captivity in the Kodori Gorge area located between Abkhazia and Georgia proper. Prison inmates suffer from overcrowding and inadequate sanitation, food, and medical care.

The government generally respects the rights of ethnic minorities in nonconflict areas of the country. Freedom of residence and the freedom to travel to and from the country is generally respected. However, Georgia continues to face serious refugee problems stemming from the long-standing conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as from the war in the neighboring Russian republic of Chechnya, with repatriation efforts proceeding slowly.

The country's economy continued to suffer from problems including high rates of unemployment, sporadic payment of government pensions, energy shortages, and widespread corruption.

Sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace are problems that are rarely investigated. Social taboos limit the reporting and punishment of rape and spousal abuse, and the trafficking of women abroad for prostitution remains a problem. In June, parliament approved amendments to the criminal code making human trafficking a criminal offense punishable by 5 to 10 years in prison, or up to 12 years for a repeat conviction.