De facto South Ossetian authorities must drop charges against Georgian Human Rights Defender

Statement by network of Human Rights Houses, updated on Tuesday 04 February 2020 to reflect additional signatures

On recent actions by de facto South Ossetian authorities targeting human rights de-fender Tamara Mearakishvili and call on the Russian government to see that these charges are immediately dropped.

We, the 62 undersigned members of the network of Human Rights Houses express their deep concern about legal actions taken by the de facto South Ossetian authorities against prominent human rights defender, Ms. Tamara Mearakishvili. The charges and subsequent legal action by the de facto government come after efforts by Ms. Mearakishvili to expose government corruption in de-facto South Ossetia. Ms. Mearakishvili’s efforts are basic and legitimate human rights activities and Ms. Mearakishvili should be afforded all protections due to human rights defenders.

Following the 2008 Russo-Georgian war, Russia exercises effective control over the territory of de facto South Ossetia. As such, we urge the government of the Russian Federation to use their influence and position to drop the charges against Ms. Mearakishvili and halt the proceedings immediately.

Ms. Mearakishvili, an ethnic Georgian resident of the de facto South Ossetia town of Akhalgori, is a freelance journalist and activist currently facing reprisal by the de-facto South Ossetian authorities for her vocal support for human rights in South Ossetia and efforts to expose corruption.

In April 2017, the newspaper “Echo Kavkaza” published an interview with Ms. Mearakishvili where she discussed corruption in the Akhalgori municipality. Two months later, in June 2017, she was abducted and illegally detained by individuals who threatened her physically and with a defamation suit because of the interview. Following her release, a number of criminal cases were launched against her and a travel ban placed upon her.

On January 17, 2020, the de facto South Ossetian Supreme Court returned two criminal cases against Ms. Mearakishvili to lower courts for further consideration. We are deeply concerned that the de facto South Ossetian authorities are intending to use this process to exile Ms. Mearakishivili against her will.

Ms. Mearakishvili is a human rights defender and the Russian government, which exercises effective control over de facto South Ossetia, must protect her rights as a human rights defender. We urge the Russian government to see that the charges against Ms. Mearakishivili are immediately dropped.

Barys Zvozskau Belarusian Human Rights House, signed by the following member organisations:

Belarusian Association of Journalists

Belarusian Helsinki Committee

Belarusian PEN Centre

Human rights center “Viasna”

Legal Initiative

Educational Human Rights House Chernihiv, signed by the following member organisations:

NGO MART

Center for humanistic technologies AHALAR

Human Rights Center ZMINA

Association of Ukrainian human rights monitors on Law Enforcement (Association UMDPL)

Ivano-Frankivsk regional organization “Moloda Prosvita”

The “East-SOS” Charitable Foundation

Chernihiv public committee of human rights protection

No Borders Project

Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union

Centre of civil education “Almenda”

Human Rights House Azerbaijan, signed by the following member organisations:

Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center

Legal Education Society

Women’s Association for Rational Development (WARD)

Human Rights House Belgrade, signed by the following member organissations:

Belgrade Centre for Human Rights

Civic Initiatives

Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia

YUCOM – Lawyers Committee for Human Rights

Policy Center

Human Rights House Crimea, signed by the following member organissations:

Almenda

Crimean Human Rights Group

Human Rights Center ZMINA

Regional Centre for Human Rights

Human Rights House Oslo, signed by the following member organisations:

Health and Human Rights Info

Human Rights House Foundation

Kvinnefronten

Fellesrådet for Afrika

Human Rights House Tbilisi, signed by the following member organisations:

Article 42 of the Constitution

Georgian Centre for Psychosocial and Medical Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (GCRT)

Human Rights Centre (HRIDC)

Media Institute

Sapari

Human Rights House Yerevan, signed by the following member organisations:

Women’s Resource Center

Real World, Real People NGO

Pink Human Rights Defender NGO

Socioscope NGO

PEN Armenia

Human Rights House Zagreb, signed by the following member organisations:

a.B.e. – Be active! Be Emancipated!

Center for Peace Studies

CROSOL – Croatian Platform for International Citizens Solidarity

Croatian Youth Network

Documenta – Center for dealing with the Past

Russian Research Centre of Human Rights, signed by the following member organisations:

Human Rights Network Group

Independent Psychiatric Association of Russia

Moscow Center for Prison Reform

Moscow Helsinki Group

Right of the Child

Right to Live and Have Civil Dignity

Social Partnership Foundation

Union of the Committees of Soldiers’ Mothers of Russia

Initiative Center for the Caucasus