Visit of the Delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to Georgia

Visit of the Delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to Georgia

On July 8, 2004, the delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe paid a visit to Georgia. The press-conference, held by the representatives of the delegation, dealt with the monitoring of fulfillment of the obligations undertaken by the Georgian government. They expressed their concern regarding the arbitrary detentions of high-ranking officials. This may become an issue of discussion of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which is likely to make the decision against the Georgian government. Mr. Matyas Eorsi, one of the representatives of the delegation also spoke regarding the issue of South Ossetia and stated: “We are against those provoking the situation in Tskhinvali and trying to solve the problem with forcible methods.”
On July 8, 2004 Matyas Eorsi, Evgeni Kirilov and Matiash Gruden, the delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe held a press-conference in Tbilisi. The main aim of the visit was to estimate the situation existing in Georgia and to monitor the fulfillment of the obligations undertaken by Georgia since it became a member of the Council of Europe. The decisions made by the EU regarding member-states are in forms of guidelines or conventions and all member states are obliged to fulfill them. After affiliating with the EU since 1999 Georgia undertook various obligations. The purpose of the EU delegation was to evaluate the fulfillment of old obligations and to find out when Georgia would be ready to fulfill newly undertaken obligations.
Matyas Eorsi, one of the delegates of the EU Parliamentary Assembly referred to the topic of combating corruption in Georgia and detention of the former high-ranking officials: He stated: “The Council of Europe as well as the whole of the international commonwealth fully supports Georgia in its attempts to eradicate corruption. We strongly believe that everybody involved in corruption must go to prison in case of their proven guilt. But we also have the information that in some cases arbitrary detentions take place without appropriate court sanctions and that the process of detention is recorded and later shown on TV. In such case it is of absolute necessity to meet all the procedural rules considered in the legislation. Otherwise if this kind of case goes to the European Court of Human Rights it is most likely to make a decision against Georgia”. Matyas Eorsi also said that when fighting against corruption it is of major importance not only to detain corrupt people but to adopt a law ensuring transparency and not allowing the public servants to take bribes. 
Matyas Eorsi visited Adjara and made his comments. He expressed his concern regarding the fact that after the change of government, Adjara has not been granted the status of the Autonomous Republic in compliance with the current law.  The leaders of Adjara are appointed in Tbilisi and not in the region itself by the population of Adjara.
The EU delegation commented on the developments in South Ossetia. They stated that the Council of Europe and the whole of the international commonwealth support the restoration of the territorial integrity of Georgia which must only take place in a peaceful way. “We condemn those provoking the situation in Tskhinvali and trying to solve the problem with forcible methods,” stated Matyas Eorsi.

    
                                     Nino Bestavashvili