On June 2, the Young Lawyers’ Association and local human rights organizations met with representatives of the diplomatic corps and international non-governmental organizations at Tbilisi Marriott Hotel. The support for the meeting was provided by the Open Society Georgia Foundation.
Head of the Young Lawyer’s Association updated the audience on May 26 developments and introduced to them factual information and legal issues related to the developments. The report is a primary document and deals with human rights abuses that took place in the process of breaking up the May 26 rally, on the following days when participants of the rally where detained and during the trial.
The report provides legal assessment of the tactics applied by the police at the first stage of dispersing the rally. It focuses on closing the exit corridors for the protesters. It also describes the police forces that took part in the rally and considers the disproportionate use of force. The report incorporates facts of brutal and abusive treatment of the protesters, violence against journalists, a number of cases of human rights violations during the detention process, in particular, torturing detainees and capturing citizens that were at the time nearby Rustaveli Avenue.
The report is based on the explanations provided by witnesses and persons under the protection of the Young Lawyers’ Association as well as on the information obtained from open sources and video footages.