Georgia: A ‘cautionary tale’ of how state institutions can become tools of repression
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Georgia is undergoing one of the most serious erosions of human rights since independence, as the ruling party increasingly resorts to authoritarian practices to preserve its grip on power amid growing public discontent over its approach to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and over Georgia’s relationship with the European Union, Amnesty International said today.
A new report, Anatomy of Repression – Georgia: 500 Days of Protest, Crackdown and Resilience, documents how the government led by the Georgian Dream party has weaponised disinformation to justify crackdowns and smear critics, abused parliamentary majorities to fast-track repressive laws, instrumentalised the courts and the police to prosecute opponents, and brutally crush protests as part of its all-out assault on human rights. The sweeping measures have effectively criminalised peaceful dissent.
Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia said:
“Georgia’s experience over the last three years is a cautionary tale of how governments can rapidly turn state institutions into potent tools of repression for the sake of entrenching their own power.
“Georgia’s authorities have weaponised disinformation, abusive legislation, police abuses and injustice in courts to shield against potential threats to their power. They have effectively created a system where peaceful dissent is treated as a crime, civil society is considered a national enemy, independent journalists are harassed, prosecuted and pushed into survival mode, and victims of police violence are denied justice and instead persecuted. Human rights and civic space have seen one of the deepest setbacks since Georgia regained independence."
Vilification of critics and repressive laws Show Hide
Since 2022, the government has responded aggressively to increasing protests and public criticism over its approach to Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine and the prospect of Georgia’s accession to the EU.
Critical voices in political opposition, civil society and the media have been portrayed as foreign-backed “deep state” agents, “traitors” and “radicals” seeking to undermine Georgia’s sovereignty. Meanwhile, a slew of legislation has been passed to subject individuals and entities receiving foreign funding and involved in broadly defined “political activities” to tighter registration requirements and intrusive monitoring, and the risk of asset freezes, criminal investigations and imprisonment.
Key measures include the May 2024 Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, the April 2025 Foreign Agents Registration Act, and amendments to the Law on Grants, the Administrative Offences Code and the Law on Political Associations.
As a result, dozens of civil society organisations have been forced to downsize, suspend activities or operate in survival mode. Tamta Mikeladze, Director of the Social Justice Centre whose accounts were frozen, said: “They killed our organisation, our institution, and it was a catastrophe, to be frank. At this stage, we are continuing our work on a voluntary basis.”
Journalists critical of the government have faced similar pressure. Mariam Nikuradze told Amnesty International: “It has never been so dangerous to be a journalist in Georgia… The challenges come from every direction: physical security, restrictive legislation, digital security, criminal prosecution, government hate campaigns, financial instability and the shrinking space for our work.”
Relentless crackdown in response to ongoing protests Show Hide
The reintroduction of the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence in April 2024, a law that would suffocate civil society organisations, provoked mass protests that were met with a brutal crackdown in which peaceful protesters were beaten, tear gassed, doused with water cannons and unlawfully targeted with rubber bullets, often without warning or safe dispersal routes.
More protests broke out after contested parliamentary election results in October 2024, and the ruling party’s announcement in November 2024 of a four-year “pause” in EU accession talks. Protesters were met with arbitrary arrests, unlawful use of force and severe beatings and other acts of torture or other ill-treatment. Many described being trapped by police cordons, exposed to chemical irritants, forced individually through “beating corridors” and severely beaten while detained and inside police vehicles.
On 3 December 2024, Aleksandre Tirkia was struck in the head by a tear gas canister during a protest in Tbilisi. He was 22 at the time, and suffered multiple skull and facial fractures, brain injury and severe damage to his left eye.
“It was a shot made to kill. They fired tear gas at us. My eyes burned terribly, and it became very difficult to breathe. I tried to leave but we were surrounded. We were blocked on all sides – front, back, even the side alleys. That’s when the gas canister hit me. I began feeling unbearable pain in my head. I was in such agony that that moment vanished from my memory,” he told Amnesty International.
Data from the ombudsman Public Defender’s Office shows that 78–88% of those detained by security forces reported ill-treatment in detention in 2024–2025. In November 2024 alone more than 300 protesters that were detained reported serious physical abuse, with over 80 requiring hospitalizations for concussions, fractures and broken bones. Police also used gender-based violence extensively, including sexist insults, threats of sexual violence and unlawful and degrading strip searches especially against women involved in protests, as part of a larger campaign to intimidate and punish peaceful protestors.
Unfair trials for protesters and impunity for police Show Hide
Courts in Georgia have been co-opted by the government to rubber-stamp prosecutors’ motions against protesters and enforce laws that violate the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Judges have arbitrarily imposed ruinous fines, administrative detention and prison sentences in protest-related cases following unfair trials, with more than 150 people currently unjustly detained.
In December 2024, protesters faced harsh fines for standing in the road during a protest – GEL 5,000 (about US$ 1,800), which is more than twice the national average monthly salary. By December 2025, they were also being fined for standing on sidewalks.
Teacher and activist Gota Chanturia faces fines totaling around US$ 130,000 simply for participating in peaceful protests. She told Amnesty International: “There is no way I can ever repay them. It is simply their way of terror and attempting to stop us from protesting… My bank accounts are frozen, I cannot earn a living, and at any moment they could arrest me and seize our home.”
The authorities have consistently failed to hold police to account for human rights violations committed as part of the crackdown on dissent. Hundreds of protesters appeared before judges with visible injuries and raised allegations of torture or other ill-treatment by law enforcement officers, to no effect. In the only case of its kind so far, five police officers were charged in May 2026 with abuse of power for assaulting protesters, after their alleged crimes were exposed by independent TV reporting.
Amnesty International’s Recommendations
Amnesty International is calling on the Georgian state and local authorities, as well as Parliament and the judiciary, international and private actors, to take urgent action to end the use of authoritarian practices designed to silence dissent, weaken civic space, the rule of law, and human rights.
Georgian authorities must repeal laws that unduly restrict the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, release all those detained solely for peacefully exercising their human rights, uphold the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, and ensure fair retrials in any outstanding protest-related cases.
The authorities must also launch prompt, independent and effective investigations into all allegations of torture and other ill-treatment and unlawful use of force by law enforcement officials and state-aligned groups, and provide adequate reparations to all those harmed. The international community must support the documentation, investigation and prosecution of human rights violations and crimes under international law being committed in Georgia, including by exploring opportunities at the domestic, regional and international levels.
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