[CivilSoc] Religious Intolerance in Rustavi, Georgia

[Center for Civil Society International]

The following item appeared first on the MINELRES list
<minelres@mailbox.riga.lv>
Original sender: Emil Adelkhanov <emil-ade@cipdd.org>
JEHOVA'S WITNESSES
Office of Public Information
For Immediate Release
August 16, 2001
Jehovah's Witnesses challenge "dubious" Supreme Court of Georgia
ruling in European Court
STRASBOURG, FRANCE.  Jehovah's Witnesses in Georgia filed their
second application in two months with the European Court of Human
Rights.  The latest application challenges a February 22, 2001
Supreme Court of Georgia ruling later referred to by Georgian
Minister of Justice Mikheil Saakashvili as "dubious."  The ruling in
question, while not banning Jehovah's Witnesses, annulled the
registration of two of their organizations.  In its ruling the Court
insisted that Jehovah's Witnesses could not be registered since no
"law on religion" had as yet been passed in Georgia.
The application argues that the European Convention on Human Rights,
European Court precedent and Georgia's international law commitments
all support the right of association, which includes the right of
religious communities to use legal entities. It maintains that the
Supreme Court ruling attempts to remove that right in violation of
the European Convention and Georgia's own Constitution, and has
resulted in a de facto ban on Jehovah's Witnesses in Georgia, as the
Court walks a fine line between honoring Georgia's Constitutional and
international commitments and playing to populist extremist
politicians with a dark agenda.
Since the ruling there have been countless violent attacks on
Jehovah's Witnesses, the latest occurring within the last week, as
Orthodox extremists perceive it as a signal from the government that
it is "open season" on Jehovah's Witnesses.  Police and prosecutors'
offices routinely dismiss their complaints despite overwhelming
evidence.
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For Immediate Release
August 12, 2001
Police refuse to interfere as Orthodox extremists carry out fourth
attack on Jehovah's Witnesses in Rustavi
RUSTAVI, GEORGIA:  Around noon today, a mob of Orthodox extremists
broke down the door of the apartment of Jimsher Gogelashvili, where a
religious meeting of Jehovah's Witnesses was being conducted.  The
mob of 15 men, led by Paata Bluashvili and Mamuka Chubabria, seized
literature and personal belongings of the around 70 Jehovah's
Witnesses gathered there, most of them women and children.
According to eyewitnesses, the mob then proceeded to beat those in
attendance with clubs and metal pipes.  Seven of the victims required
medical treatment for blows to the head and the body.  The mob
trashed chairs, furniture and equipment, and burned the literature in
a bonfire on the street outside.  Some of the victims made to a
nearby police stations, where the police categorically refused to
attend the incident.
This is the fourth attack by Orthodox extremists in the city of
Rustavi this year.  To date, no one has been arrested or prosecuted
although the identities of the perpetrators are well known to the
Rustavi police.  This latest case adds weight to the application
filed on June 29, 2001 by Jehovah's Witnesses in the European Court
of Human Rights over lack of action by the police, Prosecutor's
Office, and Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia.
-----------------
Georgia contact:
Telephone: +995 32 76 23 59
Facsimile: +995 32 76 95 98
English-speaking.
Paul Gillies,  mobile telephone:  + 44 7775 833880
Video footage of violent mob attacks available to the media upon
request
www.jw-georgia.org