RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE SAFETY AND SECURITY OF MEDIA ACTORS AND MONITORS DURING ASSEMBLIES
17 September, 2021
The cases of interference with journalistic activities, abuse and violence by law enforcement officers in the process of media coverage of assemblies are not rare in the Georgian reality. Special attention should be paid to the cases of inflicting damage and injuries to the journalists and cameramen during November 07, 2007, May 26, 2011, June 20-21 2019, and November 08, 2020 assemblies, when the scale of interference with the journalistic activities and violence was large and dozens of media representatives were injured during these assemblies.
It should be mentioned that recently there have been cases when the indifference and inaction of law enforcement officials encouraged aggressors to use violence against media representatives. Special emphasis should be placed on the assembly against Tbilisi Pride held on July 05, 2021, when indifference and inaction of law enforcement officials encouraged aggressive/violent groups to inflict physical and verbal damage and injuries to 53 media representatives and prevent them from carrying out their professional duty.
This document offers to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia a guide on ensuring security and safety of media representatives and monitors during assemblies. The recommendations developed in the documents are based on the standards of the European Court of Human Rights, Venice Commission recommendations and guidelines of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
The document was prepared by “Rights Georgia” and “The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics” in the framework of the project – “Promoting the Protection of Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Manifestation in Georgia” with the financial support of Human Rights House Foundation and the European Union.
