The Public Defender of Georgia extended a proposal to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia, Vakhtang Gomelauri regarding the production and publication of complete statistical data on the use of administrative detention on November 18, 2024.
The Office of the Public Defender of Georgia discussed the statement of the A(a)IP “Center for Social Justice” regarding the restriction of access to public information by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia.
According to the information published on the Ministry’s website, the number of persons arrested for offenses under articles 166 and 173 of the Administrative Offenses Code does not decrease (because not all detainees are fit in the isolation of temporary detention). Without quantitative data, it’s difficult to assess the extent of the problems of extension of detention without the need for a period of detention.
The public Defender of Georgia has been pointing out the challenges related to the legalization of administrative detention in parliamentary reports for years and notes that the harmful practice of detention is being used against participants of various peaceful gatherings.
The Georgian Public Ombudsman addressed the proposal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs:
- Produce complete statistical data on the use of administrative arrests provided for by Article 245 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (including complete statistical figures showing the facts of arrests of persons violating articles 166 and 173));
- At the same time, statistical data should be processed in such a way that information about the number of detained persons who have not been placed in temporary detention isolators will be revealed;
- Processed information/statistical data should be published quarterly on the official website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia.
Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia is accountable to the Government and fulfills the tasks imposed on it by the Prime Minister. Vakhtang Gomelauri is the current Minister of Internal Affairs. The Ministry’s main office is in Tbilisi.
