Georgia: The Georgian Public Defender, Levan Ioseliani, held a working meeting on July 25 and 26, 2024, with representatives of religious organizations active in Georgia.
The meeting discussed the role of religion in the country’s development, issues of promoting interfaith cooperation, reconciliation, and strengthening of a tolerant environment, significant challenges in terms of religion and belief freedom, and ways to solve them.
The meeting was enriched by the participation of a diverse group of religious organizations, including the Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church, All Georgian Muslim Authority, Georgian Jewish Union, Latin Catholic Caucasus Apostolic Administration, Georgian Gospel Faith Church, South Caucasus Evangelical Lutheran Church, Georgian Ezid Spiritual Council, Evangelical Alliance – Evangelical of Georgia Representatives of the Protestant Church and the Salvation Army in Georgia.
The Georgian Ombudsman introduced the mandate and activities of the apparatus for the protection of religious freedom to the meeting participants and spoke about the investigation of alleged hate crimes committed by religious groups.
Among the issues discussed in the cutting of religious freedom at the working meeting were the new system of compulsory invitations of military personnel and the rule of processing data for acknowledgment of citizens enrolled in the reserve; the issues of obtaining religious, religious, and cultural purpose buildings and building permits, restitution, restoration, ownership, building permits; as the recommendation of the Ombudsman for religious minorities, religious holiday was also discussed.
At the time, if desired, they discussed the possibility of guaranteed holidays and the practice of teaching religion in general educational institutions.
Public Defender of GeorgiaÂ
The Public Defender of Georgia, an ombudsman, is an institution that oversees the observance of human rights and freedoms in Georgia. It advises the government on human rights issues.
The Ombudsman also analyses the nation’s laws, policies, and practices in compliance with international standards and provides relevant recommendations
