The U.N. human rights chief on Thursday asked Georgia to withdraw a controversial draft “foreign agents” bill that has been met with large protests in the capital, Tbilisi.
Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, urged authorities to talk to members of civil society and journalists who are at risk of being affected by the law, which would target organizations that receive foreign funding.
“I am concerned by reports of unnecessary and disproportionate use of force by law enforcement personnel against demonstrators and media workers in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, this week,” he said.
On Wednesday, police in Tbilisi used water cannons and tear gas to try to disperse one of the largest protests in Georgian history, according to media reports, after the legislation was advanced in a second-reading vote. A third and final reading vote is set for May 17.
The U.S. government and the European Union have also expressed concern about the bill.
“We are deeply concerned about this legislation — what it could do in terms of stifling dissent and free speech,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said at a briefing.
Gert Jan Koopman, director general of the European Commission’s enlargement directorate, repeated the European Union’s warning that the bill would threaten Georgia’s efforts to join the European bloc.
“There are concerning developments in terms of legislation. The law … as it stands is unacceptable and will create serious obstacles for the EU accession path,” he said during a news conference in Tbilisi.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has said she will veto the law if it is formally adopted in the third reading. But the ruling Georgian Dream Party and its allies have enough seats to override her.
Georgian Dream in early April reintroduced an adjusted version of the bill that lawmakers considered last year but eventually shelved following widespread protests.
If adopted, the law would require groups to register as foreign agents if they obtain more than 20% of their funding from abroad. Organizations that don’t register would face fines.
Georgian Dream says the law would bolster transparency. Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder of Georgian Dream and former prime minister, said the law would enhance Georgian sovereignty amid what he said were Western attempts to set Tbilisi against Moscow.
Critics have compared it to a similar foreign agents law in Russia that the Kremlin has used to target and silence opposition voices.
Press freedom groups have expressed concern about the bill’s reintroduction.
“Georgian authorities’ revival of a bill that would smear media outlets as foreign-controlled is deeply concerning and utterly incompatible with their claim of aligning with European democratic standards and threatens press freedom ahead of the October parliamentary elections,” said Gulnoza Said, the Europe and Central Asia program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists, in an April statement.
Some information for this report came from Reuters.
