DFWatch staff

TBILISI, DFWatch–The third round of negotiations between the Georgian government and opposition ended with minor progress on Monday.  The talks were mediated by Western diplomats and aimed at ending the boycott of the newly elected parliament.  Nine parties overcame the 1% threshold in the October 31 parliamentary elections, but the ruling Georgian Dream won by … Read more

TBILISI, DFWatch–The Council of Europe (CoE) has urged  Russia to not delay further the payment of EUR 10 million damages to Georgia for human rights violations when thousands of Georgian citizens were expelled from Russia following a spy row between the two neighboring countries.  The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled in 2014 that … Read more

DFWatch–The separatist authorities in Abkhazia have decided to temporarily open the Enguri checkpoint with Georgia proper from December 3 to 10 for “humanitarian” reasons. Those who possess Abkhaz citizenship or permanent residence there and are Covid-19 free can cross the “border” from 9 am till 7 pm during this period, reads a statement released by … Read more

GALI, DFWatch–The pandemic has caused an extremely difficult situation for tens of thousands of Gali residents whose livelihood depends on commuting to Georgia proper. The restrictions to halt the spread of Covid-19 have exacerbated the situation for locals here in Gali, a mostly ethnic Georgian area of Abkhazia, where residents are already suffering under the … Read more

TBILISI, DFWatch–The Georgian government on Thursday announced new restrictions amid a skyrocketing number of Covid-19 cases and deaths, and with a healthcare system on the verge of collapse. The new measures, though anticipated, are much less strict than what many healthcare experts had hoped for. Prior to adopting the new restrictions, the government held consultations … Read more

GALI, DFWatch–School closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic are worsening an already difficult situation in Gali district  in Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia. Teachers are struggling to continue classes remotely, but with unstable electricity supply and a lack of computers and Internet, few students are able to attend.  Suspension of classes and switching to remote … Read more

TBILISI, DFWatch–The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday found Georgia in violation of ARticle 2 – the right to life – in the high-profile case of torture and death of Georgian sergeant, an Iraq War veteran. In its judgment, the ECHR unanimously held that “there has been a violation of Article 2 of the … Read more

The Georgian opposition should call off their threats of boycotting parliament and instead fight for change within the parliament, a senior US State Department official told the traveling press at a briefing Wednesday. “So to see them calling for a boycott again is like watching the same movie again.  We’re encouraging them to go into … Read more

TBILISI, DFWatch–A few months ago, Georgia was commended for its success in containing Covid-19, but in the last few weeks the country has seen a record spread of the virus causing the disease.  There are growing concerns that the health care system is failing to properly treat a large portion of those infected. This is … Read more