With the support of the Council of Europe, the Prosecutor General of Georgia, Irakli Shotadze, the Chairman of the Supreme Court, Nino Kadagidze, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Vakhtang Gomelauri, and the Executive Director of the National Statistics Office, Gogita Todradze signed a memorandum on the production of statistics on the crime of intolerance on the grounds of intolerance and the publication of a joint report.
The meeting held at the General Prosecutor's Office of Georgia was also attended by the Head of the Georgian Office of the Council of Europe Natalia Vutova.
The parties discussed the importance of producing statistics and publishing a joint report in the fight against crimes committed on the grounds of intolerance on the grounds of intolerance.
As the Prosecutor General Irakli Shotadze stated, the production of unified statistics has always been a challenge for each agency. According to him, after the signing of the memorandum, a modern, comprehensive system of statistics on crime committed on the grounds of intolerance will be created, which will be accurate, credible and public.
"The accountability of the agencies envisaged by the memorandum to each other, sharing information, complies with national and international standards in the field of human rights and equality, responds to modern challenges and serves to solve problems in this area. The fight against crimes committed on the grounds of intolerance is a priority for the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia. "Since 2016, we have been actively pursuing a policy based on international standards, which has manifested itself in the development of recommendations for prosecutors with expert assistance from the Council of Europe, training and professional development of prosecutors and prosecutors' investigators, production of statistical data and specialization of prosecutors," said Irakli Shotadze.
“Today we are witnessing an intensive work being translated in the tangible result-memorandum on hate crime data collection and publishing. We are glad that we were able to support our partners in this process. We look forward to seeing further progress in the fight against hate crime”, stated the Head of the CoE Office in Georgia Natalia Voutova during the ceremony of signature of the Memorandum.
"We share the high values of human rights, especially in terms of eliminating discrimination and protecting the equality of persons. For our part, we join the state's stated will, which is reflected in the National Human Rights Strategy 2014-2020, to respond effectively to crimes committed on the grounds of discrimination and intolerance. Based on these values, the Supreme Court of Georgia is ready to follow a single standard of data recording in order to fully record hate crimes, "- said the Chairman of the Supreme Court of Georgia Nino Kadagidze.
According to the Minister of Internal Affairs Vakhtang Gomelauri, in recent years, this category of crimes has become a priority for the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the policy level, which is evidenced by the numerous activities carried out by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
"Since 2018, the Human Rights Protection and Investigation Quality Monitoring Department of the Ministry has been conducting daily monitoring of these crimes and is a guarantee that crimes committed on the grounds of intolerance will not go unnoticed. We think that in such an important matter as effective fight against discrimination, coordinated work and a common desire to make the environment in the country even better is very important, " said Vakhtang Gomelauri.
According to Gogita Todradze, Executive Director of the National Statistics Office of Georgia, based on the memorandum, Geostat will receive data on crimes committed on the grounds of intolerance, prepare a joint report and ensure the dissemination of data on an annual basis.
"This cooperation and the agreement between our agencies underscores the readiness of the Government of Georgia and Geostat to make even greater efforts to achieve common goals, which include increasing access to legal statistics and promoting the development of a national statistics system," said Gogita Todradze.
Following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, the agencies will publish a statistical report for the period from October 1 to December 31, 2020, and all interested parties will be able to access the single, segregated data on crimes committed on the grounds of intolerance.
The memorandum provides for the accountability of agencies in sharing information with each other. This approach is in line with existing national and international standards in the field of human rights and equality, responds to modern challenges and serves to solve problems in this area.
