Georgia has been America’s darling in the Caucasus since its charismatic and telegenic young president, Mikheil Saakashvili, took over from the nasty old Russian-style despot Eduard Shevardnadze in the fall of 2003, in what came to be called the Rose Revolution (because Saakashvili carried a rose, and not an AK-47, as he and the throngs breached the doors of the country’s parliament building). All the world (well, most of it) had high hopes for Saakashvili’s reformist, democratic, anticorruption platform.
Throughout last month’s hostilities with Russia and in the weeks since, little Georgia’s stock has only risen with the Bush administration, as well as with the mainstream press and both presidential candidates. “We are all Georgians,” John McCain said. No one in the Obama campaign demurred.
Despite — or even because of — this coalescing consensus, now may be a good time to knock a few chunks out of Saakashvili’s pedestal. While Saakashvili rightly gets credit for putting the fight against corruption at the top of his agenda (in 2004, Transparency International declared Georgia one of the most corrupt governments in the world) and for combating religious and ethnic discrimination, he and his government have also committed serious human rights abuses.
For one thing, Georgia tortures people. Every year since 2004, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have reported on Abu Ghraib-like treatment of prisoners in Georgian jails and prisons: Suspects have been suspended between poles and beaten with truncheons or burned with candles until they hemorrhaged from various parts of their bodies; there have been threats to beat their mothers and children if they do not confess to charges against them, according to Amnesty. In 2005 and 2006, Human Rights Watch detailed “several cases of torture” and reported that in 2006 alone, at least seven detainees died in Tblisi Prison No. 5. The group noted that Georgia’s government has neither adequately investigated nor held anyone accountable for these and other deaths in detention. Indeed, Georgia’s response in 2006 to prisoner abuse claims constituted an additional abuse: It “used the plea bargaining system to cover up allegations of torture,” warning prisoners, “If you tell anyone then it will get worse for you,” and “promising lower penalties to defendants who agreed to the official’s version of events,” according to Human Rights Watch.
The most well-documented abuses, however, are those against dissent and free expression. In the few weeks between the resignation of Shevardnadze and Saakashvili’s taking office, Saakashvili exploited the euphoria of the revolution’s success by ramming through parliament changes to the constitution that vastly increased the power of the presidency, decreased its accountability and weakened the multiparty system, according to Amnesty International’s 2005 country report on Georgia.
Shortly after Saakashvili took office, the vibrant press that he had inherited from the Shevardnadze era began to erode. Amnesty International reported that it “has become increasingly concerned about… allegations of government interference with freedom of the media.” Some of Georgia’s leading intellectuals — people who had enthusiastically supported the Rose Revolution and who had opposed Shevardnadze — wrote an open letter in October 2004, expressing their concerns about the disappearance of an open press and the threat of one-party dominance.
Doubts about Saakashvili’s true colors spread. In December 2006, the Georgian parliament, at Saakashvili’s behest, amended the constitution to delay presidential and parliamentary elections from early 2008 to the end of 2009, which, according to the opposition parties, gave an advantage to the ruling party. The move (later reversed) infuriated the opposition and became its rallying cry.
In 2007, Saakashvili arrested critic (and former defense minister) Irakli Okruashvili, who had accused Saakashvili of corruption and suppression of dissent, which further spurred the opposition. In November, there began a series of peaceful opposition demonstrations, the largest of which attracted about 50,000 people. The police turned one demonstration into a violent confrontation: They used a water cannon against the front rows of demonstrators and simultaneously launched a volley of tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd. Masked riot police pursued fleeing demonstrators, kicking and punching them, and striking them with truncheons, wooden poles and other objects, according to eyewitnesses. At least 500 people were injured, some of them critically.
Later that evening, hundreds of heavily armed special forces entered the private television station Imedi — which was fiercely critical of Saakashvili — pointed guns to the heads of journalists and forced Imedi off the air (for what turned out to be more than six weeks), ejecting the staff and destroying much of the station’s equipment. A state of emergency was declared that lasted for eight days.
According to Saakashvili and the Georgian government, the demonstrators and the Imedi television station were dupes of the Russians, who were allegedly seeking to sow public disorder and spark a coup d’état. Critics, however, say the government never provided any proof for this claim (although the claim seems more plausible now than it did last year) and that the government’s conduct was in any case a wildly disproportionate response to a peaceful demonstration. Georgia’s promise to appoint a parliamentary commission to investigate the riot has never materialized and, in light of the escalating conflict with Russia, it seems to be off everyone’s agenda.
In response to these events, Saakashvili called a snap election for January 2008, which the opposition alleges he stole through voter intimidation and media dominance. International observers, however, said the election was fair. Since then, as hostilities with Russia have escalated, there have been few English-language reports of any internal opposition to Saakashvili.
Georgia, of course, has a strong claim on our sympathies. In light of recent events, the United States is legitimately concerned about preserving Georgian sovereignty. That’s why it may be tempting to cut Saakashvili a lot of slack on his government’s human rights record. But this would not be doing Georgia any favors. Americans know that cutting slack for human rights abuses does not make a country stronger. Seven and a half years of Bush administration abuses should have taught us at least that much.
Kathleen Peratis is a partner at the New York law firm Outten & Golden.
Kathleen, great article. More please. Here's something very interesting in regard to Shevardnadze, From http://www.antiwar.com/zunes/?articleid=13332 US Role in Georgia Crisis Cannot Be Ignored by Stephen Zunes Excerpt: "when the U.S. ambassador to Georgia learned that some leaders from the successful student-led nonviolent civil insurrection in Serbia three years earlier were in Tbilisi to give trainings to Kmara activists there, he told them to "Get out of Georgia! We don't want trouble here. Shevardnadze is our friend." (The young Serbs ignored him, and the scheduled trainings in strategic nonviolent action went forward anyway.)"
"stole through voter intimidation and media dominance"--applies to America as well :^) FYI-- notice that alot of Georgia politician's names end in 'Vili",which means son of a Jew.
Dear Ms. Peratis, As a Georgian, I find your article inaccurate and one-sided. First of all, I am shocked that you state that Georgia's only supporter is the Bush administration. You are overlooking the fact that all of Europe, the UN, Canada, have condemned Russia's actions towards Georgia and are supporting us in this horrible time. I myself attended protests in Washington, D.C. and seen many Europeans rallying with us and supporting our country. You have, for some reason, not mentioned any of President Saakashvili's accomplishments. He has turned Georgia around. Ten years ago, my country was falling apart. Laws did not apply. After Saakashvili took power, he has eradicated corruption in the schoools, legal system, government. Of course, there are people who will not like such a change, people who have swindled and stolen for years and that is all they know. It seems that your speculations do not consider one main point: Saakashvili was fairly elected (with foreign observers even monitoring the election) each time. He was democratically elected. And by the way -- as you boldly claim that "Georgia tortures people" and that Saakashvili's true colors began to show in his response to the opposition, you may need to consider how any democratically elected President would deal with the opposition that is trying to overthrow him. I am also shocked that you have not mentioned Russia's invasion of Georgia, or how the entire Georgian population (INCLUDING the opposition leaders) have united with and stood behind President Saakashvili. The Georgian people are used to fighting for our freedom and independence; we have done so for thousands of years, and we will stop at nothing.
It is not that Georgia has strong claim on your sympathy. Justice, Freedom and even Decency have this claim. While directing your attack against Pr. Saakashvili, in reality you have an immediate target - that of the Republican Administration that has supported Pr.Saakashvili. In the true spirit of democracy, you should have also looked into Pr. Shevardnadze’s record, the darling of the West and the Democratic Administration in the 90-ies. You would have found interesting parallels as how Shevardnadze was brought into power and by whom. How Pr. Gamsakhurdia was ousted from the country after the military takeover that brought civil war and the humanitarian catastrophe to Georgia. What were the preconditions of this takeover? What were the opposition parties claiming then? The dates have changed but the claims or even the names of the opposition leaders, some of whom are on Russia’s payroll, remain the same. An interesting parallel when you conclude who benefits after these military takeovers. Why don’t you write on what charges was Irakli Okruashvili arrested? Or who were the inmates in Prison # 5? Yet the country which according to you has fallen to corruption and intimidation of opponents remains a luscious bite for Russia. As soon as, God forbid, the monster gobbles up Georgia, you will not hear about the human rights’ abuses or any other violations. And in reality you will not even care. Georgia is too far geographically and any fight for human rights is good in a political campaign only. Do you know that opposition leaders – those who want to serve the country and are in the Georgian Parliament – rally around Pr.Saakashvili? Nobody intimidated them into the submission. They did it out of their free will and love of the Motherland. Some other “leaders”, I suspect your interlocutors, didn’t even participate in the longest “Human Chain” held in Georgia on September 1 in protest of the Russian occupation. They can’t protest against their masters, can they? But they can feed the West with one-sided information and lies. And some fall hook, line and sinker. Good Luck with that.
Dear Ms. Peratis, As a Georgian, I find your article inaccurate and one-sided. First of all, I am shocked that you state that Georgia's only supporter is the Bush administration. You are overlooking the fact that all of Europe, the UN, Canada, have condemned Russia's actions towards Georgia and are supporting us in this horrible time. I myself attended protests in Washington, D.C. and seen many Europeans rallying with us and supporting our country. You have, for some reason, not mentioned any of President Saakashvili's accomplishments. He has turned Georgia around. Ten years ago, my country was falling apart. Laws did not apply. After Saakashvili took power, he has eradicated corruption in the schoools, legal system, government. Of course, there are people who will not like such a change, people who have swindled and stolen for years and that is all they know. It seems that your speculations do not consider one main point: Saakashvili was fairly elected (with foreign observers even monitoring the election) each time. He was democratically elected. And by the way -- as you boldly claim that "Georgia tortures people" and that Saakashvili's true colors began to show in his response to the opposition, you may need to consider how any democratically elected President would deal with the opposition that is trying to overthrow him. I am also shocked that you have not mentioned Russia's invasion of Georgia, or how the entire Georgian population (INCLUDING the opposition leaders) have united with and stood behind President Saakashvili. The Georgian people are used to fighting for our freedom and independence; we have done so for thousands of years, and we will stop at nothing.
For Mr Archers, What you write about "vili" is not accurate. You meant to write "-shvili". This suffix in last names means "a cild". Suffix "-dze" means " a son". To say that suffix "shvili" would indicate a jewish name is innacurate. Don't go by that only. There are diverse last name endings. Some Jewish last name would end in "eli" as well. I wonder where you get that "knowledge"?
I do not understand 2 things : 1/why all my russian friends like/or have a lot of consideration for georgian people and why young georgian people hate russians ?.Russia has always protected Georgia from Ottoman Empire.What should Russians say about Stalin-ethnic Georgian who killed/deported 22 millions of Russians ? 2/How could Georgia deny that they launched attack on Ossetia ? There are a lot of witnesses. An other thing is to discuss the reasons,or the strong felling of Georgian that Ossetia is a part of their country, but why to lie ?
Alex -- I'm curious to find out who the witnesses are that you speak of. South Ossetia started firing at us and we retaliated. That's what you do when it's your OWN TERRITORY. As for your questions about why Russians like Georgians or why "young Georgians hate Russians": I don't think you're understanding the history there. Do you know the history of the Soviet Union? Do you know what it's like to live in a free country and then all of a sudden have a monstrous occupying force take over, take away your culture and religion (it was a sin to go to church), to have Russian become a required language in schools? I suggest you read up on the 1921 revolution and see how that affected many countries, not just Georgia. Then I think you will have more of an understanding for why there may be resentment toward a bullying, greedy country. I'm just surprised that you would post your comment on the internet without perhaps doing an ounce of research pertaining to the obvious answer.
Anna, My americain friend living in Moscow has a Ossetian girlfriend who's brother was killed by Georgian soldiers "on their own territory".You should explain to her that Georgian soldiers did not open fire. About history : South Ossetia was given in 1922 to Georgia by the Soviet state.Their alphabet had latin letters.So the north Ossetia was "russified" and the south was "georgized".Before soviet rule, the Georgian king asked to be under Russia for protection from Ottoman empire (1801).You should understand that the soviet rule was not russian.Is Lenin ethnic russian ? Is Stalin ethnic russian ? Neither Krutshev nor Brezhnev.Look at the composition of first soviet governement.The russians paid more tribute than other under communism (about 60 millions of victims including 20 from WW2).So baltic soldiers killed the tsar familly,Stalin-still appreciated by many georgians- killed millions but again russians are responsible.The communism used nations for its own purposes-the concept of soviet person is meant without "nationality".So do not put all sins on russians.During soviet time,the russian were not permitted to go to church either. The big victory of the communism is that people forgot history and religion. Should Shakashvili be a real orthodox,he should not go with army in "his own territory".
It will be all over for the political corpse. What we should do though is to mourn the loss of innocent civillans, and wait for the Hague to call in Americas protege for war crimes.
A great deal is made of defending Georgian Independence but little of the proclaimed independence of South Ossetia. I understand Russia's interests in Georgia but they were not the ones who resorted first to military action and it was the US that trained and outfitted Georgia's military for its action in Ossetia. How did this disappear from the discussion?
1.If any of you have heard of an American writer John Steinbeck, here is a quotation from his “Russian Journal”: “… most Russians hope that if they live very good and virtuous lives, they will go not to heaven, but to Georgia, when they die.” Yes, that is true. Ask your Russian friends which was the most hospitable country within the Soviet Union? Where did the Russians go to have good time, drinking and eating all they could take? And all free since a guest was sacred to the Georgians. Mr. Hatmaker, I am glad you learned about the Georgians now. Never too late. You were missing on a very interesting place. Some of your thoughts surprise me, though. You remind me of a character from “Adventures of Alice in Wonderland” Remember (if you have read that book, of course)? I mean Mad Hatter, of course. 2. As to the current “situation” in Georgia. To bring it closer to home: imagine the situation when the Cubans in Florida decide to declare independence from USA only for the reason that they are densely populated there. Not that Ossetians are. But not to digress. Anyway, to make things easier for them Fidel Castro sends them Cuban passports and if the US Government decides to restore Constitution in Florida, the Cubans start bombing not only the towns in Florida but South Carolina, burning forests in North Dakota and making air strikes over Washington D.C. Digest that information. Also for those of you who are fed the “information” by the Georgian opposition, you sound the same losers as they are. Harping on the same string about the elections in Georgia is funny to say the least. The people of Georgia elected DEMOCRATICALLY the person they wanted to see as President. Not everybody likes everybody. That’s why the differences of opinion are. Do not cite those articles because the articles on the Georgian Government’s good deeds will outweigh those slanderous ones you seem to love so much For those who are on the Russian payroll, it is too obvious. I will not visit this page any more. So don’t bother to answer.
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