Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Seventy-ninth session

8 August – 2 September 2011

Implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

List of themes to be taken up in connection with the consideration of the fourth and fifth periodic reports of Georgia (CERD/C/GEO/4-5)*

The following is a list of themes identified by the Country Rapporteur in connection with the consideration of the fourth and fifth periodic reports of Georgia. The list is meant to guide the dialogue between the State party delegation and the Committee and does not require written replies. This is not an exhaustive list as other issues will be raised in the course of the dialogue.

1.The Convention in domestic law, institutional and policy framework, and judicial recourse (arts. 2, 4 and 6):

(a)Adoption of the draft legislation to protect minorities, as well as the bill on freedom of conscience and religion, and the legislation on the status of languages;

(b)Office of the Public Defender of Georgia (PDO): statistics on cases linked to racial and other forms of discrimination dealt with by PDO; possibility of creating a specialized body to combat racial discrimination;

(c)Cases before or considered by domestic courts and tribunals for the period of 2006–2011;

(d)Dissemination of the Convention among State authorities and to the public.

2.Situation of minorities (art. 5):

(a)Use of ethnic minority languages in public administration;

(b)Enhancement of the teaching of the Georgian language;

(c)Access to and enrolment of minority students in institutions of higher education, especially since the introduction of the compulsory entrance exam;

(d)Prevention of discrimination in access to employment, as well as in the administration of justice on the basis of language; availability of Government materials distributed to the public in minority languages;

(e)Data on representation of ethnic minorities in central and local administration, including the judiciary and the police, as well as their participation in public and political life;

(f)Situation of the Meskhetian minority: statistics on repatriation and citizenship and status of legislation to prevent statelessness during the procedure of changing nationalities;

(g)Situation of ethnic and religious minorities: prevention and monitoring of stereotyping; prejudice and misconceptions regarding religious and ethnic minorities and related abuse; response by the police to acts of religious intolerance;

(h)Measures to combat illegal attitudes by the police against minority groups and non-citizens, including those whose vulnerability stems from lack of knowledge of the Georgian language.

3.Situation of Roma (art. 5):

Marginalization of the Roma; discrimination in access to health care andschool; and measures to reduce their poverty.

4.Rights of non-citizens, including asylum-seekers and refugees (art. 5):

(a)Number and status of non-citizens and stateless persons in the State party;

(b)Current status of legal protection and procedural safeguards with regard to refugees and asylum-seekers;

(c)Access to health and to justice.

5.Situation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the State party (art. 5):

(a) Status and number of IDPs, including those resulting from the 2008 conflict;

(b) Access to health care, employment, education and social security for IDPs, as well as current living conditions of those forcibly evicted in Tbilisi in 2010;

(c) Status of the five-day oral warning requirement.