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FORUM 18 NEWS SERVICE, Oslo, Norway
http://www.forum18.org/
The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one's belief or religion
The right to join together and express one's belief
===============================================
Thursday 4 July 2013
GEORGIA: WILL POLICE PROTECT MUSLIM PRAYERS FROM MOBS?
Since late May, mobs of non-Muslims have obstructed Muslims in the eastern
Georgian village of Samtatskaro from praying freely, human rights defenders
have told Forum 18 News Service. The mob threatened to burn down the imam's
home and drive him from the village. Guliko Nadirashvili, head of the
village, "mentioned publicly that if the majority decides that there must
not be a mosque in the village, that this is Christian land and the whole
village is against Muslims' prayer, we won't allow them to pray," a human
rights defender told Forum 18. Nadirashvili claimed to Forum 18 that
Muslims have "no problems praying". The local police chief refused to
discuss the violence and threats with Forum 18 and the Interior Ministry in
the capital Tbilisi was unable to say if anyone has been prosecuted over
this and two similar mob attacks on Muslims in late 2012.
GEORGIA: WILL POLICE PROTECT MUSLIM PRAYERS FROM MOBS?
http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1854
By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service
Police and local authorities in the eastern Georgian village of Samtatskaro
have failed to defend the rights of local Muslims to meet for prayer
together in the face of mob violence and threats, human rights defenders
and local Muslims have complained to Forum 18 News Service. However, the
head of the village dismissed any complaints. "Christians and Muslims have
the right to pray here," Guliko Nadirashvili, head of the village, claimed
to Forum 18 on 2 July. "The imam has no problems here."
The local police chief refused to discuss the violence and threats with
Forum 18 and the Interior Ministry in the capital Tbilisi was unable to say
if anyone has been prosecuted over this and two similar mob attacks on
Muslims in late 2012.
One human rights defender, who visited Samtatskaro in mid-June after the
problems for the Muslims began, dismissed Nadirashvili's remarks as
"ridiculous". "Together with other protesters, she has given many
interviews and mentioned publicly that if the majority decides that there
must not be a mosque in the village, that this is Christian land and the
whole village is against Muslims' prayer, we won't allow them to pray," the
human rights defender pointed out to Forum 18. "She was leading the
population against the Muslims, blocking the entrance to the village and to
the prayer house."
One of the imam's sons, Ednar Khozrevanidze, told Kavkazsky Uzel news
website on 1 July that about 40 Muslims used to meet regularly for Friday
prayers in the village, but most had stopped coming in the last few months
out of fear.
"State has a positive obligation"
Georgia's Public Defender (Ombudperson) Ucha Nanuashvili has repeatedly
condemned the violence and threats of violence against Samtatskaro's Muslim
community, and called for police to protect the community adequately. "The
state has a positive obligation to ensure the effective realization of
freedom of religion," he pointed out in a 7 June statement. "The above
obligation is especially important for religious minorities."
Nanuashvili went further in a 3 July statement, calling for disciplinary
action to be considered against village head Nadirashvili and criminal
prosecution of those who attacked or made threats against the Muslim
community.
The problems for Samtatskaro's Muslim community - which began in May -
follow several similar instances of mob attacks on Muslim prayers in the
past year (see below).
Any prosecutions?
Human rights defenders told Forum 18 that no one has been prosecuted over
the attacks on Muslims in the three villages since October 2012.
However, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry (which oversees the
police) in Tbilisi insisted to Forum 18 on 3 July that "our Ministry is
doing much about this issue". She was unable to say what the Ministry was
doing and asked for Forum 18 to send its questions in writing.
Forum 18 wrote on the morning of 3 July to ask how many people had been
brought to court and punished after the three sets of incidents. Forum 18
asked for the dates of any convictions, the name of the court, the article
of the administrative or criminal code they were prosecuted under and the
penalties the courts handed down. Forum 18 also asked what measures the
police had taken in the three villages to protect the rights of local
Muslims to gather for worship without fear of attack.
Despite repeated promises from Interior Ministry spokespersons during 3 and
4 July, at the end of the working day in Tbilisi on 4 July a spokesperson
told Forum 18 that "in one day it is not easy to provide all the
information you need". The spokesperson promised to provide the information
in the following days.
Past violence
Georgia was plagued by physical attacks on non-Georgian Orthodox
communities between 1996 and 2003. Mobs inflicted physical injuries on
followers of a variety of faiths suffered, destroyed places of worship and
stole and burnt religious literature. Most of the victims were Jehovah's
Witnesses, but Baptists, Catholics, Pentecostals and True Orthodox
Christians were also attacked. The violence subsided with the ousting of
then President Eduard Shevardnadze, but few of the perpetrators were ever
brought to justice (see F18News 10 November 2006
).
More recently, Georgian Orthodox clergy and laypeople have used violence
against other groups they dislike, including at a 17 May gay rights street
demonstration in Tbilisi.
Non-Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate communities still face extra-legal
restrictions and pressure from Patriarchate representatives and Georgian
Orthodox laypeople.
Although the Armenian Apostolic Church has not faced recent attacks, some
of its historical churches confiscated during the Soviet period - including
Norashen and Surb Nshan in Tbilisi - "have not been returned to their
historical legitimate owner, which is the Armenian Diocese in Georgia",
Levon Isakhanyan, adviser to the bishop and head of the diocesan legal
department, told Forum 18 from Tbilisi on 4 July.
Catholics too have failed to regain churches confiscated in the Soviet
period and handed to the Georgian Orthodox in the 1990s.
Isakhanyan added that only the Georgian Orthodox Church receives state
funding which, he points out, comes from taxpayers of a wide variety of
faiths and none.
Villagers protest against Muslims exercising religious freedom
Samtatskaro is a village of Dedoplistskaro Municipality in eastern Georgia,
on the border with Azerbaijan. Unlike other Muslims in eastern Georgia, who
are mainly ethnic Azeris, Samtatskaro's Muslims are ethnic Georgians who
migrated from Adjara in western Georgia in the late 1970s.
Georgia's Muslim Administration bought the community a house to use for
worship in early 2013. The appearance of the house was not changed to make
it look more like a mosque. However, the villagers still protested against
the Muslim community buying the house, Public Defender Nanuashvili
complained in a 7 June statement. "The Orthodox population of the village
protest [against] the exercise of freedom of religion by Muslims."
Mob violence
Only 13 of Samtatskaro's Muslims - Imam Suliko Khozrevanidze's family and a
few guests - held Friday prayers on 28 June. Later that day about 200 local
residents who are not Muslims gathered in protest outside the imam's home.
The crowd called on Imam Khozrevanidze to come out and threatened him. The
mob threatened to burn down the imam's home and drive him from the village.
His wife Emine Surmanidze was injured on the leg, though she is not sure
whether she was kicked deliberately or not. "It was turmoil," she told
Kavkazsky Uzel.
While the mob was protesting outside Khozrevanidze's home, Public Defender
Nanuashvili warned that "the village is rather tense and there is a threat
of physical violence". He publicly called on the Interior Minister Irakli
Gharibashvili "to take immediate, effective measures" to defend
Samtatskaro's Muslims. He called for police to be mobilised to defend the
community.
"No problems praying"?
Nadirashvili, the head of Samtatskaro village administration, insisted to
Forum 18 that Muslims in the village have "no problems praying" and that no
one has interfered in their prayers. Asked if the village's Muslims are
afraid following repeated attacks since 24 May, Nadirashvili responded: "I
don't know if they're afraid." She then put the phone down.
Forum 18 tried to find out what action the police had taken to protect the
right to freedom of religion or belief of Samtatskaro's Muslim community,
and whether any of those who attacked and threatened the community are to
face prosecution. However, reached on 2 July, Georgi Bubunashvili, head of
Dedoplistskaro Municipality Police, refused absolutely to discuss anything.
He referred Forum 18 to the Interior Ministry press office in Tbilisi.
Latest violence follows earlier violence
Trouble began for Samtatskaro's Muslim community on Friday 24 May, Tariel
Nakaidze of the Georgian Union of Muslims told Forum 18 from Batumi on 2
July. Nadirashvili, the head of the village, and other non-Muslim villagers
went to the mosque and prevented the Muslims from holding Friday prayers.
"Prayer rugs and holy books were thrown out of their mosque", complained
the Council of Religions attached to the Public Defender's Office - a body
uniting Protestant, Catholic, Armenian Apostolic, Jewish, Yezidi and Muslim
representatives.
Meetings for worship were similarly prevented on Friday 31 May and Friday 7
June. On 31 May, mobs did not allow the regional Muslim leader Jemal Adadze
and those accompanying him into Samtatskaro, threatening them with "bad
things" if they did. On 7 June, Imam Khozrevanidze was questioned by
police.
"We trust the local administration"
Non-Muslim villagers did allow Muslim Friday prayers to take place on 14
June, which were also attended by Georgia's Reintegration Minister Paata
Zakareishvili. He claimed in a statement on the Ministry website that the
local administration and the Muslims had agreed that no further problems
would arise. "We trust the local administration," the statement quoted him
as declaring.
State fails to protect victims and prosecute offenders
Tbilisi-based Georgian Democracy Initiative condemned the 28 June mob
attack in a statement the following day. "We believe that the actions of
the persons who took part in yesterday's incident contained the signs of a
number of crimes punishable by the Georgian legislation, including threat
(Article 151 of the Criminal Code) and hooliganism (Article 239 of the
Criminal Code), which were motivated by religious affiliation."
"The failure of the state to take adequate measures against the offenders
who were involved in the previous conflict situations has further
encouraged the part of the population that are aggressive towards the local
Muslims," Georgian Democracy Initiative warned. "Such actions by the
population have been encouraged by the statements of the officials of the
local self-government body who justified the violation of the minority
rights by the will of the majority and democracy as a form of the majority
rule."
Death threats by military police
Muslims have also faced other threats of violence from state officials. On
14 April, three drunk military police officers verbally assaulted
inhabitants of the village of Tsikhisdziri, Kobuleti, and fired several
shots. They stopped cars, searched individuals, calling them "Tatars", and
demanded that they show the Georgian Orthodox cross round their necks.
The Defence Ministry sacked the officers, while the Head of Senaki Military
Police Division was also dismissed, press reports said.
On 18 April, the Prosecutor's Office said two individuals had been
arrested. According to the Prosecutor's Office a third individual did not
appear before investigative bodies. The investigation was launched under
Criminal Code Articles 239, Parts 2a and 3 and Article 333, Parts 3b and
3c.
Public Defender Nanuashvili condemned the attacks on 19 April, describing
the military police officers' behaviour as "unacceptable". He welcomed the
"timely response of law enforcement bodies". He pointed out that under
Criminal Code Article 53, responsibility should be increased if religious
intolerance is perceived as the basis of committing the crime. Article 156
(persecution on the basis of one's confession, faith or belief) should also
be applied, he added
"The objective and adequate investigation of this case is essential for
preventing religious intolerance," Nanuashvili declared.
Mob attacks during 2012 in other villages
The threats to Samtatskaro's Muslim community followed similar threats
during 2012 in other villages. On 26 October and 2 November 2012,
non-Muslim residents of the village of Nigvziani in Lanchkhuti
Municipality, near Samtredia in western Georgia, demanded that Muslims stop
gathering for prayers in a private house owned by Archil Kakhadze.
Local Muslims, who moved to Nigvziani from Adjara in 1989, had earlier
travelled to a mosque in Batumi, but began praying in their village in
2011.
The mob warned the Muslims that if they did not stop they would be killed
and their mosque would be burnt down. Muslim children were also threatened,
human rights defenders told Forum 18. They added that Georgian Orthodox
priests incited the population against the Muslims.
On 2 November 2012, non-Muslim villagers blocked the road to prevent
Georgia's Chief Mufti Jemal Paksadze from joining Nigvziani's Muslims for
Friday prayers. Neither police forces nor law enforcement bodies intervened
to prevent public disorder and numerous criminal actions, human rights
defenders complained to Forum 18. Nor did they protect the right of Muslims
to freedom of movement. Police or other security forces did not detain a
single offender participating in these events, despite the questioning of
about ten villagers at the urging of representatives of Public Defender
Nanuashvili.
"We gave them [local Muslims] one week to decide what to do," Georgian
Orthodox deacon Saba Jgenti told Kavkazsky Uzel on 3 November 2012. "We
told them that local people will not allow minarets and mass prayers in
this village."
The situation later calmed down after representatives of the Georgian
Orthodox Patriarchate and the mufti met in the Patriarchate in Tbilisi. No
obstruction or threats occurred as the community gathered again for Friday
prayers on 9 November 2012. However, local non-Muslims remain aggressive
towards the Muslims and insist they will not allow Muslims from outside the
village to join their fellow-Muslims for prayers, human rights defenders
complain. They also continue to oppose the building of a new mosque in the
village.
"State officials made very vague statements about these events, stating
that the interests of both sides must be taken into account and protected,"
one human rights defender lamented to Forum 18. "Officials said that in the
first place the two religious groups (Muslims and Orthodox Church) should
come to terms and only after that in case of need the law enforcement
agencies might intervene. Such a response by state and law enforcement
officials was inadequate."
On 29 November 2012, similar threats against a local imam occurred in
another village, Tsintskaro in Tetritskaro Municipality south-west of
Tbilisi. Part of the local Orthodox population protested against the
exercise of religious freedom by the Muslim population. They confronted the
imam, Marad Gorjomelidze, assaulted him verbally and threatened that unless
he stopped the prayer, they would burn down his house and expel him from
the village. "Unfortunately the State's response was again inappropriate,"
human rights defenders lamented to Forum 18.
However, police did prevent a mob from interrupting Muslim prayers in
Tsintskaro on 30 November 2012. (END)
Previous reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Georgia
can be found at
.
A compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe
(OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments can be found at
.
A printer-friendly map of Georgia is available at
.
All Forum 18 News Service material may be referred to, quoted from, or
republished in full, if Forum 18 is credited as the
source.
© Forum 18 News Service. All rights reserved. ISSN 1504-2855.
http://www.forum18.org/
The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one's belief or religion
The right to join together and express one's belief
===============================================
Thursday 4 July 2013
GEORGIA: WILL POLICE PROTECT MUSLIM PRAYERS FROM MOBS?
Since late May, mobs of non-Muslims have obstructed Muslims in the eastern
Georgian village of Samtatskaro from praying freely, human rights defenders
have told Forum 18 News Service. The mob threatened to burn down the imam's
home and drive him from the village. Guliko Nadirashvili, head of the
village, "mentioned publicly that if the majority decides that there must
not be a mosque in the village, that this is Christian land and the whole
village is against Muslims' prayer, we won't allow them to pray," a human
rights defender told Forum 18. Nadirashvili claimed to Forum 18 that
Muslims have "no problems praying". The local police chief refused to
discuss the violence and threats with Forum 18 and the Interior Ministry in
the capital Tbilisi was unable to say if anyone has been prosecuted over
this and two similar mob attacks on Muslims in late 2012.
GEORGIA: WILL POLICE PROTECT MUSLIM PRAYERS FROM MOBS?
http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1854
By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service
Police and local authorities in the eastern Georgian village of Samtatskaro
have failed to defend the rights of local Muslims to meet for prayer
together in the face of mob violence and threats, human rights defenders
and local Muslims have complained to Forum 18 News Service. However, the
head of the village dismissed any complaints. "Christians and Muslims have
the right to pray here," Guliko Nadirashvili, head of the village, claimed
to Forum 18 on 2 July. "The imam has no problems here."
The local police chief refused to discuss the violence and threats with
Forum 18 and the Interior Ministry in the capital Tbilisi was unable to say
if anyone has been prosecuted over this and two similar mob attacks on
Muslims in late 2012.
One human rights defender, who visited Samtatskaro in mid-June after the
problems for the Muslims began, dismissed Nadirashvili's remarks as
"ridiculous". "Together with other protesters, she has given many
interviews and mentioned publicly that if the majority decides that there
must not be a mosque in the village, that this is Christian land and the
whole village is against Muslims' prayer, we won't allow them to pray," the
human rights defender pointed out to Forum 18. "She was leading the
population against the Muslims, blocking the entrance to the village and to
the prayer house."
One of the imam's sons, Ednar Khozrevanidze, told Kavkazsky Uzel news
website on 1 July that about 40 Muslims used to meet regularly for Friday
prayers in the village, but most had stopped coming in the last few months
out of fear.
"State has a positive obligation"
Georgia's Public Defender (Ombudperson) Ucha Nanuashvili has repeatedly
condemned the violence and threats of violence against Samtatskaro's Muslim
community, and called for police to protect the community adequately. "The
state has a positive obligation to ensure the effective realization of
freedom of religion," he pointed out in a 7 June statement. "The above
obligation is especially important for religious minorities."
Nanuashvili went further in a 3 July statement, calling for disciplinary
action to be considered against village head Nadirashvili and criminal
prosecution of those who attacked or made threats against the Muslim
community.
The problems for Samtatskaro's Muslim community - which began in May -
follow several similar instances of mob attacks on Muslim prayers in the
past year (see below).
Any prosecutions?
Human rights defenders told Forum 18 that no one has been prosecuted over
the attacks on Muslims in the three villages since October 2012.
However, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry (which oversees the
police) in Tbilisi insisted to Forum 18 on 3 July that "our Ministry is
doing much about this issue". She was unable to say what the Ministry was
doing and asked for Forum 18 to send its questions in writing.
Forum 18 wrote on the morning of 3 July to ask how many people had been
brought to court and punished after the three sets of incidents. Forum 18
asked for the dates of any convictions, the name of the court, the article
of the administrative or criminal code they were prosecuted under and the
penalties the courts handed down. Forum 18 also asked what measures the
police had taken in the three villages to protect the rights of local
Muslims to gather for worship without fear of attack.
Despite repeated promises from Interior Ministry spokespersons during 3 and
4 July, at the end of the working day in Tbilisi on 4 July a spokesperson
told Forum 18 that "in one day it is not easy to provide all the
information you need". The spokesperson promised to provide the information
in the following days.
Past violence
Georgia was plagued by physical attacks on non-Georgian Orthodox
communities between 1996 and 2003. Mobs inflicted physical injuries on
followers of a variety of faiths suffered, destroyed places of worship and
stole and burnt religious literature. Most of the victims were Jehovah's
Witnesses, but Baptists, Catholics, Pentecostals and True Orthodox
Christians were also attacked. The violence subsided with the ousting of
then President Eduard Shevardnadze, but few of the perpetrators were ever
brought to justice (see F18News 10 November 2006
).
More recently, Georgian Orthodox clergy and laypeople have used violence
against other groups they dislike, including at a 17 May gay rights street
demonstration in Tbilisi.
Non-Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate communities still face extra-legal
restrictions and pressure from Patriarchate representatives and Georgian
Orthodox laypeople.
Although the Armenian Apostolic Church has not faced recent attacks, some
of its historical churches confiscated during the Soviet period - including
Norashen and Surb Nshan in Tbilisi - "have not been returned to their
historical legitimate owner, which is the Armenian Diocese in Georgia",
Levon Isakhanyan, adviser to the bishop and head of the diocesan legal
department, told Forum 18 from Tbilisi on 4 July.
Catholics too have failed to regain churches confiscated in the Soviet
period and handed to the Georgian Orthodox in the 1990s.
Isakhanyan added that only the Georgian Orthodox Church receives state
funding which, he points out, comes from taxpayers of a wide variety of
faiths and none.
Villagers protest against Muslims exercising religious freedom
Samtatskaro is a village of Dedoplistskaro Municipality in eastern Georgia,
on the border with Azerbaijan. Unlike other Muslims in eastern Georgia, who
are mainly ethnic Azeris, Samtatskaro's Muslims are ethnic Georgians who
migrated from Adjara in western Georgia in the late 1970s.
Georgia's Muslim Administration bought the community a house to use for
worship in early 2013. The appearance of the house was not changed to make
it look more like a mosque. However, the villagers still protested against
the Muslim community buying the house, Public Defender Nanuashvili
complained in a 7 June statement. "The Orthodox population of the village
protest [against] the exercise of freedom of religion by Muslims."
Mob violence
Only 13 of Samtatskaro's Muslims - Imam Suliko Khozrevanidze's family and a
few guests - held Friday prayers on 28 June. Later that day about 200 local
residents who are not Muslims gathered in protest outside the imam's home.
The crowd called on Imam Khozrevanidze to come out and threatened him. The
mob threatened to burn down the imam's home and drive him from the village.
His wife Emine Surmanidze was injured on the leg, though she is not sure
whether she was kicked deliberately or not. "It was turmoil," she told
Kavkazsky Uzel.
While the mob was protesting outside Khozrevanidze's home, Public Defender
Nanuashvili warned that "the village is rather tense and there is a threat
of physical violence". He publicly called on the Interior Minister Irakli
Gharibashvili "to take immediate, effective measures" to defend
Samtatskaro's Muslims. He called for police to be mobilised to defend the
community.
"No problems praying"?
Nadirashvili, the head of Samtatskaro village administration, insisted to
Forum 18 that Muslims in the village have "no problems praying" and that no
one has interfered in their prayers. Asked if the village's Muslims are
afraid following repeated attacks since 24 May, Nadirashvili responded: "I
don't know if they're afraid." She then put the phone down.
Forum 18 tried to find out what action the police had taken to protect the
right to freedom of religion or belief of Samtatskaro's Muslim community,
and whether any of those who attacked and threatened the community are to
face prosecution. However, reached on 2 July, Georgi Bubunashvili, head of
Dedoplistskaro Municipality Police, refused absolutely to discuss anything.
He referred Forum 18 to the Interior Ministry press office in Tbilisi.
Latest violence follows earlier violence
Trouble began for Samtatskaro's Muslim community on Friday 24 May, Tariel
Nakaidze of the Georgian Union of Muslims told Forum 18 from Batumi on 2
July. Nadirashvili, the head of the village, and other non-Muslim villagers
went to the mosque and prevented the Muslims from holding Friday prayers.
"Prayer rugs and holy books were thrown out of their mosque", complained
the Council of Religions attached to the Public Defender's Office - a body
uniting Protestant, Catholic, Armenian Apostolic, Jewish, Yezidi and Muslim
representatives.
Meetings for worship were similarly prevented on Friday 31 May and Friday 7
June. On 31 May, mobs did not allow the regional Muslim leader Jemal Adadze
and those accompanying him into Samtatskaro, threatening them with "bad
things" if they did. On 7 June, Imam Khozrevanidze was questioned by
police.
"We trust the local administration"
Non-Muslim villagers did allow Muslim Friday prayers to take place on 14
June, which were also attended by Georgia's Reintegration Minister Paata
Zakareishvili. He claimed in a statement on the Ministry website that the
local administration and the Muslims had agreed that no further problems
would arise. "We trust the local administration," the statement quoted him
as declaring.
State fails to protect victims and prosecute offenders
Tbilisi-based Georgian Democracy Initiative condemned the 28 June mob
attack in a statement the following day. "We believe that the actions of
the persons who took part in yesterday's incident contained the signs of a
number of crimes punishable by the Georgian legislation, including threat
(Article 151 of the Criminal Code) and hooliganism (Article 239 of the
Criminal Code), which were motivated by religious affiliation."
"The failure of the state to take adequate measures against the offenders
who were involved in the previous conflict situations has further
encouraged the part of the population that are aggressive towards the local
Muslims," Georgian Democracy Initiative warned. "Such actions by the
population have been encouraged by the statements of the officials of the
local self-government body who justified the violation of the minority
rights by the will of the majority and democracy as a form of the majority
rule."
Death threats by military police
Muslims have also faced other threats of violence from state officials. On
14 April, three drunk military police officers verbally assaulted
inhabitants of the village of Tsikhisdziri, Kobuleti, and fired several
shots. They stopped cars, searched individuals, calling them "Tatars", and
demanded that they show the Georgian Orthodox cross round their necks.
The Defence Ministry sacked the officers, while the Head of Senaki Military
Police Division was also dismissed, press reports said.
On 18 April, the Prosecutor's Office said two individuals had been
arrested. According to the Prosecutor's Office a third individual did not
appear before investigative bodies. The investigation was launched under
Criminal Code Articles 239, Parts 2a and 3 and Article 333, Parts 3b and
3c.
Public Defender Nanuashvili condemned the attacks on 19 April, describing
the military police officers' behaviour as "unacceptable". He welcomed the
"timely response of law enforcement bodies". He pointed out that under
Criminal Code Article 53, responsibility should be increased if religious
intolerance is perceived as the basis of committing the crime. Article 156
(persecution on the basis of one's confession, faith or belief) should also
be applied, he added
"The objective and adequate investigation of this case is essential for
preventing religious intolerance," Nanuashvili declared.
Mob attacks during 2012 in other villages
The threats to Samtatskaro's Muslim community followed similar threats
during 2012 in other villages. On 26 October and 2 November 2012,
non-Muslim residents of the village of Nigvziani in Lanchkhuti
Municipality, near Samtredia in western Georgia, demanded that Muslims stop
gathering for prayers in a private house owned by Archil Kakhadze.
Local Muslims, who moved to Nigvziani from Adjara in 1989, had earlier
travelled to a mosque in Batumi, but began praying in their village in
2011.
The mob warned the Muslims that if they did not stop they would be killed
and their mosque would be burnt down. Muslim children were also threatened,
human rights defenders told Forum 18. They added that Georgian Orthodox
priests incited the population against the Muslims.
On 2 November 2012, non-Muslim villagers blocked the road to prevent
Georgia's Chief Mufti Jemal Paksadze from joining Nigvziani's Muslims for
Friday prayers. Neither police forces nor law enforcement bodies intervened
to prevent public disorder and numerous criminal actions, human rights
defenders complained to Forum 18. Nor did they protect the right of Muslims
to freedom of movement. Police or other security forces did not detain a
single offender participating in these events, despite the questioning of
about ten villagers at the urging of representatives of Public Defender
Nanuashvili.
"We gave them [local Muslims] one week to decide what to do," Georgian
Orthodox deacon Saba Jgenti told Kavkazsky Uzel on 3 November 2012. "We
told them that local people will not allow minarets and mass prayers in
this village."
The situation later calmed down after representatives of the Georgian
Orthodox Patriarchate and the mufti met in the Patriarchate in Tbilisi. No
obstruction or threats occurred as the community gathered again for Friday
prayers on 9 November 2012. However, local non-Muslims remain aggressive
towards the Muslims and insist they will not allow Muslims from outside the
village to join their fellow-Muslims for prayers, human rights defenders
complain. They also continue to oppose the building of a new mosque in the
village.
"State officials made very vague statements about these events, stating
that the interests of both sides must be taken into account and protected,"
one human rights defender lamented to Forum 18. "Officials said that in the
first place the two religious groups (Muslims and Orthodox Church) should
come to terms and only after that in case of need the law enforcement
agencies might intervene. Such a response by state and law enforcement
officials was inadequate."
On 29 November 2012, similar threats against a local imam occurred in
another village, Tsintskaro in Tetritskaro Municipality south-west of
Tbilisi. Part of the local Orthodox population protested against the
exercise of religious freedom by the Muslim population. They confronted the
imam, Marad Gorjomelidze, assaulted him verbally and threatened that unless
he stopped the prayer, they would burn down his house and expel him from
the village. "Unfortunately the State's response was again inappropriate,"
human rights defenders lamented to Forum 18.
However, police did prevent a mob from interrupting Muslim prayers in
Tsintskaro on 30 November 2012. (END)
Previous reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Georgia
can be found at
.
A compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe
(OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments can be found at
.
A printer-friendly map of Georgia is available at
.
All Forum 18 News Service material may be referred to, quoted from, or
republished in full, if Forum 18 is credited as the
source.
© Forum 18 News Service. All rights reserved. ISSN 1504-2855.