OSCE Moscow Mechanism Expert Mission on Georgia Begins Work

2026-02-12 - 09:57

The OSCE Moscow Mechanism expert mission on Georgia began work on February 11, two weeks after 24 countries invoked it over Georgia’s “deteriorating human rights situation.” The organization provided an email address in a post on X for the submission of “any relevant information” until February 24. According to the OSCE, the mission will “document recent developments in Georgia in respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms; assess the impact of these developments including for Georgian civil society, freedom of the media, the rule of law and independence of the judiciary, political pluralism and other structural components of a democratic society which underpin the OSCE’s comprehensive definition of security; and provide recommendations on how to address matters of concern.” The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), a local human rights watchdog, said it submitted seven thematic reports to the expert mission, documenting a broad pattern of rights violations and democratic backsliding in Georgia since spring 2024. The organization said that the submitted information covers “the violent crackdown on the spring 2024 protests, cases of ill-treatment and arbitrary detention, as well as the systematic practice of torture and ill-treatment, the culture of impunity, and ineffective investigations documented since November 2024.” It added that the communication “also draws attention to the disproportionate and dangerous practice of mixing chemicals in water cannons and the need for an objective investigation into this.” Georgian Dream officials dismissed concerns about the deterioration of the human rights situation in the country. GD parliamentary majority leader Irakli Kirtskhalia said that foreign institutions and organizations meant to promote cooperation have in recent years been used “to punish undesirable political opponents.” He claimed that human rights in Georgia are today “better protected” than in most of the countries that invoked the mechanism. It is the first time the OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism has been invoked on Georgia. Since its establishment in 1991, before being invoked on Georgia, the Moscow Mechanism had been used sixteen times, with the last ten directed at human rights concerns in Belarus and Russia, as well as abuses against prisoners of war in the context of Russian aggression on Ukraine. The invocation of the Moscow Mechanism on Georgia followed an earlier use of the Vienna Mechanism, another OSCE “Human Dimension” tool for monitoring member states’ human rights and democracy commitments. In December 2024, 38 countries applied the Vienna Mechanism to Georgia, asking the government to respond to several human rights concerns amid ongoing pro-EU protests. “Even after Georgia’s response, these concerns only increased,” the OSCE noted in a recent statement. Also Read: 25/07/2025 – Georgia Backs Invoking Moscow Mechanism Over Russia’s Abuse of Prisoners of War