Dear Member of the Parliamentary Assembly,
We, the undersigned international civil society organisations, are writing following your support for the Council of Europe’s PACE Resolution 2664 (2026) on The functioning of democratic institutions in Georgia, to urge concrete follow-up to one of its key recommendations.
In Resolution 2664, the Assembly reiterates its invitation to all Council of Europe (CoE) member States to consider the use of an inter-State application before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) under Article 33 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and regrets that this and other Convention mechanisms identified by the Assembly have not yet been used in response to the situation in Georgia. PACE first made this call in Resolution 2624 (2025). The February 2026 report of the OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism rapporteur similarly recommended that State Parties to the Convention consider submitting an inter-State application concerning Georgia, while the European Parliament has also called for follow-up to PACE’s recommendation in its June 2026 resolution on Georgia.
These increasingly consistent calls reflect the gravity of the situation. The question is no longer whether serious human rights violations and democratic backsliding have occurred in Georgia, but how CoE member states should respond to an increasingly systemic pattern of restrictions on fundamental rights, democratic institutions, and the rule of law.
Resolution 2664 follows sustained attention by the Assembly to Georgia’s democratic breakdown since 2024, including through election observation and successive resolutions on the erosion of democratic institutions, human rights and the rule of law. In January 2025, PACE ratified the Georgian delegation’s credentials subject to conditions concerning, among other matters, ending police violence, releasing political prisoners, addressing repressive legislation, and the need for renewed democratic elections. The Georgian delegation subsequently withdrew from the Assembly. Resolution 2664 makes clear that the Assembly’s urgent recommendations remain unaddressed.
We therefore urge you to follow up on the resolution you supported with your government on the possible use of Article 33.
There are compelling reasons for CoE member states to consider this mechanism:
- The scale and cumulative nature of the measures adopted since 2024 make consideration of a systemic response particularly important. The Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, the Foreign Agents Registration Act, amendments to the Law on Grants, increasingly restrictive rules on assemblies and administrative offences, anti-LGBTQI legislation, and related restrictions on civil society and independent media do not operate in isolation. Their implementation is forcing independent organisations to halt or reduce their activities, while continued legislative changes, enforcement actions, and prosecutions indicate the pattern is intensifying. Taken together, these measures are transforming episodic repression into an increasingly entrenched system of control.
- Article 33 application would complement, not replace, individual applications. Individual victims could continue to pursue their cases before the Court. Those cases, together with documentation by Georgian civil society and international organisations, could also provide evidence relevant to any allegation of broader practices.
- Article 33 provides for an effective litigation process, as cases brought under this provision may be afforded priority treatment. In light of the country’s rapid autocratic deterioration, this becomes an essential avenue for litigation.
- There remains a meaningful window for action. Georgia retains an active civil society and a population that has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to civil and political rights and the country’s European future. Acting before authoritarian consolidation becomes still more difficult to reverse would support those defending democratic institutions in Georgia and demonstrate the Council of Europe’s capacity to uphold the Convention system when its functional principles are under sustained pressure.
As a member of the Assembly who supported Resolution 2664, you are particularly well placed to help ensure that its Article 33 recommendation receives serious consideration at national level. We ask you to engage your government and urge it to assess, alone or together with like-minded CoE member states, the legal and evidentiary basis for an Article 33 application concerning systemic Convention violations in Georgia. Any such assessment would need to identify the specific Convention provisions engaged by the alleged systemic violations.
Possible steps could include written or oral parliamentary questions with the relevant minister seeking a parliamentary committee discussion or hearing on implementation of Resolution 2664; encouraging consultation with independent Georgian civil society and legal experts on the evidentiary and procedural basis for an application and urging your government to coordinate with like-minded CoE member states on possible joint action.
Our immediate request is that the Assembly’s Article 33 recommendation be treated by your government as a concrete legal and political option requiring serious assessment and follow up.
We remain available to provide further information, legal analysis, and documentation relevant to such an assessment.
Yours sincerely,
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF)
Human Rights Watch (HRW)
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
Index on Censorship
International Press Institute (IPI)
International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT)
Netherlands Helsinki Committee
Norwegian Helsinki Committee
PEN International
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
