Uniformed Arbitrariness: When the State Becomes the Aggressor

When a country has more young people in prison than corrupt officials, when police cars turn into mobile torture chambers, and when a human rights report needs around 222 pages to document it all – we are not talking about Belarus. Welcome to Georgia, 2025.

A recent final report by Georgian civil society organizations on the human rights situation paints a bleak picture: A state once hailed as a model pupil of the European Neighborhood Policy is now a textbook example of the systematic erosion of fundamental rights. The core issues: police violence, mistreatment, targeted repression of young protesters – and a judicial system that doesn’t intervene, but enforces.

The Streets Belong to the Police: Repression Instead of Rule of Law

The report documents dozens of cases in which protesters were brutally beaten, arbitrarily detained, and subsequently humiliated. The perpetrators wear uniforms – but no identification numbers. A classic sign that violence isn’t punished, but anticipated.

One particularly disturbing case involves a 20-year-old man who only wanted to meet his girlfriend at a protest. Instead, he was chased by masked police officers, beaten, and threatened with rape and murder. While already injured and lying on the ground, he was still insulted and sexually humiliated.

“They said, ‘Let’s drive him into an alley, film it, beat him half to death and dump him somewhere,’” the victim reported. An officer touched his leg. When he resisted, he was punched in the face – with the comment: “You dare talk back to me?”

The abuse didn’t end on the street. In police stations, detainees were forced to strip, assume degrading positions, and repeat “confessions” while being filmed. The goal is obvious: intimidation, demoralization, and the destruction of any resistance.

Those Who Protest, Lose – Their Rights

The years 2023 and 2024 marked a new level of state violence. Especially following protests against the so-called “Russian agents law,” the police launched mass arrests. According to the report, over 140 people were detained on March 7, 2023 alone – many without arrest warrants, without explanation, and without access to lawyers.

Protesters described being beaten on buses, mistreated in dark police stations, and psychologically tortured. One young man testified:

“They punched me in the face, threatened to rape and kill me. One officer said he would rape my girlfriend and send me the video.”

The report emphasizes repeatedly that this repression is not an exception, but institutionally embedded. The fact that many officers cover their faces and wear no identification speaks volumes – not of shame, but of the lack of any risk of prosecution.

A Judiciary That Prefers to Watch

What do the police and government do? Nothing. What do the courts do? Even less. Numerous complaints about police violence were either never investigated or dismissed immediately. The Ministry of the Interior publicly speaks of “legitimate interventions to maintain order” – a phrase that has long become the go-to justification for repression in Georgia.

Meanwhile, court cases against protesters are processed like assembly line trials. Verdicts are handed down within hours, without proper hearings, without independent evidence – often based solely on police testimony.

In one case, three young men were fined for “failing to follow police orders” – even though video evidence showed otherwise. The court refused to consider the footage. The reason: “It is not relevant.”

Violence Against Minors

Particularly shocking is the treatment of minors. The report documents cases where 16- and 17-year-olds were beaten, threatened, and held for hours – without parental or legal representation. A 17-year-old recounts being forced to give up his phone password while being threatened with violence.

“They told me to admit I was being paid by foreign organizations,” said the student. “When I asked what this was about, I got slapped.”

Child protection? An alien concept in a system that thrives on intimidation through example. The report describes the psychological and physical consequences of such abuse in detail – ranging from anxiety disorders to PTSD and long-term social isolation.

International Standards? Missing in Action.

Georgia has signed numerous human rights treaties – including the European Convention on Human Rights. Yet while the country presents itself as a “reform champion” on the international stage, the report tells a different story: a structural failure of the human rights system, covered from the top and carried out from below.

Particularly criticized is the absence of independent oversight. The Special Investigation Service, tasked with investigating police abuse, is understaffed, institutionally dependent, and politically paralyzed. Of over 300 complaints of mistreatment, only a handful were pursued – and not a single conviction.

A Country Assaults Its Own Future

What remains of a state that abuses its critical youth, intimidates journalists, and uses courts as tools of authoritarian power? The report answers clearly: a regime that fears its own population – and responds with violence.

Georgia stands at a crossroads. While Europe watches – or at least should – the reality on the streets tells a different story. There, it is not the law that rules, but the baton. And every young person who dares to fight for a different future risks losing it in police custody.