The project “Strengthening access to justice through non-judicial redress mechanisms for victims of discrimination, hate crime and hate speech in Eastern Partnership countries,” is funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe in their Partnership for Good Governance II.
Launch of the Report “Systemic mapping of national responses to hate speech in Georgia”
Monday, 22 November 2021
14.00 – 16.30 (GMT +4 – Tbilisi time)
11.00 – 13.30 (GMT +1 – Strasbourg time)
Online event, zoom platform
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87064031179?pwd=SmcrR3FTb2NQUVRoOGo4akk4cGZZQT09
(Meeting ID: 870 6403 1179 / Passcode: 396072)
Background
The Report on the systemic mapping of national responses to hate speech in Georgia analyses the impact of hate speech on members of the society; the redresses, policies, tools and actions available to victims; the role played by different state and private actors in addressing hate speech and the outstanding challenges. It gathered contributions from various stakeholders, including representatives of civil society, media, ministries, judiciary, public defender office and parliament and it aims at identifying and prioritising elements for future action to combat hate speech in Georgia through a comprehensive approach, as outlined in ECRI GPR 15.
The meeting and panel discussion will aim at addressing the following questions:
- Which recommendations from the mapping report can be considered as most urgent and prioritized?
- What would be the first steps to be made to address the challenges identified in the report?
- What type of follow-up action and/or support would be needed to elaborate and implement an effective strategy to address hate speech in Georgia?
Draft Agenda
Launch of the Report “Systemic mapping of national responses to hate speech in Georgia”
Chair: Stefan Sirbu, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Tbilisi
14.00 Official opening of the launch event
Irena Guidikova, Head of Division, Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Programmes, Council of Europe
Evija Kotan, Deputy Head of Political, Press and Information Section, EU Delegation to Georgia
14.20 Presentation of the report followed by reactions from the floor
“Systemic mapping of national responses to hate speech in Georgia”
Mariam Gavtadze, Council of Europe consultant
14.50 Combating hate speech in Georgia: key human rights aspects.
Presentation and reaction from the floor.
Ekaterine Skhiladze, Deputy Public Defender of Georgia
15.20 Panel discussion on the next steps in combating hate speech in Georgia
Moderator: Mariam Gavtadze, Council of Europe consultant
Panellists:
- Maka Peradze, Human Rights Secretariat (tbc)
- Ministry of Education (tbc)
- Keti Shubashvili, Head of Equality Department, Public Defender’s Office
- Mari Kapanadze Georgian Democracy Initiative
- Tamar Kintsurashvili, Media Development Foundation (tbc)
- Charter of Journalistic Ethics, (tbc)
16.20 Conclusions
Mariam Gavtadze, Council of Europe consultant
Angela Longo, Programme Manager, No Hate Speech and Co-operation Unit, Council of Europe