24 OSCE participating States invoked the Moscow Mechanism last week in relation to Georgia, launching an independent expert mission to assess the implementation of Georgia’s OSCE human dimension commitments, with an explicit focus on serious human rights concerns since spring 2024.
“Georgia is facing consequences for the deteriorating human rights situation in the country. The decision to invoke the Moscow Mechanism reflects the growing concern and international scrutiny of Georgia’s human rights and democratic governance,” said NHC Secretary General Berit Lindeman. “The decision indicates that human rights developments in Georgia can no longer be addressed solely through routine dialogue. The critical issue is not whether the Georgian government agrees with the concerns raised, but whether it is willing to engage with the scrutiny that arises from the human rights commitments it voluntarily accepted as a Participating State in the OSCE.”
The states that invoked the Moscow Mechanism urged Georgia to fully cooperate with the mission, which will examine political and legal developments since 2024 and their impact on democratic institutions and civil society, and will provide recommendations. The mechanism enables the deployment of an independent expert mission to examine alleged violations of OSCE human dimension commitments.
“As an OSCE participating State, Georgia has undertaken commitments to respect and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms,” according to their statement. “Georgia has also recognized that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is a key factor for peace, justice, and prosperity, which are essential to ensuring friendly relations and cooperation among states.” The statement urged Georgia to cooperate fully with the work of the mission under the Moscow Mechanism, stating that “such engagement would demonstrate goodwill and readiness for constructive and open dialogue.”
The invocation of the Moscow Mechanism follows the Vienna Mechanism, which was triggered against Georgia in December 2024 by at least 38 participating States. The Vienna mechanism had urged Georgian authorities to provide detailed and substantive information on several concerns, including on arbitrary arrests and detentions and ill-treatment of protesters. While these concerns were consistently raised in the dialogue and at the Permanent Council in 2025, Georgian authorities failed to provide convincing answers, and the situation continued to deteriorate regarding the implementation of Georgia’s international human rights obligations. “Our concerns about implementation of shared human dimension commitments and international human rights obligations by the Georgian authorities have only increased,” the statement said.
Since early 2024, the Georgian authorities have adopted a highly restrictive set of laws incompatible with commitments on freedoms of expression, assembly, and association, while disproportionately interfering with peaceful assemblies and failing to respond adequately to widespread police violence. The ongoing crackdown includes suppression of civil society, arbitrary arrests, and prosecutions of protesters and opposition figures on spurious criminal and administrative charges.