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“Last night, the protests continued in the capital, Tbilisi, and police forces used tear gas and water cannons to disperse demonstrators in front of the parliament building,” UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson JeremyLaurence said at the UN bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.
The UN Human Rights Office had issued a detailed statement on the situation on Monday evening.
“We reiterate the call by UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Georgian authorities to respect and protect the rights to freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly,” Laurence said.
“The use of unnecessary or disproportionate force against demonstrators and media workers is extremely worrying. Any use of force by security personnel must remain an exception and comply with the principles of legality, necessity, proportionality, precaution and non-discrimination,” the spokesperson said.
“All Georgians from across the political spectrum should be able to express their views about the future of their country freely and peacefully,” Laurence concluded.
ENDS
For more information and media requests, please contact:
Ravina Shamdasani: +41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org
Jeremy Laurence: +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org
Thameen Al-Kheetan: +41 22 917 4232 / thameen.alkheetan@un.org
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STORY: UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on Georgia
TRT: 01:17
SOURCE: OHCHR / UNOG
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: English/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 03 December 2024 – GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior shot : Palais des Nations
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “Last night, the protests continued in the capital, Tbilisi, and police forces used tear gas and water cannons to disperse demonstrators in front of the parliament building.”
- Cutaway: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “We reiterate the call by UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Georgian authorities to respect and protect the rights to freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly.”
- Cutaway: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The use of unnecessary or disproportionate force against demonstrators and media workers is extremely worrying. Any use of force by security personnel must remain an exception and comply with the principles of legality, necessity, proportionality, precaution and non-discrimination.”
- Cutaway: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “All Georgians from across the political spectrum should be able to express their views about the future of their country freely and peacefully.”
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