[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 47 (Wednesday, April 24, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3300-S3301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      UNPUNISHED RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION IN THE REPUBLIC OF GEORGIA

 Mr. SMITH of Oregon. Mr. President, as a member of the 
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, I have followed 
closely human rights developments in the participating States, 
especially as they have an impact on freedom of thought, conscience, 
religion or belief. In many former communist countries, local religious 
establishments have reacted with concern

[[Page S3301]]

and annoyance about perceived encroachment of religions considered 
``non-traditional.'' But in the Republic of Georgia organized mob 
violence against those of nontraditional faiths has escalated, largely 
directed against Jehovah's Witnesses. For over 2 years, a wave of mob 
attacks has been unleashed on members of this and other minority 
religious communities, and it is very disturbing that the police have 
consistently either refused to restrain the attackers or actually 
participated in the violence.
  Since October 1999, nearly 80 attacks against Jehovah's Witnesses 
have taken place, most led by a defrocked Georgian Orthodox priest, 
Vasili Mkalavishvili. These violent acts have gone unpunished, despite 
the filing of over 600 criminal complaints. Reports cite people being 
dragged by their hair and then summarily punched, kicked and clubbed, 
as well as buses being stopped and attacked. The priest leading these 
barbaric actions has been quoted as saying Jehovah's Witnesses ``should 
be shot, we must annihilate them.'' Considering the well-documented 
frenzy of these depredations, it is only a matter of time before the 
assaults end in someone's death.
  Other minority religious communities have not escaped unscathed, but 
have also been targeted. Mkalavishvili coordinated an attack against a 
Pentecostal church last year during choir practice. His truncheon-
wielding mob seriously injured 12 church members. Two days before 
Christmas 2001, over 100 of his militants raided an Evangelical church 
service, clubbing members and stealing property. In February of this 
year, Mkalavishvili brought three buses of people, approximately 150 
followers, to burn Bibles and religious materials owned by the Baptist 
Union.
  Mkalavishvili brazenly holds impromptu press conferences with media 
outlets, often as the violence transpires in the background. With his 
hooligans perpetrating violent acts under the guise of religious piety, 
camera crews set up and document everything for the local news. The 
absence of a conviction and subsequent imprisonment of Mkalavishvili is 
not for lack of evidence.
  After considerable delay, the Georgian Government did commence on 
January 25 legal proceedings for two mob attacks. However, considering 
the minor charges being brought and the poor handling of the case, I 
fear Mkalavishvili and other extremists will only be encouraged to 
continue their attacks, confident of impunity from prosecution.
  Since the initial hearing in January of this year, postponement of 
the case has occurred four times due to Mkalavishvili's mob, sometimes 
numbering in the hundreds, overrunning the Didube-Chugureti District 
Court. Mkalavishvili's marauding followers brought wooden and iron 
crosses, as well as banners with offensive slogans. Mkalavishvili 
himself even threatened the lawyers and victims while they were in the 
courtroom. With police refusing to provide adequate security, lawyers 
filed a motion asking for court assistance, but the judge ruled the 
maximum security allowed would be 10 policemen, while no limit was 
placed on the number of Mkalavishvili's followers permitted in the 
courtroom. In contrast, the Ministry of Interior has reportedly 
provided more than 200 police and a SWAT team to protect officials of 
its office when Mkalavishvili was brought to trial under different 
charges.
  Certainly, the Georgian Government could provide adequate security so 
that its judicial system is not overruled by vigilante justice. 
Unfortunately for all Georgians, the anemic government response is 
indicative of its inability or worse yet, its unwillingness to enforce 
the law to protect minority religious groups.
  As is clearly evident, Georgian authorities are not taking effective 
steps to deter individuals and groups from employing violence against 
Jehovah's Witnesses and other minority faiths. With the ineptitude of 
the justice system now well known, Mkalavishvili has brazenly and 
publicly warned that the attacks will not cease.
  Religious intolerance is one of the most pernicious human rights 
problems in Georgia today. Therefore, I call upon President Eduard 
Shevardnadze to take action to end the violence against religious 
believers, and prevent attacks on minority religious communities. 
Despite the meetings he held with the various faith communities 
intended to demonstrate tolerance, Georgian Government inaction is 
sending a very different message. Tbilisi's pledge to uphold the rights 
of all believers and prosecute those who persecute the faithful must be 
followed by action.
  As a member of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, 
I urge President Shevardnadze to do whatever is necessary to stop these 
attacks, and to honor Georgia's OSCE commitments to promote and ensure 
religious freedom without distinction. The Georgian Government should 
take concrete steps to punish the perpetrators through vigorous 
prosecution.

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