TBILISI, Georgia (December 16, 2024) – The McCain Institute at Arizona State University organized an assessment mission to Tbilisi, Georgia, December 9-13, to meet with a diverse cross-section of Georgian society. The group sought to learn more about how Georgians are dealing with the stress caused by the October 26 parliamentary elections, which were neither free nor fair, and to demonstrate international support and presence.
The mission included former diplomats, journalists, and representatives from civil society from Europe and the United States, all with extensive knowledge of Georgia. The delegation met with representatives from political parties, civil society, media, election observer groups, regional civic leaders and media, minority communities, foreign policy and international organizations, embassies, the business sector, the artistic and cultural sector, and the Central Election Commission. Delegates also heard from protestors who had been illegally captured and tortured. The delegation requested but did not succeed in securing meetings with Georgian Dream party (GD) representatives and President Salome Zourabichvili.
The group issued the following statement regarding their mission to Georgia:
We heard from many interlocutors that ahead of the 26 October elections, GD conducted a widespread campaign of intimidation and threats, vote buying, raids of civil society organizations, abuse of state resources, and confiscation of personal IDs. Disinformation experts described how GD, in lockstep with the Kremlin, pushed narratives intended to scare voters with threats of war if they voted for the opposition. Election observers presented their findings and documentation from election day to the delegation, describing serious irregularities, including multiple voting, ballot stuffing, lack of secrecy, intimidation, and statistical impossibilities. We heard similar accounts of election day from other experts, diplomats, and media representatives. The delegation put these reports to the election commission leaders, who were unable to provide reassuring explanations.
Following the elections, Georgia Dream announced that it would suspend plans for four years to pursue EU accession, despite overwhelming public support for a European future. This spurred tens of thousands of Georgians to begin peacefully protesting, including in villages that had never before experienced such expression. Our interlocutors described how black-clad security teams with no identifying insignia have been systematically attacking and beating protesters, while uniformed police stand by and do nothing. The mission met with several young men who described how they were captured after leaving the protests and beaten unconscious by the security forces. They all spent nights in hospital with broken bones, facial injuries, and concussions. Subsequently they were falsely charged with hooliganism and vandalism.
People, particularly journalists and civil society representatives, are also being abducted no where near the protests, and subsequently beaten and charged. During our mission, a staff member of the think tank Rondeli Foundation was taken from the street while walking his dog. He was missing for hours, beaten, then arrested and charged.
The mission was alarmed at the scale and severity of official violence against citizens engaged in peaceful expression. It is a miracle that no one has yet been killed, but this risk will grow if the torture persists. In the awful event that there are deaths at the hands of the government’s thugs, the political environment could become even more volatile.
As noted in the McCain Institute’s pre-election assessment in September, and documented by Freedom House and International IDEA, Georgia’s democracy has been backsliding for several years as GD seeks to maintain power under the control of Bidzina Ivanishvili. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, this authoritarian decline accelerated.
The GD government has turned against Georgia’s strongest supporters in the West, even fabricating the existence of a Western “Global War Party” which allegedly wants to bring Georgia into war with Russia. The GD government is drawing praise from Moscow for its authoritarian measures, including a repressive new foreign agent law modeled after the Kremlin’s. The government has also established new partnerships with China and Iran.
While Russian interference has been well documented, civic organizers from Azeri minority communities described to the mission how Iranian proxies fund local religious organizations, businesses, and charities, and these groups were actively involved during the campaign period spreading anti-Western, anti-LGBTQ narratives, coinciding with GD messaging. Azerbaijani political leaders and media figures appeared side by side with GD candidates, repeating anti-Western narratives.
Georgian Dream convened the new parliament on November 25, an act described as illegal by some legal watchdogs since election integrity cases were still pending in the constitutional court and the President, who is required to approve parliament, did not. Opposition representatives have refused their mandates and declined to be seated in parliament.
Prominent ex-footballer, Mikheil Kavelashvili, known for his anti-Western views, was elected president on December 14, the day after our mission concluded, by a GD dominated 300-delegate electoral college, including parliament’s MPs, a process that many reported lacked legitimacy given the questioned status of parliament and fraudulent election results. President Zourabichvili has refused to accept the results and pledges to keep leading an opposition movement. Increased protests, with many public sector workers joining, took place at the presidential palace and across the city.
Every day, GD authorities are introducing new measures to facilitate their oppression, such as making it easier for the government to punish or dismiss civil servants perceived to be “disloyal,” and allowing for the pre-emptive detention of protesters. Time is therefore of the essence for the international community to act.
The delegation believes that it is urgent that the international community stand behind the Georgian people with concrete measures. The Department of State has announced new travel restrictions. Financial sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili and GD leaders and their families, and security force officials responsible for authoritarian measures and torture, are appropriate. The U.S. and EU should work in tandem, and several European countries have put in place travel bans of their own. Such actions will demonstrate that no one is untouchable, and they could create divisions within GD ranks. They will also be a shot in the arm for the protestors who are taking personal risks and feel alone.
It is not just sanctions that are needed. The delegation believes it is important for the international community not to recognize this government as legitimate. In our view, the elections themselves were sufficiently flawed as to cast doubt on the validity of the result. However, the government’s repressive actions since then also call into question its moral legitimacy.
Georgia is a small country, but its trajectory has ripple effects. For example, Georgia’s authoritarian, pro-Russian turn could limit Armenia’s options to shake free from Russian pressure and grow closer to the West. Inaction sends the message to our adversaries that their hostile takeovers are effective because the West is weak. Meanwhile, action costs the international community very little – our partnership with Georgia is not forged on oil or trade or significant transactional interests. Rather it is based on shared values, which have allowed Georgia a special position in Western capitals. Those shared values are now at risk of being lost.
A number of our interlocutors voiced concern that Georgia was falling victim to the same Russian methods as Lukashenka’s regime has employed in Belarus. Our mission felt that darkness was descending on this beleaguered but freedom-loving country. The West has a responsibility to act before it is too late.
This statement is signed by the following individuals:
Laura Thornton, Senior Director of Global Democracy Programs, McCain Institute; former head of the National Democratic Institute in Georgia
Michael Cecire, Georgetown University, formerly at Helsinki Committee, U.S. Congress
William Courtney, United States Ambassador to Georgia, 1995-97
Daniel Gleichgewicht, The Jan Nowak-Jeziorański College of Eastern Europe (Poland)
Alexandra Hall Hall, former British Ambassador to Georgia, 2013-2016; current co-host of the Disorder Podcast, and columnist for Byline Times.
Jakob Hedenskog, Analyst, Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies, SCEEUS; Centrum för Östeuropastudier, SCEEUS
Laura Linderman, Director of Programs and Senior Fellow, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, American Foreign Policy Council
Taavi Toom, Estonian Ambassador (ret.)
Nicholas Whyte, former Europe Director, International Crisis Group; Visiting Professor, Ulster University
About the McCain Institute at Arizona State University
The McCain Institute is a nonpartisan organization inspired by Senator John McCain and his family’s dedication to public service. We are part of Arizona State University and based in Washington, D.C. Our programs defend democracy, advance human rights and freedom, and empower character-driven leaders. Our unique power to convene leaders across the global political spectrum enables us to make a real impact on the world’s most pressing challenges. Our goal is action, not talk, and like Senator McCain, we are fighting to create a free, safe, and just world for all.
About Arizona State University
Arizona State University has developed a new model for the American research university, creating an institution that is committed to access, excellence and impact. ASU measures itself by those it includes, not by those it excludes. As the prototype for a New American University, ASU pursues research that contributes to the public good, and ASU assumes major responsibility for the economic, social and cultural vitality of the communities that surround it.
