Protesters gather outside the Georgian parliament in Tbilisi, Georgia, on May 26, 2026.
Georgian authorities are using repressive laws, funding restrictions, and politically motivated criminal investigations to dismantle independent civil society. New laws place virtually all foreign funding under strict government control, impose stigmatizing “foreign agent” labels, and threaten activists and independent groups with severe fines and prison sentences.The government should repeal these unjustifiable legal measures and allow independent groups to operate free from undue interference. Georgia’s international partners should step up their response by increasing the costs of repression, including through sanctions, and urgently expanding support for independent groups.
(Berlin, July 9, 2026) – Georgian authorities’ use of increasingly repressive laws and politically motivated criminal investigations is decimating independent civil society and silencing critical voices, Human Rights Watch said today.
Since 2024, Georgia’s ruling party has adopted laws that impose stigmatizing registration requirements, invasive state oversight, funding restrictions, and criminal penalties on nongovernmental organizations, individuals, and media outlets receiving foreign funding. The authorities have also launched investigations into activists and rights defenders for providing information to international organizations and foreign media and frozen the bank accounts of prominent civic groups under a dubious criminal investigation following protests in 2024.
“The Georgian government’s goal has been to suppress critical voices and dismantle the country’s vibrant independent civil society, and it is making frightening progress,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities are creating a system in which independent groups cannot op
