U.S. Helsinki Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe presses Georgia over emergency‑style crackdowns
The U.S. Helsinki Commission issued a formal statement on March 18, 2026, entitled “Bipartisan Helsinki Commission Leadership issue Statement on OSCE Report on Human Rights Abuses in Georgia,” condemning Georgia’s systemic abuse of emergency‑like legislative powers and urging U.S. sanctions to compel compliance with international recommendations. This marks an explicit, bipartisan U.S. government acknowledgment that Georgia is leveraging emergency‑style laws to consolidate political control and suppress democratic opposition. The call for sanctions signals rising international pressure and potential policy movement if Georgia fails to reverse course.
From the introduction to the report:
WASHINGTON—U.S. Helsinki Commission Chairman Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Co-Chairman Representative Joe Wilson, R-S.C., Ranking Member Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Ranking Member Representative Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., and Commissioner Senator Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., issued a statement today following the release of the OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism report on Georgia.
The Moscow Mechanism allows OSCE participating states to establish short-term fact-finding missions to address a specific human rights concern in another member state. Last week, the OSCE published a report describing the ruling Georgian Dream party’s violations of fundamental rights and freedoms in Georgia since spring 2024.
“The OSCE Moscow Mechanism report is clear: Georgian Dream is robbing the Georgian people of their hard-won freedom and turning their country into an isolated, authoritarian state. We call on U.S. officials to join with our European partners to use sanctions and other available tools to insist that Georgian authorities heed the recommendations in this report. We must demand that they release all political prisoners, drop politically motivated charges against opposition politicians, and repeal undemocratic and unjust laws.”
The Moscow Mechanism report, released on March 10, 2026, details Georgian authorities’ inhumane treatment of protestors, political prisoners, and other dissenters. Key findings include:
On unjust prosecutions of protestors: “…proceedings against the protesters tend to progress swiftly and result in harsh sanctions, while the investigations against those allegedly engaged in violence against them, including the security forces, stall.”
On the abuse of protestors, political opposition, and journalists: “The Rapporteur could discern a pattern of violence and other abuses against protesters, leaders of political opposition and journalists (in some instances the violence has arguably reached the threshold of torture), combined with almost complete impunity of perpetrators of those abuses.”
On public intimidation of journalists: “The public television is engaged in smear campaigns against some journalists of independent media. There are reports of apparently civilian violent groups which help police to chase, harass, and attack journalists.”
The full report can be found here.
