Shame Movement
Shame Movement (მოძრაობა სირცხვილია) is a human rights pro-democracy movement from Georgia. Founded in June 2019, the Shame Movement has grown to include 150 activists across the country. The movement’s goal is to achieve systemic democratic reforms through nonviolent action and to increase youth involvement in elections and democratic processes. Their campaigning has united Georgian citizens around electoral and judicial transparency.
Human rights defenders in Georgia are often subjected to physical attacks, threats and insults, defamation, and slander. In most cases, these forms of intimidation are levelled against those who protect and promote the rights of migrants and members of national, religious, or sexual minorities, as well as those working on politically sensitive cases and in remote areas where they have almost no opportunities for protection.
Considering that there is no independent mechanism to investigate violations committed by law enforcement agents, attempts to investigate police misconduct against HRDs and civic activists are often in vain or fail to produce tangible results. The Georgian judicial system lacks transparency and the appointment of judges takes place without any publicly defined or distinct criteria. There is also insufficient control over the power of law enforcement agencies to conduct illegal surveillance and eavesdropping.
