On May 20, a Georgian-language Facebook user and a priest shared a video of deacon Aleksandre Galdava, in which he claims that in 2016, the European Convention on Human Rights issued a recommendation to the Georgian government, banning the Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia from the right to freely express his opinion in public space. According to the claim, the recommendation referred to the patriarch’s sermon that “it is a shame to live an LGBT, homosexual lifestyle.”
The 2016 report by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) cites the patriarch among other examples and notes that hate speech was also expressed during the May 2013 protests. In the report, we do not find a call addressed directly to the patriarch to “ban the expression of opinion,” but there are recommendations to the government regarding the regulation of hate speech so as not to suppress legitimate and non-violent views.
The report, which deacon Alexander Galdava is referring to, is a document produced by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) – a unique human rights monitoring body established by the Council of Europe. The 2016 report outlines the problems that have emerged in the country in this direction – including attacks on religious minorities, racist and homo/transphobic violence, racist political or other public speeches, homo/transphobic hate speech, etc.
The quote from the Catholic Patriarch of Georgia, Ilia II, is included in the homo/transphobic hate speech section. As we read in the report, hate speech against LGBTQ+ persons covers a range of cases from casual insults to hate speech comments – from politicians, journalists, or the Orthodox clergy. According to their own assessment, the situation worsened during the discussions on the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in the anti-discrimination law. The document gives an example from MDF’s monitoring project in 2014 registered the highest number of cases in the area of anti-LGBT hate speech, with 41 incidents during the three months’ period.
In the mentioned chapter, together with the assessment of the Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia, the statements of the then minister, Davit Darakhvelidze, and the leader of the Labor Party, Shalva Natelashvili are also presented, as well as hate speech examples from the media, including “Asaval-Dasavali” newspaper.
“Hate speech also occurred during protests against public LGBT events to mark the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO), for example in May 2013 (see section I.3). The Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church called the LGBT events “an insult to the Georgian nation” and homosexuality “a disease”.” – we read in the report.
The report includes recommendations and measures taken by the government on the challenges of homo/transphobic and hate speech. ECRI recommends that a law against hate speech be adopted in line with its general policy recommendation. Training should also be provided to ensure that the law is not used to suppress the legitimate and non-violent views of vulnerable groups.
About the Source
The Georgian-language Facebook account “Fantina Fantina” along with her other accounts regularly spreads false information. “Myth Detector” has debunked the false information disseminated by the user a number of times in the past.
“Myth Detector” has also verified false information spread by the priest Iakob Mestvirishvili.
