Disability

26 Posts

•

0 Followers

Georgia's Interior Ministry. Photo: Anna Edgar/OC Media

Disability

Georgian Government proposes database of people with mental health issues

by OC Media

•3 min read

The Georgian Government has submitted legislation to parliament to create a unified database of people with mental health conditions, alcoholism, or drug addiction, a move some argue could be weaponised against critics. Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs submitted the legislative package to parliament on 23 July, though it only now came to light. The package involves 15 amendments to existing laws. Critics of the bill told OC Media that such a database could be misused by the governme

Crime

Ingushetia disability care home accused of chaining naked patients to benches

by Luiza Mchedlishvili

•1 min read

Images have appeared online purportedly showing patients being abused at an Ingush care home for people with intellectual disabilities. Images shared by Russian Telegram channel Baza [WARNING: DISTURBING IMAGERY] showed naked patients shackled to benches and to the wall in an empty tiled room. Also shown in the images were metal bowls from which the patients eat from using their hands. The facility in Psedakh, a village in northwestern Ingushetia, caters to people who are unable to care

Disability

Georgian court orders government to provide assistant to person with disabilities

by Shota Kincha

•4 min read

Tbilisi City Court has ruled that the Georgian government must provide a woman with disabilities with a personal assistant, pushing the state to deliver on a commitment previously scheduled for 2025. On 12 October, Judge Valeriane Pilishvili ordered the Agency for State Care under the Georgian Health Ministry to provide Ana Goguadze with a personal assistant within three days. While the ruling was an interim measure before her case is heard by the court, activists have said it marks a s

Azerbaijan

Turned away: Azerbaijan’s war veterans

by Ismi Aghayev

•7 min read

A wave of suicides among Azerbaijani veterans of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War has led experts to question whether the government is doing enough to rehabilitate those who fight in its service. On 4 July, Ilham Hasanov, a veteran of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, visited a petrol station in Shamkir, a city in northwest Azerbaijan, where he purchased a container of petrol. He then drove to the offices of the local district authorities and attempted to set himself alight. Hasanov survive

Disability

Opinion | Women with disabilities have the same right to a private life as anyone else

by Esma Gumberidze

•5 min read

In Georgia, the social stigmas around disabilities combine with patriarchal attitudes in destructive ways. Ignorance, compounded by a lack of support services to help women with disabilities live independently means many women can only dream of having a private life. Women with disabilities should be free from violence, discrimination, abuse, and harassment. They have the right to decide where, and with whom to live. They shall be free from any interference and surveillance in their corre

Armenia

Armenian Health Ministry proposes forced sterilisation of people with disabilities

by Ani Avetisyan

•2 min read

The Armenian Ministry of Health has suggested amendments to the voluntary sterilisation law of the 1990s that would allow courts to order the sterilisation of people with intellectual disabilities. The original 1998 law provided provisions for the voluntary sterilisation of individuals, while the amendments proposed by the Ministry of Health on Friday would allow courts to order the sterilisation of people who are ‘incapable’. The bill does not define ‘incapability’. The bill underlines th

A still from the video showing a police officer beating a deaf boy in Tbilisi.

Disability

Two police officers in custody for beating deaf teenager in Tbilisi Metro

by Shota Kincha

•4 min read

Two police officers have been arrested in Tbilisi after footage appeared to show one of them beating a deaf teenager in custody, while the other looked on. A video originally uploaded to TikTok on Monday showed an officer repeatedly slapping and punching a 17-year-old boy in the face as he tried to shield himself from the blows. The footage showed the boy, who is deaf, being detained in the Isani metro station in Tbilisi before being led to a small room where the attack commenced. ‘He’s de