The Georgian people deserve to have a government which respects their democratic right to elect their leaders. The US Helsinki Committee stated this in its statement.
The statement was signed by the Chairman of Helsinki Committee, Congressman Joe Wilson, (Republican Party), as well as Congressman Steve Cohen, (Democratic Party), Richard Hudson, (Republican Party), and Congressman Mark Wise, (Democratic Party). Also, Daphne Rand, Assistant Secretary of State of the United States for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, was a signatory.
The statement stated that the authoritarian path of the Georgian Government endangers the democratic future of the country and its Euro-Atlantic ambitions.
“Over the last few decades, Georgians have shown their commitment to democracy. The Georgian people deserve to have a government who respects their right of democratically electing their leaders. The Georgian government should honor its commitment to the country and its people by holding fair and free elections, monitored by independent observers, and allowing political opponents, as it has done for years. The authoritarian government’s trajectory threatens Georgia‘s democratic future and the deep-seated EuroAtlantic ambitions of its people, according to the statement.
The statement also notes in September that the US State Department announced an array of accountability measures against Georgian officials and others who undermined Georgia’s democratic and human rights.
“In May, leaders of the Helsinki Commission introduced the “Friendly Act”, a bipartisan law whose purpose was to strengthen democracy, rights, and the rule-of-law in Georgia. This bill confirms that the United States is committed to supporting Georgia’s EuroAtlantic Integration and to resisting the influence of authoritarian governments, especially Russia. The bill was approved bipartisanly by the Foreign Relations Committee of US House of Representatives, and now awaits approval by the House of Representatives”, the statement said.
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