Yesterday evening, protestors in the capital city of Georgia, Tbilisi, blocked central Rustaveli Avenue. Protests are growing once again after the one year anniversary of the protests that broke out since Georgian Dream defrauded elections and declared a false victory. Protestors are now demanding an international investigation after a BBC investigation reported that the chemical agent used in the First World War, camite (bromobenzyl cyanide), was used against protestors last year.
The Georgian Government and Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze admitted that chemicals were sprayed unto protestors but dismissed any health concerns and said that the chemical used was only CS (2-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile), which is more popularly known as tear gas. The repeated or heavy use of camite on humans can lead to long-term health consequences such as respiratory problems, eye rashes, and reproductive problems for women. The use of camite also violates the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Georgia signed the CWC in 1996.
In the last OSCE Ministerial Meeting, the OSCE issued a statement, stating that “In Georgia, legislative restrictions on civil society and media independence threaten to suffocate public dissent.” The ruling-regime in Georgia is increasingly jailing Opposition opponents and also student leaders.
Georgia is ruled by the Georgian Dream Party which wants to keep Georgia under Russia’s orbit. The ruling-regime, which lost the elections last year, is being opposed by multiple parties and a student-lead civil society movement which aims to bring Georgia into the European Union.
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