[09/02/07 11:00] Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, will visit Georgia from 12 to 18 February 2007. The special visit will include the assessment of the human rights situation in Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Adjara.
The Commissioner will meet the country's highest authorities, parliamentarians, as well as leading human rights experts from civil society. The visits in Abkhazia and South Ossetia will also include meetings with de facto authorities and representatives of local civil society.
Commissioner Hammarberg will assess the Georgian authorities' respect for their obligations towards the Council of Europe, especially with regard to the treatment of national minorities, internally displaced persons, migrants and asylum seekers. He will visit police stations, pre-trial detention centers, prisons, secondary schools, shelters for migrants and psychiatric hospitals.
The agenda will also include discussions on issues of discrimination based on religion and sexual orientation, children's rights, violence against women, the authorities' record on fighting human trafficking as well as the treatment of elderly people.