13 non-governmental organizations express solidarity with the protesters in the village of Gumati. In a joint statement they condemned the Government over deploying “repressive mechanisms” against concerned Rioni valley locals, instead of listening to their concerns.

According to the statement, it is a threat to democracy, and “against all political and civil society groups irrespective of whether they back the Namakhvani HPP project or not”.

“The Government keeps increasing repression against the Rioni River valley inhabitants daily. In the recent days, the law enforcement bodies are themselves going beyond the law and deliberately, with the use of illegal forceful methods trying to squash the protest”, - reads the statement.

The statement was signed by:

International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED)
Georgian Democracy Initiative (GDI)
Media Development Foundation (MDF)
Tolerance and Diversity Institute (TDI)
Governance Monitoring Center (GMC)
Institute for Democracy and Safe Development (IDSD)
Partnership for Human Rights (PHR)
Atlantic Council of Georgia
Rights Georgia
Human Rights Center
Sapari
Black and Baltic Sea Alliance-Georgia
Vulnerable Groups Rehabilitation Initiative (RIVG)