The Public Defender of Georgia addressed Justice Minister, arguing that the Minister’s August 1 decree on the “procedure for the preparation of the register of organizations carrying out the interests of the foreign power, submission of financial declaration and monitoring”, issued as part of the execution of the Law on Transparency, creates risks of discrimination.

The Law itself does not specify what information should be included in the financial declarations of NGOs, leaving it up to the Minister of Justice.

According to Levan Ioseliani, the decree allows for the publication of personal information of employees working in the organizations subject to this controversial legislation. The personal information of these employees includes first name, last name, personal number, bank account number.

The Ombudsman argues that the publication of personal data “is unjustified and harmful, has a strong restrictive, chilling and stigmatizing effect” on the employees of organizations subject to the Law on Transparency.

The Public Defender calls on the Justice Ministry to modify the decree to omit the publication of such information.