The Georgian parliament should reject a bill to introduce criminal penalties for civic activists and nongovernmental groups that refuse to register as "foreign agents," Human Rights Watch said today. The bill violates fundamental human rights norms and, if adopted, would severely harm Georgia's civil society and further escalate the human rights crisis the authorities have triggered in recent months.
"This bill, if adopted and enforced, will give independent activists and groups the false choice of accepting the unfounded and stigmatizing label of foreign agent, facing prison or exile, or abandoning their work altogether," said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "It could spell the end of Georgia's independent civil society."
The bill underwent its second review on March 18, 2025, with a final vote scheduled for the week of March 31. If adopted, it is likely to replace the "foreign influence" law passed last year.
The bill requires individuals or entities to register as foreign agents if they operate under the vaguely defined "influence" of, or receive funding from, a foreign principal and engage in "political activities" in the interests of this principal. It also requires them to submit to the authorities detailed annual financial declarations and two copies of any public statement. Registered individuals and groups must also mark their public statements as coming from a "foreign agent."
Failure to register as a foreign agent or not providing required information would lead to up to 10,000 GEL (about US$3,600) in criminal fines and/or to a maximum five-year prison sentence. Failure to file financial reports or violating the "foreign agent" labeling requirements would trigger a 5,000 GEL (about US$1,800) criminal fine or deprivation of liberty for up to six months. This would be an escalation from administrative penalties in the current foreign influence law.
The ruling Georgian Dream party has claimed that the bill is an exact copy of the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). But US Justice Department regulations clarify that FARA aims to monitor the direct influence of foreign powers on domestic politics, specifically in cases in which foreign-funded individuals do not act autonomously but operate entirely under the directives of and coordination of their principals.
FARA also does not equate receiving foreign funding with being under the direction and control of a foreign entity. The overbroad definition of "influence" of a foreign principal in the Georgian bill would allow abusive implementation against independent groups, Human Rights Watch said.
The Georgian Dream leadership has made many statements to indicate that the authorities intend to use the law to shutter civil society, emboldened by the Trump administration's harsh criticism and suspension of US foreign assistance, Human Rights Watch said. The explanatory note accompanying the bill says that "[i]n many cases, the [misuse] of foreign aid serves the purpose of destabilization … in various countries around the world, including Georgia."
The note further claims that the penalties proposed in the bill are harsher than those set out in the 2024 foreign influence law because nongovernmental organizations have refused to register under that law. The 2024 law's adoption triggered months-long, mass demonstrations in Georgia, with the vast majority of groups rejecting any requirement to comply with its provisions.
The new bill's provisions violate Georgia's obligations under multiple human rights treaties to uphold the rights to freedom of association and expression, including the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Key authoritative human rights bodies have found that the 2024 foreign influence law violates human rights norms. The Venice Commission, the Council of Europe's advisory body on constitutional matters, concluded that the rights restrictions that the law imposes fail to meet the "requirements of legality, legitimacy, and necessity in a democratic society" and "strongly recommended" the authorities to repeal it. Experts with the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) also urged the authorities to scrap the law.
The new bill escalates the Georgian government's unrelenting attacks on civic freedoms and its further slide toward authoritarianism, which accelerated after its December 2024 decision to abandon the country's EU accession and the democratic reforms it requires, Human Rights Watch said. The decision prompted nationwide mass public protests, which continue in Tbilisi through today. There are also longstanding concerns that the Georgian judiciary lacks full independence and the agency responsible for implementing the measure is politicized, strengthening fears that the law would be abusively enforced.
The government responded to protests in 2024 with tear gas, water cannons, and rubber bullets. Police beat and detained largely peaceful protesters. They have also fined thousands, many repeatedly, for participating in protests and blocking roads during the rallies.
On March 17, the prosecutor's office froze the bank accounts of five human rights and civic organizations that had provided assistance to arrested protesters, including by paying fines that are at least twice the average monthly income in Georgia. The authorities spuriously allege the groups financially supported violent protesters.
The Georgian Dream party has introduced a raft of other legislation that rolls back human rights. Two sets of amendments to the broadcasting law introduced on February 24, if adopted, would ban any foreign funding and in-kind assistance to broadcast media and would task the Communication Commission, a body dominated by ruling party appointees, with regulating content.
In early February, the parliament passed several restrictive amendments to the administrative and criminal codes, apparently aimed at stifling peaceful protests. These include a four-fold increase in the administrative detention period to 60 days, a measure used against protesters, as well as steep fines and jail time for "verbally insulting" public officials. Other amendments make resisting law enforcement and public calls to civil disobedience into felonies, punishable by prison terms.
In December 2024, parliament adopted amendments that authorized police to "preventively" detain a person for 48 hours if they had been previously implicated in an administrative offense and police believe they could commit another.
"The government is plunging Georgia ever deeper into a human rights crisis," Williamson said, "The authorities could avoid making it worse and instead indicate that they retain some respect for human rights and rule of law by scrapping the foreign agents bill."
