The Public Defender of Georgia, Levan Ioseliani, has presented a report to parliament on the protection of human rights and freedoms in 2025, including in the occupied territories of Georgia.
The Public Defender addressed issues of property rights violations and the ongoing process of so-called “borderisation” carried out by the Russian occupying forces. Ioseliani stated that in 2025, the occupying forces installed more than 60 km of barbed wire in the direction of the Tskhinvali region, while along the dividing line with Abkhazia, the total length of artificial barriers exceeds 50 km.
Also in 2025, 32 people were detained on the dividing line on charges of so-called “illegal border crossing” in the direction of the Tskhinvali region, and 40 people in the direction of Abkhazia.
Cases of prolonged illegal detentions have also become more frequent, the Ombudsman reported.
According to Levan Ioseliani, one of the key problems is access to education in the Georgian language. In the schools of the Gali district and Akhalgori, instruction in the native language is completely banned in primary grades.
Ethnic Georgians in the occupied territories study the Georgian language as a foreign language and literature, which leads to an annual decline in the number of students.
Ioseliani also stated that limited access to medical services and poor infrastructure in the occupied territories of Georgia, insufficient qualification of medical personnel, and difficulties in transporting patients remain serious problems.
Therefore, the “referral assistance” program, operating in the territory controlled by the central government of Georgia, remains vital under these conditions.
He added that in 2025, under this program, 1,406 patients from the occupied territories received and were funded for treatment in Tbilisi-controlled territory, including 1,131 from Abkhazia and 260 from the Tskhinvali region.