2018-06-26

Today's Government meeting under the chairmanship of Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze was held at the Administration of the Government. The Cabinet approved 13 issues on its meeting agenda.

The Government approved the package of draft laws on Amendments to the Law of Georgia on the Structure, Authority, and Work of the Government of Georgia, in line with the small government concept.

The new structure of the Georgian Government includes 10 Ministries and 1 Office of the State Minister. The Ministry of Culture and Sport will be integrated into the Ministry of Education and Science. The Ministry of Corrections and Probation will be integrated into the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees will be abolished, and its functions will be distributed among three other institutions: the refugee accommodation function will be assumed by the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure, the migration component by the Ministry of Interior, and the social policy by the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs. In addition, the Agency for Religious Issues will merge with the Office of the State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality. The spatial development component of the Ministry of Economy will be taken over by the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure.

The Cabinet also approved the Decree on the Approval of the Otkhozoria-Tatunashvili List of Persons Charged, Convicted, and Exposed for the Murder, Kidnapping, Torture, and Inhumane Treatment of Citizens of Georgia in the Occupied Territories and Cover-up of These Crimes, also approving the Draft Decree of the Government of Georgia on Measures to Be Taken by the Government of Georgia.

In line with the Georgian Parliament's resolution, the Draft Decree of the Government of Georgia was prepared, with its appendix defining the so-called Otkhozoria-Tatunashvili list and all measures to be taken by international organizations and Georgia's partner countries in relation to those on the Otkhozoria-Tatunashvili list in order to enforce all possible restrictions against the persons included on the Otkhozoria-Tatunashvili list by authority of article 1 of the decree, including visa, property, and financial transactions-related restrictions, and in order to facilitate the administration of justice. In addition, state agencies responsible for enforcement have been identified to submit relevant reports to the Parliament and the Government of Georgia.
Notably, the list of defendants and convicts is not exhaustive because the law enforcements are investigating around-the-clock, so the list may expand further and undergo periodical changes after the adoption of said decree.
At this point, the list includes 33 persons who, since 1991, have committed different crimes against Georgian citizens in the occupied territories.

The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Interior of Georgia are assigned as the entities responsible for the enforcement of said decree, and they are obligated to report to the Parliament and the Government of Georgia on the process of the decree's enforcement.

Prime Minister's Press Office