A/HRC/17/11 and reports of low public trust in the judiciary. Australia supported the territorial integrity of Georgia and called on all parties to respect the terms of the ceasefire agreement and to engage constructively in international discussions on stability in the Georgian territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Australia made recommendations. 98. Kazakhstan welcomed the active cooperation of Georgia with human rights mechanisms of the United Nations, Council of Europe and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the standing invitation to special procedures, demonstrating the country’s will to establishing an open policy regarding freedom of religion and to combat torture. Kazakhstan made recommendations. 99. The Plurinational State of Bolivia noted the ethnic, racial and religious diversity of the population, as noted in the national report, and asked about their participation in the preparation of the report. It further asked if cases of discrimination had been brought to justice and what the results had been. The Plurinational State of Bolivia made recommendations. 100. Iraq noted positively that Georgia was party to the main human rights instruments, and that the Constitution guaranteed basic human rights principles. It noted further efforts to establish a priority strategy for IDPs and to find sustainable solutions in accordance with international agreements. Iraq made recommendations. 101. Ecuador noted the positive participation of Georgia in the universal periodic review and its commitment in the protection of human rights. It recognized progress made by Georgia in the promotion of gender equality. Ecuador made recommendations. 102. Bangladesh shared the concerns expressed by United Nations mechanisms and agencies on minorities, discrimination against women, gender-based violence, feminization of poverty and the situation of disabled children. It also noted observations of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Human Rights Committee on the population living in the South Caucus and IDPs. Bangladesh made recommendations. 103. Kyrgyzstan noted with satisfaction the cooperation of Georgia with international mechanisms, including the standing invitation to special procedures in 2010, as wells as the growing share of the State budget on social welfare. It called on Georgia to take further steps to eliminate deficiencies in the protection of the rights of women and children. Kyrgyzstan made recommendations.2 2 The Russian Federation made the following point of order: “Regarding the statements of the delegations of Georgia, the USA and Australia, made in spite of the call of the Chairperson of our session, we would like to point out once again that allegations about the occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are false and unacceptable. The allegations of discrimination by Russia of Georgian population in Abkhazia and South Ossetia from the 1990s are also absurd. During all this period Russia exercised in the mentioned regions peace-making function in full compliance with the mandates of the CIS and the UN and by approbation of the Georgian side. In conclusion we would like to reaffirm that the human rights situation in the Republic of Abkhazia and Republic of South Ossetia cannot be subject to discus within the UPR of Georgia, and the relevant chapters of the documents submitted to it must not be considered by the Working Group and the Human Rights Council. We request to fully reflect this statement in the report of our session.” In response the Georgian delegation made a point of order regretting that, despite the President’s call and the call from the head of the Georgian delegation, Russia continued to misuse the point of order procedures and was giving no other choice, but to take the floor. Georgia did not want to take the valuable time from the speakers, who were eager to sincerely discuss the progress as well as challenges that Georgia had with regard to the human rights protection and, thus, it would not to repeat the points already mentioned during the first point of order. Georgia underlined once again that 13

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