On December 1, the BBC World Service published an investigative report alleging that Georgian police forces targeted demonstrators with chemical weapons dating back to World War I during last year’s anti-government protests.
Georgian Dream denies the BBC’s information and claims that no banned substance was used; however, to this day, they have not specified exactly what substance was used against the demonstrators last year.
A Year Without Answers
For over a year, Georgian media and non-governmental organizations have been requesting information from the Georgian Dream government regarding the substances used against demonstrators, raising these questions well before the BBC investigation was released.
During the large-scale demonstrations in November and December last year, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Aleksandre Darakhvelidze stated that “appropriate substances” permitted by law could be mixed into water when necessary. However, neither at that time nor now has the government clarified which substances were used.
Darakhvelidze only mentioned that when special measures are employed against demonstrators, adherence to the principle of proportionality is paramount. He said, “This may include water cannons, pepper spray, or other means—we use them based on what is defined by law. The key consideration is proportionality in relation to the existing threat and the necessity to prevent imminent harm. In this case, the police utilize all authorized means. The public witnessed the use of water cannons; in certain instances, pepper spray was deployed; and when necessary, other means were employed. However, I cannot provide detailed information about every specific resource at this time, as the process took considerable time. As you observed, each of our units was mobilized for approximately 12 hours around the Parliament area. Therefore, we utilized all special resources authorized by law, within the limits set by regulations,” stated Aleksandre Darakhvelidze on November 30, 2024.
Photo: EPA/David Mdzinarishvili
According to an investigative report by Nodar Meladze’s Saturday, which was aired a year ago, officers of the Special Tasks Department also added chemical substances to water cannons during the spring 2024 protests. On October 19 last year, Nodar Meladze’s Saturday published recordings of radio communications that, according to the investigation, feature conversations between the then head of the Special Tasks Department, Zviad Kharazishvili (known as “Khareba”), and his deputies.
“Proceed, add the gas as well—just don’t soak the boys [the riot police], try to… mix in the gas,” can be heard in the published recordings, which, according to the investigation, date back to the period of the spring 2024 demonstrations against the so-called “Russian law.”
The investigation concludes that the radio recordings confirm that during the protests last spring, demonstrators were targeted not only with water cannons but also with a chemical additive mixed into the water.
“After deciphering these files, the Saturday team discovered that ‘Khareba’ was giving orders to mix gas into the water jets. At that time, the chemical substance reacts with the water, and the protester suffers serious injuries. The radio recordings also confirm that Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Ioseb Chelidze, known by the nickname ‘Mozgi,’ was involved in the violent crackdowns,” said a journalist from Nodar Meladze’s Saturday.
Who Is Responsible for the Use of Special Means?
According to an order issued by the Minister of Internal Affairs on December 30, 2015, the Special Tasks Department (STD) is responsible for preparing an operational security plan during the dispersal of assemblies and demonstrations. This plan must be coordinated with the relevant units of the Ministry and approved by the Minister or an authorized representative. The order designates the head of the operation, the on-site commander, and the responsible officer. It also specifies the authorized decision-maker who is responsible for ordering the use of special means during the dispersal of gatherings, which may include pepper spray, rubber bullets, and tear gas. The legal responsibility for the lawfulness of using these special means lies with the individual who makes that decision.
As a result, the Office of the Public Defender formally requested detailed information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs regarding the use of special means on two occasions: December 6, 2024, and February 26, 2025.
The Office sought information on several points, including:
- The types and quantities of special means (such as tear gas, pepper spray, non-lethal weapons, and rubber bullets) specified in the security operational plan.
- The number of officers who used these special means, the times, locations, and the types and quantities utilized.
- Whether the specific special means underwent inspection or expert assessment, their impact on human health, the types and categories of chemical substances used, their proportions, and other related details.
To date, the Office of the Public Defender has not received this information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Photo: EPA/David Mdzinarishvili
What Should the Ministry of Health Have Known?
Another institution approached regarding the special measures used against demonstrators was the Ministry of Health.
On January 28, 2025, the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) submitted a written request to the Ministry of Health seeking public information related to the ongoing protests since November 2024. Specifically, they asked:
- What chemical substances were used by the Ministry of Internal Affairs during police operations conducted between November 28, 2024, and January 28, 2025?
- On which dates did the Ministry of Internal Affairs employ water cannons containing mixed chemical substances?
- What chemical substances were mixed into the water used in the cannons on those dates, and what were their concentrations?
- Are there any official guidelines regulating how the chemical substances should be mixed into the water used in the cannons, including concentration levels?
- Do guidelines exist for medical institutions and healthcare workers on providing emergency assistance and subsequent treatment to individuals affected by these substances?
- Were medical institutions informed about the composition of the chemical agents used and their possible effects?
- Did the Ministry of Health proactively request information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs regarding the chemical agents used? If so, what information was received?
In its response to GYLA on February 19, the Ministry of Health stated that it had not sought information about the chemical substances used during the protests, as it saw no necessity to do so. This indicates that the institution responsible for protecting public health did not consider it necessary to know which chemical substances were deployed in the heart of the capital, despite the potential threat these substances posed not only to demonstrators but also to nearby residents and to students attending a school on Rustaveli Avenue.
What Do We Know from the BBC Investigation?
The BBC investigation aimed to determine which substance was being sprayed at demonstrators by water-cannon vehicles.
To establish this, the BBC spoke with participants in the demonstrations who reported various symptoms, including shortness of breath, coughing, and vomiting—symptoms that in some cases lasted for weeks. This raised serious questions about the substances mixed into the water cannons. To identify the likely chemical agent, the BBC also consulted chemical weapons experts, whistleblowers from Georgia’s special riot police units, and medical doctors.
One of the individuals interviewed by the BBC is Lasha Shergelashvili, the former head of the Armaments Division of the Special Tasks Department. The former senior official suspects that in 2024, the same compound may have been used against demonstrators as the one he was asked to test for use in water cannons back in 2009.
According to Shergelashvili, the effects of the product he tested were unlike anything he had previously experienced and were ten times stronger than those of conventional tear gas.
“We noticed that the effect did not fade as it does with ordinary tear gas. Even after washing our faces with water and then with a specially prepared solution of baking soda and water, we still couldn’t breathe freely,” Lasha Shergelashvili recalls of the 2009 testing.
He says that based on the test results, he recommended that the chemical substance not be used. However, he claims that water-cannon vehicles continued to be loaded with it nonetheless, at least until 2022, when he decided to resign and leave the country.
Lasha Shergelashvili does not know the name of the chemical substance he was asked to test. However, he says that the compound consisted of two components, identified by the codes 3439 (a chemical powder) and 1710 (a chemical liquid).
According to the BBC, another former senior police official also confirmed that the compound loaded into water cannons during Shergelashvili’s tenure was the same substance used during the November–December 2024 protests.
Photo: Netgazeti/Natia Tskipurishvili
In addition, the BBC obtained a copy of a December 2019 inventory of the Special Tasks Department, which listed two unnamed chemical substances simply as “chemical liquid UN1710” and “chemical powder UN3439,” along with mixing instructions.
“We wanted to check whether this inventory was authentic, so we showed it to another former high-ranking police officer from the riot police, who confirmed it seemed genuine. He identified the two unnamed chemicals as those likely to have been added to the water cannon.
Our next step was to work out what these chemicals were.
UN1710 was easy to identify as this is the code for trichloroethylene (TCE), a solvent that enables other chemicals to dissolve in water. We then had to work out which chemical it helped dissolve.
UN3439 was much harder to identify because it is an umbrella code for a whole range of industrial chemicals, all of which are hazardous.
The only one of these we found to have ever been used as a riot-control agent is bromobenzyl cyanide, also known as Camite, developed by the Allies for use in World War One.” – reports BBC.
What Does Georgian Dream Say?
On December 1, shortly after the BBC investigation was released, the ruling party, Georgian Dream, firmly denied the use of chemical weapons, threatening to sue the media for what it called false accusations. That same day, the government-aligned television channel Imedi aired a statement from former Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri. He confirmed that the Ministry of Internal Affairs had indeed purchased the substance mentioned in the BBC investigation—Camite—and used it until 2012.
“These substances they are talking about were purchased by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and used, but only until 2012. If I’m not mistaken, the last purchase occurred in 2009 or 2010. Since then, the Ministry has neither bought nor used it. I can say with full responsibility that the UNM has dug up a buried cat,” Gomelauri stated, according to Imedi.
However, the current Minister of Internal Affairs, Gela Geladze, contradicted Gomelauri’s statement the following day. Geladze asserted that the Ministry had never purchased this substance.
“The allegation that the Ministry of Internal Affairs used a banned substance, the so-called Camite, against protesters is complete absurdity and falsehood. There is absolutely no truth to this.
I have personally reviewed all documentation and every procurement related to this matter, and I can state with full responsibility and certainty that the Ministry of Internal Affairs has never purchased the so-called Camite in Georgia. The State Security Service has launched an investigation, and all relevant expert examinations will be conducted. We will question all individuals involved and provide answers to everything.
[…] I will also clarify what Mr. Vakhtang referred to: in 2009, various substances were present, but this is not Camite,” Geladze explained.
At the same time, neither Georgian Dream, Vakhtang Gomelauri, nor Gela Geladze addressed the December 2019 inventory of the Special Tasks Department obtained by the BBC. They did not confirm or deny the authenticity of this information.
What Irakli Kobakhidze Confirms and Denies
Two days after the BBC investigation was published, Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze held a briefing at the government administration to address the issue. During the briefing, Kobakhidze stated that Camite had not been purchased, even under the previous government, and claimed that Vakhtang Gomelauri had not confirmed such a purchase either.
Moreover, he confirmed that the inventory lists a chemical substance under the code UN3439—a code that, according to the BBC, serves as an umbrella designation for a broad range of industrial chemicals, all of which are hazardous.
The only point Kobakhidze categorically denied was that the Ministry of Internal Affairs possessed Camite under the UN3439 code.
According to him, the code includes dozens of substances, some of which are not banned. “Under this code, one of the substances is Camite, which is prohibited. However, dozens of substances are listed under this code, the vast majority of which are not banned… Naturally, the substances covered by this code were purchased by the state. It includes both banned and non-banned substances. Of course, only non-banned substances were subject to procurement,” Kobakhidze said.
He also mentioned that substances listed under this code were likely used during the 2024 protests. Consequently, it remains unclear which specific substance the Ministry of Internal Affairs holds under the UN3439 code—one that, according to Kobakhidze himself, was likely used against demonstrators.
During the briefing, Kobakhidze indicated that the investigation would examine whether any banned substances were purchased “during the time of Vano Merabishvili.” He noted that the Ministry of Internal Affairs does not yet know the exact substance used during the November–December 2024 protests and is now seeking to establish it. However, he asserted that they already know for sure that it was not Camite.
“The analysis will determine whether this powder contained a banned substance. The Ministry of Internal Affairs had information indicating that the powder did not contain banned substances, but the investigation will review everything. It is easier to rule out the presence or absence of a single substance in a powder than to study its full spectrum. It has already been established through the relevant procedures that this powder did not contain Camite. As for the complete spectrum, the investigation will share that information with the public, including the media. The investigation will continue, and each substance contained in the powder will be identified,” Kobakhidze explained.
When asked whether he could rule out the possibility that other banned substances listed under UN3439 had also been used, Kobakhidze replied, “I believe this is unlikely, because the Ministry of Internal Affairs presumably would have checked what type of powder was purchased at the time by Vano Merabishvili. However, this is only my assumption. It is better to wait for the investigation and its results. It would not be serious to get ahead of the investigation and state whether banned or non-banned substances were used.”
Kobakhidze also mentioned that he sees no political responsibility on the part of Georgian Dream, even if it were confirmed that banned substances listed under the UN3439 code were used against demonstrators in 2024. “If anyone could theoretically bear responsibility, it would be Vano Merabishvili, because it would mean that he deliberately purchased this specific powder,” Kobakhidze concluded.
