BBC journalists found out that during protests in late 2024, Georgian law enforcement officers sprayed protesters with a substance used during World War I.
To reach this conclusion, they spoke with chemical weapons experts, informants from Georgian riot police units, and doctors.
Evidence points to a substance the French military called "kamite". France used it against Germany during World War I. There is little documentation of its subsequent use, but it is believed to have been phased out around the 1930s due to concerns about its long-term effects.
CS gas, also known as tear gas, is being used as a substitute. However, hundreds of protesters say they suffered side effects that CS does not have after last yearʼs incident.
Pediatrician Konstantin Chakhunashvili was among those sprayed with water cannons. He said his skin burned for several days, and it was impossible to wash it off—the water made it even worse.
Chakhunashvili wanted to know if others had suffered similar effects. So he asked protesters who had been injured during the first week of demonstrations on social media to fill out a questionnaire. Nearly 350 people contacted him. Almost half said they were still suffering from at least one side effect for more than a month: headaches, fatigue, coughing, shortness of breath, and vomiting.
In the 69 people Dr. Chakhunashvili examined, he found a significantly higher number of abnormalities in the electrical signals in the heart.
Several high-ranking whistleblowers linked to the policeʼs Special Tasks Department have helped the BBC identify what the chemical might be. The departmentʼs former head of weapons Lasha Shergelashvili believes it is the same compound he was asked to test for use in water cannons in 2009.
He said the effect of the product was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. After standing close to the spray, he found it difficult to breathe, and he and the 15-20 colleagues who were testing the substance could not easily wash it off.
Shergelashvili says that the tests recommended against using the chemical. But, he says, water cannons were loaded with it anyway – and that continued until at least 2022, when he resigned and left the country. Speaking from his new home in Ukraine, he told the BBC that when he watched footage of last year’s protests, he immediately suspected that the same substance was being used on demonstrators.
Whatʼs happening in Georgia?
Every night since November 2024, demonstrators have been demanding the resignation of the government, which they accuse of rigging elections, supporting Russian interests, and adopting increasingly harsh legislation against civil society, independent media, and freedom of speech.
In May 2024, the Georgian parliament finally passed the law on “foreign agents”, despite opposition resistance and mass protests with clashes in the capital. The United States and the European Union condemned the parliament’s decision. The EU stated that the adopted law effectively halts Georgia’s integration.
The United States reported a “comprehensive review” of bilateral cooperation with Georgia due to its suppression of democratic freedoms. Already in July 2024, the European Union suspended Georgia’s integration process.
In October 2024, parliamentary elections were held in Georgia. According to the CEC, the pro-government, pro-Russian party "Georgian Dream — Democratic Georgia" won, gaining 53.9% of the vote. Under Georgian law, this party was given the right to form a government alone. The European Parliament did not recognize the election results. Protests began.
On November 28, 2024, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, who also serves as Prime Minister, declared that the issue of starting negotiations on European integration would no longer be considered. This sparked large-scale protests, which were repeatedly dispersed by security forces with excessive force. None of them were punished for the violence against journalists and demonstrators.
Amid the violent dispersal of the rallies, the US suspended the US-Georgian strategic partnership, and Georgian representatives in several EU countries and the US announced that they were resigning from their duties. Ukraine also imposed sanctions against the Georgian authorities for the dispersal of the protests.
The UK reported the suspension of support for the Georgian authorities and the limitation of cooperation with them. Lithuania and Estonia expanded sanctions against Georgian politicians due to their involvement in the oppression of peaceful protesters, journalists, and the opposition.
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