Public Defender: “Russians claim they detained 14,000 Georgians at occupation line”

Georgia’s Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili says Russia’s border guards claim they detained 14,000 Georgian citizens when "illegally crossing” the so-called Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) between Georgia and its occupied Abkhazia region between 2009 and 2016.

Nanuashvili stated this in his special report on Internally Displaced Persons and Refugees.

The Ombudsman reports there were dozens of cases when the occupant forces physically and morally abused the detainees, deprived them of food and water.

He says the number of those Georgians illegally detained by the occupant forces for crossing the Georgia-Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) occupation line amounted to 134 in 2016.

14 were women and 8 minors among them. The total number of detainees in the area, in 2011-2016 amounted 826,” Nanuashvili said.

Georgia's Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili said the detainees were physically and morally abused in many cases. 

The Ombudsman highlighted it was more complicated to specify the number of the people who were detained for crossing of Georgia-occupied Abkhazia ABL, in the west of the country.

Georgia’s State Security Service says they have information on over 193 detention in 2016. 18 were women and 13 minors among them.

However, the number reflects only 5-10percent of the real situation. Russia’s border forces claim they detained 14,000 people for crossing Georgia-Abkhazia occupation line in 2009-2016,” Nanuashvili said.

The ombudsman stressed the detentions were "alarming”, especially when the occupant forces abducted women and the newborn.

Georgia’s western Abkhazia and eastern Tskhinvali regions, 20pecent of the Georgian land, are now occupied by Russia.

Russia and Nicaragua recognised the regions’ independence in 2008 in the wake of the Russia-Georgia war.

In 2009 Venezuela, Vanuatu, Nauru and Tuvalu took the same step.

After several years Vanuatu and Tuvalu revoked this recognition and now declare Abkhazia and Tskhinvali are integral parts of Georgia, like all the other countries of the world except Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru.