45th round of Geneva Discussions: Russia continues destructive actions in Georgia

The 45th round of the Geneva International Discussions has touched upon the grave human rights situation in the occupied Georgian regions, as well as on cases of the murder and abduction of Georgian citizens and complications related to local incident prevention mechanisms.

Representatives of the central Georgian government have demanded the enforcement of justice concerning the murder cases of Georgian citizens Giga Otkhozoria and David Basharuli and urged Russia and the de facto governments of breakaway Tskhinvali and Abkhazia not to create threats to the Ergneti and Gali Incident Prevention and Response Mechanisms.

The normal functioning of the mechanisms is of high importance in a situation in which incidents and provocations happen daily on the ground,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry reported.

Co-chairs of the discussions from the OSCE, EU and UN, as well as representative from United States supported these statements.

Georgia once again urged Russia to meet its international obligations and withdraw its forces from historic Georgian lands.

Representatives of the central Georgian government condemned the illegal military presence of Russia in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali, frequent military drills in the regions and cases of the violation of Georgian airspace by Russian helicopters. The actions aim to further destabilise the situation on the ground,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry said.

The representatives of the central Georgian government also condemned:

• The erection of barbed-wire fences and so-called border signs;
• The illegal detentions  of Georgian citizens Maia Otinashvili and Akaki Dotiashvili;
• Ethnic discrimination in the occupied Gali district, when local ethnic Georgians are forced to register as foreigners or leave the district entirely;
• The deprivation of Georgian children in Gali and Akhalgori of  the ability to receive an education in their native language;
• The violation of the rights of free movement of locals in Tskhinvali and Abkhazia.
• The violation of other human rights in the occupied areas.

One of the key topics of the discussions was the peaceful return of Georgian IDPs to their homes in the occupied regions, [to which] the representatives of Russia and the de facto governments showed their traditional destructive attitude and left the discussions in protest,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry says.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin told the Russian media that the Georgian-parliament approved Otkhozoria-Tatunashvili list, which names people who have  violated the rights of Georgian citizens in the breakaway regions, is a threat to local incident prevention mechanisms.

The following round of the Geneva International Discussions will be held on later this year on 11-12 December.

The Geneva International Discussions were launched in 2008 to address the consequences of the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.

The participants of the Geneva International Discussions are the central Georgia government, the de facto leaderships of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali, Russia, the US, the UN, the OSCE and the EU.