Georgian Gov’t representative leaves IPRM meeting in protest over Tatunashvili’s case
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The Deputy Head of the Analytical Department of Georgia’s State Security Service has left an emergency meeting with the representatives of the occupied Tskhinvali region in protest, as occupants and the breakaway regime leadership refuse to hand over the body of Archil Tatunashvili.
Tatunashvili, a Georgian citizen, died in unclear circumstances in Tskhinvali on February 23.
The breakaway region’s representatives also failed to meet the government of Georgia’s demand to allow two other Georgians detained with Tatunashvili to leave the occupied territory.
It was a very complicated meeting. We raised two issues: the handing over of Tatunashvili’s body and allowing Levan Kutashvili and Ioseb Pavliashvili to leave the occupied territory. I could not receive any clear answer on either questions in the course of a three and a half hour meeting.
Consequently, I left the meeting in protest,” Deputy Head of the Analytical Department of Georgia’s State Security Service Kakhaber Kemoklidze said.
Kemoklidze stated that the government of Georgia will continue participation in the International Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meetings as soon as Tatunashvili’s body is handed over to his family and the two others are released.
The Tskhinvali media reported Tatunashvili, 35, was detained for his participation in the Russia-Georgia 2008 war. However, Georgian officials stated that that time Tatunashvili served in Iraqi peace mission.
The security official stated that according to the occupied region’s representatives Tatunashvili’s body was in Tskhinvali and the materials for autopsy have been sent to Russia.
"The occupied region’s representatives could not name the date when the body would be handed to us. They said that they are waiting for the outcomes of the autopsy from Russia, without naming the forensic bureau they sent the materials to for that reason,” Kemoklidze said.
It was the second emergency IPRM meeting since incident. The previous one was held on February 26 and turned out to be fruitless, as de facto Tskhinvali leadership refused to hand over the body.
- Tatunashvili and two other Georgian citizens were detained by occupation forces on February 22 in Akhalgori area, on territory currently controlled by Russians.
- Tskhinvali media announced the death of Tatunashvili on February 23, and stated that the latter had an incident with detention facility staff and fell down a flight of stairs.
- However, the de facto security service of Tskhinvali claims the man died due to heart failure.
- Two others detained with Tatunashvili have been released from detention but they cannot leave the occupied territory due to the fact that their identification documents have been confiscated.
The government of Georgia has been raising the issue throughout the international community since the time the incident took place.
Almost all international organizations, the United States and many other countries have stated they are deeply concerned over the case and have urged Russia and the de facto leadership to hand over the body and to not hinder a transparent investigation into the death.
The United States (US) is deeply concerned by the death of Georgian citizen Archil Tatunashvili during his February 22 arrest and detention in the Russian-occupied Georgian territory of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia). US is also deeply concerned by the arrest of other Georgian citizens Levan Kutashvili and Ioseb Pavliashvili.
The Council of Europe (CoE) Congress President Gudrun Mosler-Törnström shared her concern over the death of Georgian citizen Archil Tatunashvili in the Russian occupied region of Georgia – Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).
The co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of Georgia, Kerstin Lundgren and Titus Corlatean, have expressed their deep concern and condemned the death of Georgian citizen Archil Tatunashvili while being detained by the de facto authorities in Georgia’s Russian occupied region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).
The latest developments in Georgia’s Russian occupied region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia), in particular the tragic death of Georgian citizen Archil Tatunashvili and the detention of two others, are a source of grave concern, the European Union (EU) Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Service said in its recent statement.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has visited the family of Georgian citizen Archil Tatunashvili who died in the country’s Russian occupied region of Tskhinvali last week. He believes this is a huge tragedy and a very treacherous act against Georgians, Abkhazians, and Ossetians, „designed to undermine the steps we are taking”.
The Georgian Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze has stated at a conference in Moldova that Russia’s open or silence consent to violation of human rights leads to deaths of Georgian citizens in the occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) of Georgia.
The Embassy of Japan to Georgia has stated that they are "deeply concerned” by the death of Georgian citizen Archil Tatunashvili in the country’s occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region on February 23.
The United States (US) mission to OSCE has issued a statement on the death of Georgian man Archil Tatunashvili and the detention of two others in Georgia’s Russian occupied region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).
The European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) has released a statement over the release of Georgian citizen Archil Tatunashvili’s body from the occupied region of Tskhinvali.
The government of Georgia representatives demanded the handover of Archil Tatunashvili’s internal organs during the 86th Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting in Ergneti village yesterday. The talks kicked off at 11 am and lasted until 9 pm. However, a representative of de facto Tskhinvali Murat Jioev stated after the meeting that "Tatunashvili was not tortured at all.”
The representatives of Georgia’s occupied Abkhazia region have left the Gali Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting today in protest as delegates from the government of Georgia refused to remove the Giga Otkhozoria’s murder case from the agenda.
Representatives of the de facto governments of Georgian occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) continue to raise objections to the Otkhozoria-Tatunashvili list, which sanctions individuals for the violation of human rights in the regions, at the local Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meetings, representative of the State Security Service of Georgia Irakli Antadze has stated.
The 99th Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) held in Ergneti, close to the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region earlier today, focused on issues ‘pertaining to stabilisation and normalisation’, the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) has announced.