Georgian gov’t establishes commission on deoccupation, peaceful conflict resolution
Twenty per cent of Georgian territory is occupied by Russia. photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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The Georgian government has established a commission to create a Georgian State Strategy for Deoccupation and Peaceful Conflict Resolution.
The commission will be managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The commission will be set up with public involvement, and will develop an inclusive and comprehensive state strategy by the end of the year.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani noted that the main goal of the commission will be ‘to establish a common national process and jointly develop a common approach and strategic vision to deoccupation and the peaceful settlement of the conflict.’
FM Zalkaniani said that the difference between the already existing strategy and the one to come is ‘an even higher degree of legitimacy’ guaranteed by a much more inclusive process.
…the country is facing new and more difficult geopolitical challenges and at the same time the humanitarian situation in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali is getting worse every day […] it is necessary for our policy to be proactive and take even more effective and specific steps”, stated FM Zalkaliani
The new strategy will cover all key areas such as:
- The Geneva international format
- The 2008 ceasefire agreement
- Strengthening of international security mechanisms
- The return of refugees
- The deescalation of the humanitarian situation
- Russia's non-use of force
The operation of the commission will be a responsible and comprehensive process, which will involve all segments of society such as government institutions, civil society, research and analytical centres, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), experts and people affected by the conflicts, stated Zalkaliani.
Twenty per cent of Georgian territory is occupied by Russia. Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia) were recognised as independent states by Russia following the Russian-Georgian war in 2008. Based on a report from the Democracy Research Institute (DRI), the number of military personnel at military bases in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali has reached 10,000 and is still increasing.
US and Italian ambassadors and OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid have visited the village of Tsitsagiaantkari earlier today near the Russian-controlled Tskhinvali region of Georgia, where they attended the opening ceremony of a drinking water reservoir for locals and met the family of Zaza Gakhekadze, a Georgian citizen who has been illegally sentenced to 12 years in prison by de facto Tskhinvali.
US Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Rob Portman, who arrived in Georgia late yesterday, visited the occupation line near the village of Zemo Nikozi earlier today which separates the country’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region from the rest of Georgia. The European Union Monitoring Mission accompanied the senators at the scene and briefed them about the situation on the ground.
In the document, the CoE welcomed the recent judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case Georgia v. Russia that ‘established the responsibility of Russia for grave human rights violations during the period of occupation of the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali following the August 2008 war, as the state exercising effective control over those regions’.
Russian occupation of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) and Abkhazia regions was the main threat and challenge for Georgia in 2020, the 2020 report of the Georgian State Security Service reads.
A joint landmark declaration on foreign and security policy cooperation between the United Kingdom (UK) and Germany supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia and the full implementation of the 2008 ceasefire agreement.
Russian interference further deteriorated the human rights situation in occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia), ‘with reports from local media of torture and ethnic discrimination,’ the report on Human Rights and Democracy 2020 of the United Kingdom (UK) says.
The unconditional release of Georgian citizens illegally detained by occupation forces has been at the top of the agenda of the 101st meeting of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM), which was held today in Ergneti, close to the Russian occupied region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia). The issue of releasing Zaza Gakheladze and Genadi Bestaev, who are illegally detained in a prison in Tskhinvali, was discussed at the meeting.
llegally detained Georgian citizen Zaza Gakheladze has been ‘pardoned’ today by the de facto president of the Russian occupied region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) Anatoly Bibilov. Zaza Gakheladze had been illegally detained by Russian occupying forces for more than a year. The Georgian government has been demanding the release of Zaza Gakheladze for a year on the international level, within the framework of various negotiating platforms.