104th Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism meeting held in Ergneti
Hosted under the co-facilitation of the Ambassador Marek Szczygiel, Head of the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM), and Ambassador Viorel Mosanu, newly appointed Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus, the meeting was the 104th as part of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism framework, set up after the war. Photo: 1tv.ge.
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The 104th meeting of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism took place yesterday in Ergneti, under the co-facilitation of the Ambassador Marek Szczygiel, Head of the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM), and Ambassador Viorel Mosanu, newly appointed Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus.
During the meeting participants focused on ongoing detention cases and discussed the impact that the protracted closure of crossing points and the COVID-19 pandemic continue to have on conflict-affected communities.
The parties also discussed the most recent security developments at the administrative boundary line (ABL), including instances of ‘borderisation’, as well as the situation in the Chorchana-Tsnelisi area.
- Seven Georgian citizens remain in illegal custody in Russian-occupied Tskhinvali
- Georgian citizens illegally arrested by occupation forces denied bail
The co-facilitators of the meeting said they are concerned by the increased number of detentions in recent weeks and called for a humanitarian approach to all detention cases.
The next IPRM meeting is scheduled to be held on March 4.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported that another meeting was also held in Ergneti earlier today, which was related to three individuals declared missing by the Ossetian side after the 2008 Russia-Georgia war – Alan Khugayev, Alan Khachirov and Sultan Pliev.
The meeting was technically organised by the EUMM in Georgia, however, the representatives of the EUMM did not participate in the meeting.
Chairman of the Young Georgian Lawyer’s Association (GYLA) Nika Simonishvili attended the meeting. He confirmed the meeting was related to three missing individuals, adding that ‘other details of the meeting are confidential’.
The Ossetian side has been searching for the missing individuals for fourteen years in vain. International experts were also involved in the case.
RFE/RL says that the Georgian Prosecutor's Office was conducting an investigation and the parents of the missing were questioned, but so far they have not found any trace.
Four Georgian citizens illegally detained by Russian occupation forces near the village of Adzvi in Gori municipality have been released. Russian occupation forces illegally arrested the Georgian citizens yesterday on December 23.
Russian occupation forces have illegally arrested Georgian citizen Mamuka Chkhikvadze near Zemo Nikozi village in Gori municipality earlier today.
The Russian-controlled occupation forces have illegally arrested two Georgian citizens near de facto Tskhinvali, at the village of Tsinagara, the Georgian State Security Service has confirmed.
The Georgian State Security Service says that illegal detention of Georgian citizens by the Russian-controlled occupation forces for so-called ‘illegally crossing the border’ is a common issue since Russia-Georgia 2008.
The State Security Service of Georgia has reported “illegal destructive activities” observed in the occupied territories near the central Georgian village of Mejvriskhevi, adjacent to the administrative boundary line separating the government-controlled territory from the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region.
The Russian occupation forces carried out various types of unlawful activities, including illegal ‘borderisation’, throughout the month of January along the de-facto boundary line separating the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region from the government-controlled territory, Georgia’s State Security Service (SSS) has announced.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia has responded to a request by Inal Ardzinba, the de-facto foreign minister of the Russian-occupied Abkhazia region, for the status of an observer in the United Nations for the region by calling it a “propaganda move doomed to collapse."
Georgian State Security Service officials demanded “unconditional release” of Georgian citizens illegally arrested by Russian occupation forces at the 105th Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting, the platform facilitating talks between Georgian agencies and the de-facto authorities in the occupied regions of the country.
Russian occupation forces have illegally arrested a Georgian citizen near the occupied village of Zemo Artsevi, the Georgian State Security Service confirmed on March 31.
Following the arrest, the Security Service activated the European Union Monitoring Mission hotline. International partners, including the co-chairs of the Geneva International Discussions, have also been informed about the case.