OSCE PA Committee includes human rights violations in Georgian occupied regions in resolution

The Committee of Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions in the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly on Monday accepted a  section on violations in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions in the Assembly’s annual resolution.

Presented by Nikoloz Samkharadze, the Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Georgian Parliament, the section raises the issue of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the regions.

It highlights the worsening conditions have been caused by violations of basic rights and freedoms of the people in the locations, various forms of discrimination against ethnic Georgians, and erasure of traces of Georgian culture on monuments of cultural heritage and damage caused to them in both regions.

The section also stresses the actions are “direct results” of Russia’s continued occupation of Georgian territories and Moscow’s annexation policies. 

The resolution is entitled Strengthening Regional Security by Fostering Democratic and Inclusive Societies, and came as part of the 30th annual session of the Assembly in Vancouver between June 30-July 4, the Georgian Parliament press office said. 

Chaired by Samkharadze since last year, the Committee of Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions reviewed the resolution between July 1-3 and endorsed it with the section about Georgia.