Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05TBILISI3202
2005-12-09 03:24:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Tbilisi
Cable title:  

NON-PAPER ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ABKHAZIA

Tags:  PREL PGOV GG 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TBILISI 003202 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV GG
SUBJECT: NON-PAPER ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ABKHAZIA


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TBILISI 003202

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV GG
SUBJECT: NON-PAPER ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ABKHAZIA



1. Poloff received the following non-paper on recent
developments in Abkhazia from Giorgi Nikolaishvili, Advisor to
the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The non-paper is laying out the
Georgians position on Abkhazia.


2. Begin Text:

After the UN Secretary General's last report on the situation in
Abkhazia, Georgia (October 19, 2005) the situation in the region
became rather strenuous. The separatist regime's deliberate
actions against the remaining Georgian population in Abkhazia
grew in number and intensity.


1. The statements of the Abkhazian de facto leader on granting
Abkhazian citizenship and issuing Abkhazian passports are
targeted against the Georgian population and present an attempt
to bring to an end the process of ethnic cleansing and confine
the ongoing process within the legal frames:

-- On October 24, 2005 the Abkhazian separatist parliament
adopted a law on the so-called Abkhazian citizenship, which is a
discriminatory decision towards the region's Georgian population
(The law envisages granting dual citizenship only to Russian
citizens);

-- On November 10, S. Bagapsh made another destructive statement
on the Abkhazian passports, which would be issued by the end of
November. `Those (Georgians) declining to accept the Abkhazian
passports will have to move their residence to the neighboring
country beyond the river Enguri'.


2. Attacks, kidnappings and murders against the Georgian
population have recently taken on a mass character in Abkhazia
and particularly in Gali region. Such a tendency serves as the
main tool for implementation of the statements made by the
separatist leaders. These actions are being carried out
deliberately and with singular brutality against the Georgian
villages:

-- On October 29, Guliko Rodonaia's family was attacked in the
village of Kokhora. The attackers confiscated 20,000 Russian
rubles and a cellular phone. Later on, they kidnapped Gulnazi
Rodonaia, a mother of two and demanded a USD 100.000 ransom;

-- On October 31, a 200-strong armed group was deployed in Gali
region forcing the Georgian youth to conscript in the Abkhazian
army. On November 2, they blocked entrances to the village of
Gagida, took several families as hostages, forced a group of
passengers to get off the bus and carried them away to an unknown

direction;

-- On November 2, Daniel Tsurtsumia, a resident of the village of
Gagida, was detained groundlessly together with two local
villagers. Daniel Tsurtsumia was beaten brutally and on November
4 he died;

-- On November 8, Revaz Jakhaia, 68, was kidnapped from his house
by a special unit of the Abkhazian militia and taken reportedly
to the woods North of Saberio village. His whereabouts are still
unknown;

-- On November 13, in an attack against the Georgian youth, Kh.
Arkania, a resident of Chuburkhinji was shot dead and G.
Sichinava was wounded and taken to hospital in Gali;

-- On November 13, in the village of Pichori, the Abkhazian
militia detained Demuri and Giorgi Morgoshias, residents of Kvemo
Bargebi without any reason.


3. The Abkhazian side's rigid and negative position at the
negotiations held within the conflict settlement process blocks
systematically the realization of concrete initiatives and agreed
issues. The Abkhazian side's disregard for the recommendations
drafted at the high-level meetings in Geneva and its total
neglect of the possibility of developing the negotiations into
various directions are results of the separatist regime's policy
aimed at protracting the conflict settlement process and
legalizing the artificially altered demographic situation. Such
a political stance stalemates the implementation of issues like:

-- Opening of the UN/OSCE Sukhumi Human Rights Office branch in
Gali, as envisaged by the recommendations of the April Geneva
meeting;

-- Activation of the UN civilian police component in the Gali
district, as underlined at the April Geneva meeting;

-- Adoption for consideration of the so-called Boden Document
supported by the UN Security Council and the Group of Friends of
the UN Secretary General on Georgia.

Such approach of the Abkhazian side is not accidental and on the
one hand, is largely due to the culpable inaction of the Russian
peacekeeping forces and, on the other hand, due to the official
Russia's destructive activity in Abkhazia. In particular:


4. Inaction of the Russian peacekeeping forces over the acts
taking place in the Security Zone while they are presence equals
committing a crime. They systematically violate obligations and
duties determined by the mandate approved on October 21, 1994 and
the Decision on Use of Collective Peace-Keeping Forces in the
Zone of the Georgian-Abkhazian Conflict, taken by the Heads of
the CIS States on August 22, 1994, [b) providing conditions for
the safe and dignified return of refugees to their permanent
places of residence; c) promoting restoration of the places
damaged as a result of the conflict, rendering humanitarian
assistance, facilitating mine clearing and putting into operation
the facilities of vital importance; d) insuring the protection of
international norms of the Humanitarian Law and human rights] and
facilitate the realization of the separatist regime's
discriminative resolutions through their inaction or deliberate
acts.


5. The Russian Federation is the facilitator of the conflict
settlement process and the member of the Group of Friends of the
UN Secretary General in Georgia. The peacekeeping forces acting
under the CIS mandate are fully staffed by the Russian military
personnel. Despite the official recognition of Georgia's
territorial integrity, representatives of Russia's executive and
legislative authorities carry out illegal acts, which are not
coordinated with Georgian authorities. There is a clear evidence
of supporting the separatist regime and violating bilateral and
multilateral obligations and the Georgian legislation. Despite
the repeated official appeals by the Georgian authorities,
Russian officials continue to disregard Georgia's sovereignty and
territorial integrity:

-- The Russian side, in cooperation with the so-called Abkhazian
customs and border protection structures, set up an illegal check-
point on the Abkhazian section of the Georgian-Russian state
border, through which a large volume of smuggled goods is
imported to the territory of Georgia. The illegal crossing of
the Georgian state border takes place on a regular basis.

-- On the background of the discriminative visa policy towards
Georgia, against the will of the Georgian Authorities and despite
the repeated protests of Georgian officials, the Russian side
arbitrarily introduced a simplified and in fact a non-visa regime
for the Abkhazian population.

-- Joint economic projects, including the restoration of railway
and maritime connections with the Russian Federation, are
implemented without consent of the Georgian Authorities; there is
a growing tendency of transferring various facilities to Russian
individuals and legal entities as part of the privatization
process; cooperation in the banking sector is on the rise; a
number of Russian companies are based and function in the
Abkhazian territory; the sums allocated from Russia's regional
budgets are spent for supporting the Abkhazian separatist regime.

-- Cooperation agreements are signed between various regions of
Russia and the Abkhazian separatist leadership. The executive and
legislative branches of the Russian Government periodically send
their delegations to Abkhazia and make statements which support
Abkhazia's independence;

-- The official documents and comments issued in the last few
years by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs refer to the
representatives of the separatist regime as legal authorities,
presidents and prime ministers, rather than leaders of the self-
proclaimed republic;

-- Without coordinating this issue with the Georgian Authorities,
almost the entire population of Abkhaiza was granted Russian
citizenship in a simplified order. Russian officials entering
illegally the Abkhazian territory are issuing Russian passports
with complete disregard for the Georgian legislation;

-- With this illegal handout of passports to the population of
the conflict zones and with violation of Georgia's sovereign
rights, Russia is seeking to exert pressure on the Georgian
Authorities, citing the protection of the interests of Russian
citizens as a motive;

-- High-ranking officials of the Russian law-enforcement agencies
are assigned to Abkhazia and appointed to senior positions within
the separatist government.

The above-listed facts confirm Russia's unequivocal and
undisguised support for the separatist regime and the idea of
Abkhiazia's either independence or its integration into Russia.
This very support lies behind the de facto Abkhazian regime's
rigid and destructive position and its disregard for the world
community's recommendations and attempts to achieve peaceful
resolution of the conflict, ultimately leading to the
inefficiency of the conflict settlement process as a whole.

For the conflict settlement process to break through the
persisting impasse and attain real results, we consider it
necessary to further activate the international component
involved in this process and insure its urgent and effective
action over each violation of human rights and each case of the
separatist regime's destructive activity. A major breakthrough in
the conflict settlement process is hardly conceivable without
active and concerted action of the Group of Friend of the UN
Secretary General on Georgia and the UN Mission.

SIPDIS
End Text.
TEFFT