STAFFDEL ANAND'S AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 1 VISIT TO GEORGIA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 002269 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM GG SUBJECT: STAFFDEL ANAND'S AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 1 VISIT TO GEORGIA Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Georgian officials gave a four-member staff delegation from the House Committee on Foreign Affairs an overview of Georgia's ongoing reforms August 30, in areas including rule of law, elections, defense, prisons, and the economy. The officials stressed the importance of NATO integration as a tool to push through and consolidate reforms. They expressed great concern about Russian pressure, including missile strikes and threats to recognize Georgia's separatist regions, and argued that such Russian tactics should not be rewarded with a delay in Georgia receiving Membership Action Plan (MAP) status in NATO. On August 31, the delegation traveled to Tskhinvali, where a South Ossetian de facto official rejected any possibility of dealing with the new, Georgian-sanctioned temporary administrative unit headed by former de facto official Dmitry Sanakoyev. Moving on to Kurta, the delegation met with Sanakoyev himself, who laid out his vision of a South Ossetia with broad autonomy inside Georgia. From the drive through Sanakoyev-controlled territory, it was clear that the Georgians are in the midst of a huge building push intended to make the area attractive to residents of separatist-controlled areas. End Summary. The Rush to Reform -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Deputy State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Elene Khoshtaria gave the delegation, which consisted of Professional Staff Members Manpreet Singh Anand, Amanda Sloat, Gene Gurevich, and Melissa Adamson, a thorough review of Georgia's reform progress to date, citing in particular the fight against corruption, local government reforms as enshrined with the 2006 local elections, and defense reform. She said that in 2006 the Georgian government had made reform of the judiciary and penitentiaries a top priority. She tied Georgia's reform steps closely to the NATO integration process, and said Georgia had met all objective criteria to achieve MAP status by the NATO Summit in Bucharest. Any further delay, she suggested, would be a signal that Russia's confrontational tactics had succeeded. At a lunch hosted by the Ambassador, leading MPs Mikheil Machavariani, Giga Bokeria, and Nino Nakashidze echoed these themes, noting that Georgia has made great strides in democratic development. The MPs said that Parliament will soon consider a law creating jury trials. Asked about several ongoing court cases that had raised human rights questions, the MPs said the trials had met international standards, but they acknowledged that the appearance of a lack of transparency had hurt Georgia internationally. In a separate meeting, leading think tankers offered a similar assessment, arguing that the government had not gotten full information about controversial criminal and property rights cases out to the international community. ¶3. (SBU) Deputy Minister of Defense Batu Kutelia told the delegation about his Ministry's internal reforms and the planned transition to a non-conscript army by 2009, noting that NATO standards were driving this process. He expressed concern that Russia would follow through on threats to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia if Kosovo declared its independence. Deputy State Minister for Conflict Resolution Dimitri Manjavidze reviewed the South Ossetia conflict, arguing that Sanakoyev needed to continue economic development projects and his work with local government officials. Manjavidze stressed that a legitimate solution to the conflict would require free and fair elections to determine South Ossetia's status, and he reiterated Georgia's call for international monitors at the Roki tunnel. South Ossetia's Two Regimes -------------- ¶4. (SBU) In a meeting in Tskhinvali August 31, South Ossetia's deputy Joint Control Commission (JCC) co-chair Leonid Tibilov told the delegation that the people of South Ossetia would never accept or work with Sanakoyev's administration. Tibilov said that while the South Ossetian people were grateful to Russia as their "savior" in the war with Georgia in the early 1990s, the South Ossetians' policy was to seek recognition as an independent state. He blamed Georgia for the lack of dialogue in the JCC, and said any settlement would have to be part of a "unified, joint program" including a declaration on the non-use of force or the threat of force. Reviewing the donors' economic rehabilitation program and other international aid initiatives, he claimed that the South Ossetians put no limits on the internationals' work. Asked about the August 6 missile incident, Tibilov expressed certainty that it was a "farce" staged by Georgian special forces. ¶5. (SBU) Leaving Tskhinvali, the delegation drove south into Georgian-controlled territory, and turned east onto the Georgian by-pass road, which allows the Georgians to reach their villages north of Tskhinvali, including Tamarasheni, Kurta, and Kekhvi, without having to travel through Tskhinvali. While unpaved and steep, the road was passable, and construction crews were at work improving it. Coming over the mountain -- just past Georgian and Russian peacekeeping posts on opposite sides at the summit -- the road offered a commanding view of both Tskhinvali and the Georgian-controlled Didi Liakhvi Valley. At the bottom of the TBILISI 00002269 002 OF 002 mountain was a large housing compound under construction for officials of the Sanakoyev administration and the population. Traveling on to Tamarasheni, the delegation saw more evidence of a building boom in the area: a newly completed cinema and amusement park, and a hotel and trade center under construction. ¶6. (SBU) The meeting took place at Sanakoyev's headquarters, a recently refurbished building (complete with a shiny podium for press conferences and back rooms equipped with cots and showers for officials) on the compound of a hospital in Kurta. Sanakoyev's large office was decorated with Georgian, South Ossetian, and EU flags, and a sign on the door identified him as "President of the Republic of South Ossetia." After dismissing the large number of Georgian journalists who had filmed the delegation's arrival, Sanakoyev, accompanied by his Deputy Minister for Integration Zurab Antadze, laid out his immediate goals: establishing an autonomous South Ossetia in the constitutional framework of Georgia, giving it "legal form" (preferably as part of a federal structure),and commencing conflict settlement. He said it was important to guarantee to Ossetians the right to develop their culture and to speak their native language, which he said should have official status in Georgia. At the same time, he stressed that South Ossetia must continue to be a multiethnic region. He explained his own transformation, from a de facto official who had fought against the Georgians into an advocate of a future within Georgia, by noting his growing concern over militarization and Russian manipulation of the region after de facto president Kokoity came to power in 2001. His vision of the future, he stressed, was transforming South Ossetia into a peaceful, developing part of the modern democratic world. ¶7. (U) Staffdel Anand cleared this message. TEFFT