FSC SEPTEMBER 24: GEORGIA-RUSSIA DUSTUP CONTINUES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 USOSCE 000228 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR VCI/CCA, VCI/NRRC, EUR/RPM, EUR/PRA, EUR/CARC, SCA/CEN, SCA/RA, PM/WRA JCS FOR J-5 OSD FOR ISA (PERENYI) NSC FOR HAYES USUN FOR LEGAL, POL EUCOM FOR J-5 CENTCOM FOR J-5 UNVIE FOR AC GENEVA FOR CD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PARM PREL KCFE OSCE RS XG SUBJECT: FSC SEPTEMBER 24: GEORGIA-RUSSIA DUSTUP CONTINUES ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Georgia gave a lengthy description in the OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation today of Russian transgressions, dating back to the breakup of the Soviet Union and culminating in its continued occupation of Georgian territories. Russia's relatively brief response blamed the "criminal aggression" of the "Saakashvili regime" for all the death and suffering resulting from the August war. The U.S. repeated its call for Russia to comply with the ceasefire agreement and meanwhile protect the human rights of all living under its occupying forces in Georgia. Both sides are expected to return to the debate in future FSC meetings. ¶2. (SBU) Dr. Ronald Dreyer of the Swiss Mission to the UN in Geneva described ongoing efforts to implement the 2006 Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development, a political commitment by 94 states to take integrated action to curtail armed violence and so enhance economic development. He noted the U.S., while not a signatory, has taken "concrete actions" to reduce armed violence. ¶3. (SBU) In the working group the revised Estonian-Lithuanian cyber security paper now recommends a workshop occur before summer 2009 in cooperation with the Permanent Council. Finland, the FSC chair, announced a series of speakers who will address next steps in implementing the UN Program of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons through OSCE activities. End summary. Georgia Takes the Long View -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Georgia (Giorgadze) followed through on its promise at the September 17 FSC to make a broad-ranging presentation in response to Russia's assertions that Tbilisi alone was to blame for the August conflict. Giorgadze outlined the long history of Georgia-Russia tensions, finding the core of the current conflict was the Russian belief that Georgia was partly to blame for the collapse of the Soviet Union and Russia's refusal to recognize Georgia's right to make itself into an independent, democratic, and pluralistic state. Separatists are Russian Inventions -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Giorgadze asserted there was no real difference between the separatists and the Russian leadership. The separatist movements were merely a means for Russia to exert pressure on a sovereign neighboring state. The August war was the culmination of a long-term Russian plan to dismember Georgia by provoking it to take military steps against the separatists that Russia used as a pretext for a massive military invasion of Georgia. ¶6. (SBU) Major features of the Russian plan included its rejection of Georgian and international peace proposals; the seconding of Russian military and civil officials to the separatists governments and the increasing economic and legal integration of the separatists region into Russia, including the issuance of Russian passports to most of the residents; deliberate freezing of, or withdrawal from negotiations; increase in Russian military presence in the separatist regions and adjacent areas of Russia; an escalation of Russian militant rhetoric against Georgia, including a threat to take military and "other measures" against Georgia if it USOSCE 00000228 002 OF 006 joined NATO; and continuous armed provocations against Georgian villages, peacekeepers, civil government, and military forces. Russia Triggers August War -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Turning to the events of the August conflict, Giorgadze outlined separatist attacks on Georgian villages with heavy artillery, prohibited by then-extant peace agreements beginning July 28. Giorgadze played an audio recording of what he said was the voice of the South Ossetian "interior minister" ordering the elimination of the Georgian village of Dvani. ¶8. (SBU) The separatist authorities evacuated civilians from Tskhinvali and the surrounding areas beginning on August 3. Giorgadze said all these events indicated Russia was already preparing for military action against Georgia. Giorgadze said Georgian officials called for negotiations several times between August 5 and 7 but were rebuffed by separatist and Russian officials. Russian Offensive Begins August 7 -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Massive Russian forces, according to Giorgadze, entered Georgia through the Roki tunnel on the morning of August 7. Giorgadze played audio recordings of what he described as Georgian intelligence intercepts of mobile telephone conversations between separatist border guards concerning Russian military convoys moving through the tunnel at this time. Giorgadze spent some time rebutting the Russian explanation that these forces were part of a regular rotation of peacekeeping units. He said there should have been prior notice by Russia but the movement was never announced; the movement should have occurred during daylight; and the units involved were not those likely to be part of the peacekeeping forces. He also quoted from an interview in a Russian military newspaper ("Krasnaya Zvezda") with a Russian officer who said his unit was ordered to Tskhinvali on August 7. Georgian "Counterattack" on Tskhinvali -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Giorgadze claimed military necessity, including terrain and the location of Russian units, required Georgia to attack Tskhinvali as part of its August 8 "counterattack" on advancing Russian forces. ¶11. (SBU) Giorgadze showed the same overhead imagery of Tskhinvali displayed by Russia at the September 17 FSC, and added satellite images of surrounding villages in the Didi Liakhvi valley, noting that damage to the Georgian villages was greater than in Tskhinvali. He hoped the Russians would not claim, as they did last year, that the Georgians deliberately shelled their own villages. Most of the damage in Tskhinvali, he said, was actually caused by the Russian air force. Russian Attacks on Civilian Targets -------------- ¶12. (SBU) Giorgadze reprised some of his comments in response USOSCE 00000228 003 OF 006 to Russia's presentation at the September 17 FSC. Russia, he said, has grossly exaggerated its own military casualties and the civilian death toll. Russia left its peacekeepers in exposed positions to mask the movements of its invading force. Russia used its July exercises in the North Caucasus to prepare for the invasion. Russia used Georgian ceasefires to reinforce its positions deep in Georgia. Russia used disproportionately destructive weapons that caused excessive collateral damage to civilian facilities and population. Russian forces and separatist militias have deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure including housing, hospitals, and schools. Russian forces have attacked and killed Georgian civilian police. Russian military forces continue to deny access to South Ossetia and Abkhazia to humanitarian relief agencies and to OSCE military monitors. Russian Ethnic Cleansing -------------- ¶13. (SBU) Giorgadze said Russian soldiers and separatist militias are engaged in ethnic cleansing of the territories they now occupy. This forced displacement of ethnic Georgians has been accompanied by assaults, robberies, and murders of innocent civilians, citing reports compiled by Human Rights Watch. Russia is failing to abide by basic humanitarian legal principles that require occupying military forces to uphold the human rights of all living under their control. Giorgadze concluded by calling for an international investigation of the conflict. ¶14. (SBU) Giorgadze's presentation was accompanied by numerous film clips and power point slides graphically portraying the nature and extent of the destruction in the conflict zone. Some of this and much of his narrative was distributed in paper copy to delegations at the meeting (FSC.DEL/150/08). Russia: "It's All Propaganda" -------------- ¶15. (SBU) Russia (Geyvandov) replied that Giorgadze's presentation was "propaganda" that attempted to whitewash Georgia's criminal actions. Recalling that Georgian President Saakashvili had promised never to start a war because of the suffering it would cause the innocent, Geyvandov laid the blame for all the civilian deaths on Tbilisi. Russia's response to Georgia's attack, he said, was measured and proportionate, considering that the Georgian "invasion" was "large-scale and gory." Commenting on the satellite photos Georgia had shown, Geyvandov said Russia attacked only military and "military-industrial targets." He asserted there were few Georgian civilian casualties as a result of Russian military action because the Georgian forces had mostly fled the battlefield without a fight. ¶16. (SBU) Geyvandov said there were inconsistencies among the different documents circulated by Georgia at the OSCE, including that accompanying the latest presentation in the FSC. He cast doubts on the provenance of the cell phone intercepts played by Georgia during its presentation, asking why it had taken Georgia so long to release them. Geyvandov said Russia also welcomed an international investigation U.S. Takes Russia to Task -------------- USOSCE 00000228 004 OF 006 ¶17. (SBU) The U.S. (Neighbour) said both sides to the conflict had made mistakes but Russia greatly exacerbated the situation by launching a massive military invasion across a neighboring state's international border. Neighbour said thousands of innocent civilians were displaced by the Russian military occupation that still stretches deep into Georgia. He deplored Russia's failure to allow humanitarian groups and international observers into occupied areas. Neighbour charged Russia to uphold international humanitarian standards and respect the human rights of all persons under its control in the occupied territories. ¶18. (SBU) Neighbour acknowledged Georgia "took the Russian bait," but Russia then launched an attack that had been prepared months earlier by giving equipment and weapons to South Ossetian separatists and issuing Russian passports to much of the population of South Ossetia. He called on Russia to abide with all parts of the ceasefire agreement and amplifying documents and said Russia' recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia is unacceptable. Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development -------------- -------------- ¶19. (SBU) Dr. Ronald Dreyer of the Swiss Mission to the UN in Geneva described ongoing implementation of the 2006 Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development, which has been adopted by 94 countries. The U.S. is not a signatory. The declaration promotes "sustainable security and a culture of peace" through concrete actions to reduce armed violence and "its negative impact on socio-economic and human development." Switzerland leads a core group of states in implementing these objectives into concrete measures, which fall into broad areas: advocacy, measurability, and programming. Work in the initial six focus countries includes establishing best practices for cooperation among governments, civil society, and international donors. ¶20. (SBU) Dreyer encouraged participating States to adopt the declaration--to date 26 have done so--and continue their work as donors and sources of technical expertise for the OSCE projects that further the objectives of the declaration. He announced a regional meeting to support the declaration in Sarajevo on November 13-14 for countries of Southeastern Europe and the Caucasus. U.S. Praised for "Concrete Actions" -------------- ¶21. (SBU) Switzerland, Germany, and Austria offered support for the declaration and noted the relevance to it of the OSCE's SALW and ammunition projects. France (Simonet) expressed some skepticism that a single instrument like the declaration could address the wide range of problems encompassed by the subjects of violence and development. The U.S. (Neighbour) supported the goal of reducing armed violence while noting its skepticism of the need for additional legally binding international instruments. Dreyer thanked the U.S. for its "concrete actions on the ground" to address the problem of armed violence. OSCE Communication Group -------------- USOSCE 00000228 005 OF 006 ¶22. (SBU) The chair of the OSCE Communications Group, Glen Sibbett (Canada) reported the results of the group's meeting September 16, including the adoption of new software for the Communications Network, version number 3, to be installed by October 20, that includes formats supporting the Dayton Peace Accords. A new version, number 6.5, of the automated data software for the Annual Exchange of Military Information (AEMI) was also released and should be used for the December exchange. Sibbett announced the dates for the AEMI and Vienna Document automated data exchange workshops as 11-15 December, with the Vienna Document exchange on December 12 if the FSC concurred, and the AEMI on December 15 per the CFE Treaty. There was no objection to the December 12 date for the Vienna Document exchange. AIAM Dates Proposed -------------- ¶23. (SBU) The chair announced its draft decision to hold the next Annual Implementation Assessment Meeting on March 3 and 4, 2009 in Vienna (FSC.DD/11/08). SALW: Finnish Chair Beats UNPOA Drum -------------- ¶24. (SBU) The chair, Finland (Kangaste),announced it intended to use the FSC to advance the UN Program of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons (UNPOA). Citing the disappointing results of the third Biennial Meeting of States (BMS) on the UNPOA in July, Kangaste has invited the Small Arms Survey, Safer World, and the Information Research Group on Peace and Security (GRIP) to discuss the BMS and how the OSCE could "bring added value." Kangaste has also invited the chair of the third BMS, Dalius Cekuolis, to address the FSC on November 5 on how the OSCE could help improve implementation of the UNPOA. Kangaste said Finland, also the 2008 CiO, wants the ministerial council at Helsinki in November to call on the OSCE to continue its work on SALW and stockpiles of conventional ammunition (SCA). Kangaste said it was time to assess all normative issues connected with SALW/SCA. (FSC.DEL/149/08) Cyber Security -------------- ¶25. (SBU) Estonia (Tiigimae),in the working group, announced a revision (FSC.DEL/125/08/Rev.2) of its proposal for a cyber security workshop, which now would occur before the 2009 summer recess and be organized "together with the PC." Tiigimae said a subsequent paper would detail the agenda and modalities. Estonia will soon share its national cyber security strategy to participating States. Switzerland, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, and Canada gave general support to the paper, although there were some quibbles that it needed further detail about the agenda. Landmines and Explosive Remnants of War -------------- ¶26. (SBU) There were no comments on the Food-for-Thought paper on a "more active role for the OSCE in addressing the landmine and ERW problem" (FSC.DEL/126/08). Germany (Schweizer) then announced it will begin drafting a draft USOSCE 00000228 006 OF 006 decision that would detail specific OSCE actions. Separately, the U.S. (Silberberg) reminded Schweizer again of opposition to references to the Ottawa Convention and concern over duplication of work done by other international organizations. Schweizer said these concerns "would be taken into consideration." Draft Decision on Finland's Melange Guide -------------- ¶27. (SBU) Finland (Kangaste) announced a draft decision to welcome the publication of its Guide to melange (rocket fuel oxidizer) elimination (FSC.DEL/148/08). The decision refers to the late 2007 draft of the guide (FSC.DEL/443/07/Rev.1). Next Meeting -------------- ¶28. (SBU) The next meeting of the FSC will be on October 1 and will include in the Security Dialogue a Russian presentation on arms transfers to Georgia as well as the presentations on the UNPOA on SALW mentioned above in para 24. FINLEY