Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
10TBILISI103
2010-01-27 14:50:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Tbilisi
Cable title:  

GEORGIA: NEW DOCUMENT REQUIREMENTS IN PEREVI AND

Tags:  PREL PGOV PBTS MOPS RS GG 
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VZCZCXRO9399
PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHSI #0103/01 0271450
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 271450Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY TBILISI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2762
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 0351
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 4983
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TBILISI 000103 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/15/2020
TAGS: PREL PGOV PBTS MOPS RS GG
SUBJECT: GEORGIA: NEW DOCUMENT REQUIREMENTS IN PEREVI AND
AKHALGORI

REF: A. 09 TBILISI 2131

B. 09 TBILISI 2276

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Kent Logsdon for reasons 1.4 (b)
and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TBILISI 000103

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/15/2020
TAGS: PREL PGOV PBTS MOPS RS GG
SUBJECT: GEORGIA: NEW DOCUMENT REQUIREMENTS IN PEREVI AND
AKHALGORI

REF: A. 09 TBILISI 2131

B. 09 TBILISI 2276

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Kent Logsdon for reasons 1.4 (b)
and (d).


1. (C) Summary and comment. The EUMM reported new Russian
requirements that local residents of Akhalgori (an ethnic
Georgian city on the South Ossetian side of the
administrative boundary line) and Perevi (in undisputed
Georgia, but occupied by Russian forces) must have documents
in Russian or English to enter their villages. Detentions
continue in January, but the numbers are down significantly
from December; two controversial cases involving a Russian
asylum seeker and a South Ossetian security guard remain
unresolved. The EUMM opened a forward operating base in
Pasanauri, which will enable better monitoring of areas east
and northeast of South Ossetia and outside the Larsi border
crossing with Russia. The new document requirements, while
possibly introduced for operational reasons (Russian
officials probably can not read Georgian),could be a
political step to reinforce the reality of the administrative
boundary -- especially if the Russians insist on passports.
They also impose an additional burden on local residents.
The decrease in detention numbers is welcome and has extended
beyond the expected holiday hiatus. End summary and comment.

RUSSIANS IMPLEMENT NEW DOCUMENT REQUIREMENTS


2. (C) EUMM staff have reported new document requirements
imposed by Russian Border Guards on local residents to access
their homes in Akhalgori and Perevi. The two regimes are
slightly different, although the EUMM has only been able to
confirm the regime for Akhalgori. There, the Russians told
the EUMM that as of January 15, if local residents only
possess an identification card in Georgian (as many do),they
must also have a notarized translation of the document into
Russian or English for it to be acceptable. The Russians
said their forces would have discretion to be flexible in
individual cases for one month, but as of February 15, the
requirement would be strictly enforced. EUMM Head of Mission

Haber speculated that the new requirement did not reflect any
political agenda on the Russians' part, but rather the
operational difficulty facing border guards who cannot read
Georgian.


3. (C) In Perevi, the EUMM has reported that the Russian
Border Guards are also seeking additional documentation from
local residents; one step the Russians have apparently taken
is compiling a list of individuals with ties to Perevi for
use in making decisions on access. It is seeking to confirm
rumors that the Russians will require locals to show
passports (as opposed to internal identification documents).
In response, the Georgian government has apparently begun
issuing passports to local residents. EUMM staff speculated
that the passport requirement in Perevi, if true, may reflect
the same basic operational difficulty of individual border
guards being unable to read Georgian documents. Other
diplomats at a January 14 EUMM briefing wondered whether the
specific requirement that a passport be presented might have
a political objective -- i.e., to make the point that
Georgians are crossing an "international border." (Note:
Although they have not done so publicly, Russian officials
have in private conceded that Perevi is not inside South
Ossetia, so imposing a passport requirement in Perevi would
QOssetia, so imposing a passport requirement in Perevi would
seem an odd place to make such a political statement.
Akhalgori would seem the more likely candidate, but the
Russians have not imposed such a requirement there. End
note.)


4. (C) EUMM staff also noted that the Russians continue to
refuse access to Perevi to staff from the World Food Program
and UNHCR bringing humanitarian assistance; they must leave
the deliveries outside the village, and the locals must come
out of the village (mostly on foot) to recover the supplies.
In addition, the EUMM reported that the Russians blocked a
side path into Perevi (which local residents had until
ecently been using to bypass the Russian checkpoint) with
barbed wire, thereby forcing residents to cross the
checkpoint. An Estonian diplomat at the January 14 briefing
asked whether the EUMM planned to take any further steps to
encourage the Russians to leave Perevi. Ambassador Haber
noted that the EUMM issued a public statement on December 11,
the anniversary of the Russians' one-day departure from
Perevi, calling on the Russians to honor their cease-fire
commitments and withdraw from Perevi. He added that he would
welcome additional engagement by EU member states with Russia
on the issue.

TBILISI 00000103 002 OF 003



DETENTIONS DOWN, BUT STILL HAPPENING


5. (C) The EUMM noted that, so far in January, the number of
detentions has been way down compared to December, when 67
individuals were reportedly detained -- although the EUMM
cautioned that this number was based on compilations of press
reports and unconfirmed. Russian Border Guards have made
some temporary detentions, including on December 18 and
January 2, releasing the individuals within a few hours. On
January 3, six persons were detained inside Abkhazia; three
minors were released that evening, and three adults were
released the next day. On December 23, Georgian law
enforcement officials detained an ethnically Georgian
resident of Akhalgori for allegedly possessing counterfeit
U.S. currency. On January 4, Georgian officials detained a
Russian citizen who crossed into undisputed Georgia from
Abkhazia; he was reportedly mentally challenged, and the
Georgians returned him to Abkhazia in a process facilitated
by the ICRC. The EUMM has been unable to confirm whether the
individual was a resident of Abkhazia who happened to carry a
Russian passport or a resident of Russia who happened to be
present in Abkhazia.


6. (C) The EUMM also offered updates on two politically
charged cases of boundary crossings. On January 4, South
Ossetian resident Gennadiy Pliyev was detained by Georgian
law enforcement officials for allegedly carrying machine guns
and grenades. The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs
(MoIA) announced he was detained in the town of Nikozi, just
outside the South Ossetian administrative boundary; South
Ossetian de facto officials announced Georgian officials
crossed the administrative boundary line to detain Pliyev
forcefully in the Shanghai neighborhood of Tskhinvali. The
MoIA described Pliyev as a member of South Ossetian de facto
"president" Kokoity's security team; announcements on the de
facto authorities' websites identified him variously as an
official with the de facto "state" protection service and a
military serviceman.


7. (C) South Ossetian de facto officials used the hotline to
request EUMM in the case and (unusually) permitted EUMM staff
to cross into South Ossetia to visit the site of Pliyev's
alleged detention. After discussing the case with Georgian
and de facto South Ossetian officials, the EUMM issued a
press release on January 6 indicating their inability to
determine the facts of the case, but calling for a special
meeting of the South Ossetia Incident Prevention and Response
Mechanism (IPRM) on January 11 to discuss it. The de facto
authorities refused to participate because of long-standing
concerns (see ref A). The EUMM interviewed Pliyev himself on
January 6 and 8; he said he had drunkenly crossed out of
South Ossetia to visit a friend and was detained on
undisputed Georgian territory. He also told the EUMM he
received a "mild beating" at the time of his detention, but
since his arrival in a Tbilisi detention center has been
treated well; he did complain that he had been asked to sign
a statement in Georgian, which he could not read. On January
25, the EUMM released a second press release in which it
announced "serious reservations" about the case. Based on
its investigation, the EUMM has "serious doubts" about both
the South Ossetian allegation that Pliyev was abducted and
the Georgian allegation that Pliyev was carrying a weapon at
Qthe Georgian allegation that Pliyev was carrying a weapon at
the time of his detention.


8. (C) On December 21, Russian Border Guard contract employee
Vitaliy Khripun left his post near Perevi (just outside the
western boundary of South Ossetia) and requested political
asylum; he remains in Georgia while the UNHCR considers his
case (see ref B). The EUMM met with him on December 22.
Russian officials activated the IPRM hotline in connection
with the case, and the EUMM monitored a meeting between him
and Russian officials on December 23. In the EUMM's
judgment, Khripun will not drop his asylum claim. On January
21, the EUMM reported to diplomatic colleagues that Russia
was increasing the number of Border Guards on duty at any one
time in Perevi, apparently in an effort to prevent further
desertions.

NEW EUMM FORWARD OPERATING POST IN PASANAURI


9. (SBU) The EUMM also announced that it has opened a new
forward operating post in Pasanauri, along the Russian
Military Highway north of Dusheti and east of South Ossetia,
which would normally be staffed by one patrol (about four
individuals). The new post, subordinate to the EUMM's
Mtskheta Field Office, will allow better monitoring of areas
east and northeast of South Ossetia and around the Larsi

TBILISI 00000103 003 OF 003


border checkpoint with Russia, if the Georgians and Russian
agree to reopen the border crossing.
BASS