Print
See related documents
Committee Opinion | Doc. 12039 | 28 September 2009
The war between Georgia and Russia: one year after
(Former) Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population
A. Conclusions of the committee
(open)1. The Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population
welcomes the report of the Monitoring Committee on the war between
Georgia and Russia: one year after.
2. The report presents a timely overview of the progress made
in dealing with the consequences of the war between Georgia and
Russia over the last year. The committee regrets the lack of progress
that has been made on the humanitarian front over the last year.
Notwithstanding that many persons were able to return to their homes
in the so called “buffer zone” and that large amounts of aid have
been promised for those affected by the conflict, including internally
displaced persons and refugees, many of the humanitarian issues
are currently in a state of stalemate.
3. The committee deplores that access, including humanitarian
access across the administrative boundary has become increasingly
complex for the local population and for international organisations.
Human rights monitoring and international presence in the conflict
region has all but disappeared with the closure of the OSCE Office
in Georgia and the United Nations Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), security
still remains an important issue with shootings, booby traps, unexploded
remnants of war, kidnappings and reports of violence and threatening
behaviour being regularly reported. There has been no progress on
the return of ethnic Georgians to the regions of South Ossetia and
Abkhazia or to the occupied territories of Akhalgori, Perevi and Upper
Khodori Valley. Many ethnic Georgians have continued to leave these
areas due to security fears, forced passportisation, problems over
mother tongue education, fears of conscription and difficulties
in maintaining links across the administrative boundary line (for
family reasons, economic reasons, medical reasons, etc.).
B. Explanatory memorandum by Mrs Jonker, rapporteur
(open)1. The rapporteur welcomes the report of Mr Van den
Brande and Mr Eörsi, co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee
for the report on the war between Georgia and Russia: one year after.
2. While the report is essentially a report on the political
consequences of the war, it rightly takes into account and highlights
some of the most pressing humanitarian and human rights concerns
remaining one year after the conflict erupted.
3. In this opinion, the rapporteur would like to commend those
who have contributed to making the lives of those persons in the
region affected by the war, a little easier, a little safer and
provided a little optimism for the future. This applies to persons
forming part of civil society, as well as persons working in government
or other offices.
4. However, against this backdrop, the rapporteur has to face
the stark reality that far too little has been achieved to address
the underlying human rights and humanitarian concerns, leaving those
individuals most affected by the war in a void or stalemate, as
politics takes over from humanitarian and human rights concerns. This
is not acceptable.
5. In this opinion, the rapporteur starts by highlighting some
of the all too few positive developments during the course of the
year, before dealing with the failures and the issues in need of
urgent attention. Finally, she puts forward a number of proposed
amendments to the draft resolution of the Monitoring Committee,
which seek to underline more clearly some of the humanitarian concerns.
1. One year on: positive developments, albeit far too few
6. When the rapporteur visited the conflict zone in
September 2008, the so-called “buffer zone” with South Ossetia was
occupied and it was almost impossible for persons to return to their
homes in this area. One year on and the Russian troops have withdrawn,
people have been able to return to their homes, many even during the
harsh winter months, and a new monitoring mission by the European
Union (EUMM) has provided a level of security, allowing persons
in the region to get on with their lives.
7. The Georgian authorities have received generous support from
the international community, allowing them to tackle many of the
problems of the new internally displaced persons (IDPs) and also
have a fresh look at the lives of the old IDPs from the earlier
conflicts. US$4.5 billion of aid was pledged, 38 new IDP settlements have
been made available, providing housing for over 18 000 IDPs and
progress has been made on the Action Plan on the IDP strategy. This
was initially passed on 30 July 2008, but updated with an annex
in December 2008.
8. The Russian Ministry of Justice has authorised aid to the
de facto South Ossetian authorities amounting to I0 billion Russian
roubles, reconstruction has been undertaken, a gas line has been
constructed from Russia to Tskhinvali and most of the refugees who
fled to Russia during the war have returned.
9. During the winter, the basic humanitarian needs of all persons,
both sides of the administrative boundary line. were met, albeit
the winter remained harsh and difficult for many living in the ruins
of their homes and those who faced severe shortages in energy supplies,
such as gas, electricity or firewood. The rapporteur would like to
highlight the important work carried out by the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC), the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR), other international governmental and non-governmental organisations,
and the authorities concerned, all of whom made important contributions
in this respect.
2. One year on: stalemate and a catalogue of humanitarian and human rights issues in need of attention
10. The rapporteur is greatly disappointed by the lack
of progress on many of the most important humanitarian and human
rights issues. She has highlighted on many occasions the need for
humanitarian and human rights issues to be divorced from political
issues, but all too often the parties to the conflict have continued
to put politics in front of the lives of the people affected.
11. Many of the problems boil down to the single issue of “access”
and the implications that the parties see in “access” on the status
situation of the breakaway regions. Unless this issue is tackled
and resolved now, there will be little or no progress made in any
foreseeable future on the humanitarian and human rights front.
12. The Monitoring Committee in its report has rightly highlighted
the issue of access. The rapporteur, however, considers that even
more emphasis needs to be placed on this issue, in particular in
terms of how it affects the people living in the region and not
only the international organisations who are prevented from carrying
out their human rights and humanitarian roles.
13. The rapporteur has identified the following examples of where
“access” is used as an excuse for blocking humanitarian and human
rights progress:
2.1. Human rights protection and oversight
14. In the last year, the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Mission in Georgia, along with its
OSCE military observation mission, has been wound up. The same fate
applied to the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG).
As the report of the Monitoring Committee points out, this is due
to the refusal of Russia to allow the extension of these mandates.
Furthermore, Russia has refused to allow the EUMM monitors access
to the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and the occupied territories.
15. Furthermore, international organisations, including the Council
of Europe have been met with a wall of problems when seeking to
visit or run activities in the regions of Abkhazia, South Ossetia
or the occupied territories. Without wishing to allocate levels
of blame, all parties including Russia, Georgia and the de facto authorities
share a responsibility. For the Council of Europe to be able to
carry out its human rights and humanitarian mandate it needs to
have access for its monitoring bodies, such as the European Commission Against
Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), the Advisory Committee on the Framework
Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European
Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT). It also needs persons
working out of Tbilisi, Sukhumi and Tskhinvali and all parties have
to facilitate this.
2.2. Access across the administrative boundary line for the local population
16. The administrative boundary line is becoming increasingly
difficult for local people to cross, primarily due to the attitude
of the de facto Abkhaz and South Ossetian authorities and the support
and steps taken by the Russian authorities to strengthen and control
the administrative boundary line. The impact of these restrictions can
be devastating for the local population and affects, inter alia, their ability to obtain
medical treatment, their possibility to maintain family contacts,
the opportunity to carry out economic activities, their access to
pension payments and other benefits, access to education, etc. While
the situation is bad, it is clear the situation could get worse.
If the administrative boundary closes completely, there is every
prospect that there will be a further wave of IDPs, in particular
from the Gali region and from the Akhalgori district.
2.3. Law on the occupied territories of Georgia
17. While the Georgian authorities have expressed their
readiness to address the concerns set out in the recent European
Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) opinion
on the “Law on the occupied territories of Georgia”, concerns remain
about the impact of this law in its implementation, for private individuals
and national and international organisations. While the amendments
open the way for persons providing necessary humanitarian aid in
emergency situations for the protection of right to life and survival
of the population, your rapporteur remains concerned about how workable
this will be in practice. She is also concerned how this will affect
the activities of actors who fall beneath the threshold mentioned,
yet still carry out essential activities for protecting human rights
and guaranteeing humanitarian assistance for those in the occupied
territories.
2.4. Return of internally displaced persons
18. The right to return of internally displaced persons
is a key issue in dealing with internal displacement. The report
of the Monitoring Committee has rightly highlighted the grave concern
of ethnic cleansing and current difficulties in relation to return
at this moment. Clearly return is an “access” issue and while the
security situation, living conditions and the voluntary will of
the displaced may not favour the return of many persons at this
moment in time, the basic international principles of return, as
highlighted in the Pinheiro Principles and various recommendations
and resolutions of the Assembly, including Recommendation 1877 (2009) on Europe’s
forgotten people: protecting the human rights of long term displaced
persons 
need
to be adhered to. This right to return has to be formally recognised
by the de facto Abkhaz and the de facto South Ossetian authorities
and by Russia. The rapporteur supports in full the recent United
Nations General Assembly Resolution (A63/L.79) on the status of
internally displaced persons and refugees from Abkhazia, Georgia
and Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia, Georgia and in particular recognition
of the “right of return of all internally displaced persons and
refugees and their descendants, regardless of ethnicity, to their
homes, throughout Georgia, including in Abkhazia and South Ossetia”.
She also supports “the need to respect the property rights of all
internally displaced persons and refugees affected by the conflicts
in Georgia and to refrain from obtaining property in violation of
those rights”. Recent reports that there are plans to build an airport
runway on the sites of former homes of ethnic Georgians near to
Tskhinvali are of great concern to the rapporteur and compromise both
return and property restitution.
need
to be adhered to. This right to return has to be formally recognised
by the de facto Abkhaz and the de facto South Ossetian authorities
and by Russia. The rapporteur supports in full the recent United
Nations General Assembly Resolution (A63/L.79) on the status of
internally displaced persons and refugees from Abkhazia, Georgia
and Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia, Georgia and in particular recognition
of the “right of return of all internally displaced persons and
refugees and their descendants, regardless of ethnicity, to their
homes, throughout Georgia, including in Abkhazia and South Ossetia”.
She also supports “the need to respect the property rights of all
internally displaced persons and refugees affected by the conflicts
in Georgia and to refrain from obtaining property in violation of
those rights”. Recent reports that there are plans to build an airport
runway on the sites of former homes of ethnic Georgians near to
Tskhinvali are of great concern to the rapporteur and compromise both
return and property restitution. 2.5. Gas and energy supplies and water
19. These are essential supplies throughout the year,
but particularly during the winter. It is imperative that access
to these supplies for those living on both sides of the administrative
boundary lines is maintained and that energy in particular is not
used as a political weapon at the expense of those in need of energy
for winter heating.
2.6. Dialogue with civil society
20. People have a right to information, they have a right
to knowledge, they have a right to communicate. Without dialogue,
confidence building cannot start, trust cannot be created. This
is the case on all sides in the conflict between Georgia and Russia
and the Council of Europe has an important role to play in supporting
civil society and encouraging dialogue. Steps to foster a dynamic
and independent civil society in the breakaway regions need to be
taken, and all sides in the conflict need to be more open and willing
to facilitate dialogue and contacts at the level of civil society.
2.7. Security − major issue
21. Security is a major issue for those living close
to the administrative boundary line and also those living in a minority
situation, for example ethnic Georgians living in the Gali region
or Akhalgori district. The OSCE monitors (up until their departure)
and the EUMM monitors have reported on serious administrative boundary incidents
which include shootings, booby trappings, and administrative boundary
arrests, all of which add to the level of insecurity in the region.
This has furthermore not been helped by the recent naval interventions
and threats from the different sides to use force to safeguard naval
interests.
22. The security situation in the Gali district is not helped
by the withdrawal of UNOMIG and there are serious concerns of harassment
of persons of ethnic Georgian origin in the region, increasing difficulties
over mother tongue education and forced passportisation, as well
as concerns over forced conscription. The situation in Akhalgori
remains difficult for similar reasons, with many persons of Georgian
ethnic origin having left the region during the course of the year.
The de facto authorities in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, along with
Russia, have an obligation to guarantee the security of all persons
under their de facto control.
23. The rapporteur considers that the Parliamentary Assembly should
keep a particularly close eye on these two areas of Gali and Akhalgori,
in view not only of the security concerns, but also the human rights
and humanitarian issues they throw up.
24. The rapporteur is also concerned about the different naval
interventions and incidents, including the incident where the Turkish
captain of a vessel heading for Abkhazia was arrested and sentenced
to prison, but subsequently released. Taking into account the various
statements and threats from the different sides, there is a clear
risk of naval hostilities breaking out, which could lead to other
hostilities unless this issue is dealt with.
3. Conclusions and recommendations
25. The rapporteur welcomes the frank assessment made
by the Monitoring Committee in its report. The report deals not
only with the political issues but also some of the most important
ongoing humanitarian and human rights concerns.
26. The rapporteur has, in this opinion, tried to highlight how
many of the humanitarian and human rights issues are blocked by
the access issue to the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia. As soon as the issue of access is raised, the issue of
the status of the territories is opened up by one side or the other.
On 9 September 2009, the rapporteur had the opportunity of addressing
the Council of Europe’s ministers’ deputies on the humanitarian
consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia. In the address
she stated that there were three priorities when dealing with the
humanitarian and human rights issues. They were “access, access
and access”. The
rapporteur hopes that the exchange of views with the ministers’
deputies will provide a basis for tackling some of the access dependent
human rights and humanitarian issues raised not only in this opinion
and the draft resolution before the Assembly, but also the previous
resolutions and recommendations of the Assembly on the war and its
aftermath.
The
rapporteur hopes that the exchange of views with the ministers’
deputies will provide a basis for tackling some of the access dependent
human rights and humanitarian issues raised not only in this opinion
and the draft resolution before the Assembly, but also the previous
resolutions and recommendations of the Assembly on the war and its
aftermath. 27. The Council of Europe, the international community and the
people living in the region must not be held hostage by any parties
to the conflict on the access issue where there are humanitarian
and human rights concerns at stake. In these cases, the access issue
must be clearly disconnected from the status issue of the breakaway
regions.
28. The rapporteur therefore proposes introducing a number of
amendments which seek to emphasise some of the humanitarian and
human rights concerns and the actions that need to be taken to deal
with them.
C. Proposed amendments
(open)Amendment A (to the draft resolution)
In paragraph 6.2 delete the words “all parties” and replace with:
“Georgia, Russia and the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia”.
Amendment B (to the draft resolution)
At the end of paragraph 6.2 add the following words:
“and fully respect their property rights”.
Amendment C (to the draft resolution)
In paragraph 6 at the end of sub-paragraph 6.2 add a new sub-paragraph as follows:
“Calls upon the relevant parties to the conflict to refrain from steps which may lead to a further wave of internally displaced persons, including threats to security, forced passportisation, interference with mother tongue education, conscription and restrictions on freedom of movement”.
Amendment D (to the draft resolution)
In paragraph 6 at the end of sub-paragraph 6.2 add a new sub-paragraph as follows:
“calls for the human rights and humanitarian experience of the Council of Europe to be taken into account in the Geneva discussions, in particular in the framework of the second working group dealing with humanitarian issues and freedom of movement, and for the Council of Europe to be represented in these discussions, at least in an observer capacity.”
Amendment E (to the draft resolution)
In paragraph 7, delete the first paragraph before sub-paragraph 7.1. and replace with:
“The Assembly deeply regrets that Russia and the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia continue to place excessive restrictions on the access of international and humanitarian organisations, including for humanitarian aid, to the breakaway regions, and that Georgia also places restrictions on access. Furthermore, Russia and the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia continue to place undue restrictions on the local population wishing to cross the administrative boundary line. In this respect it:”.
Amendment F (to the draft resolution)
Add at the beginning of paragraph 7.1 add the following:
“remains deeply concerned about the humanitarian consequences of the ‘Law on the occupied territories of Georgia’ and its application, although it”.
Amendment G (to the draft resolution)
In paragraph 7.1 replace the words “Law on the occupied territories of Georgia” with:
“Law”.
Amendment H (to the draft resolution)
At the end of paragraph 7.2 of the draft resolution add a new paragraph:
“calls upon all parties to ensure the uninterrupted flow of gas, water and other basic humanitarian supplies across the administrative boundary lines, in particular during the forthcoming winter months.”
__________
Reporting committee: Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee)
Committee for opinion: Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population
Reference to committee: Resolution 1115 (1997), Resolution 1647 (2009) and Reference 3575 of 29 May 2009
Opinion approved by the committee on 28 September 2009
Secretariat of the committee: Mr Neville, Mrs Odrats, Mr Ekström