Independence means stability – Abkhazian foreign minister

Independence means stability – Abkhazian foreign minister from Abkhaz World on Vimeo.

RT, 02 June 2011 -- By gaining independence in 2008 and seeking international recognition Abkhazia got more stability, co-operation, investment and real perspectives for the future, shared Abkhazia’s Foreign Minister Maksim Gvinjia.

Remembering the late Abkhazian President Sergey Bagapsh, who has been laid to rest on Thursday, Gvinjia acknowledged that Bagapsh was a smart, tolerant, strategic thinker who created a stable political system in the republic.

Sergey Bagapsh, aged 62, died last weekend in a Moscow medical center after undergoing a surgery on his right lung. The next day his lungs stopped functioning, he was put on an artificial respirator, but later on doctors registered other complications which made it impossible to improve his critical condition.

Thanks to Sergey Bagapsh’s personal efforts, Abkhazia succeeded in setting up relations with countries in Latin America.

“We consider most of the ways to achieve international political for a but there are significant obstacles imposed by Western countries, by the EU and the US,” Maksim Gvinjia told RT, stressing that, particularly in Latin America, the US attempted to put maximum pressure on the local governments not to let to recognize Abkhazia or establish diplomatic relations with the republic, which proclaimed independence from Georgia nearly 20 years ago.

“We are confronted not by actually Georgian diplomacy – we are confronted by the American diplomacy,” he concluded.

Tbilisi may maintain that Abkhazia is a part of Georgia, but “saying that Abkhazia is a part of Georgia is equal to saying that Georgia is still a part of Russia – since Russia inherited obligations of the former Soviet Union.”

The so-called “territorial integrity of Georgia” was recognized in violation of the international law so there is no use in repeating it over and over again, believes Gvinjia.

The 08/08/08 war in South Ossetia only deteriorated Abkhazia further from Georgia, remembers the Abkhazian foreign minister. “We have not received any positive signal from Georgia.”

In reality, Georgia continues to maintain an embargo on Abkhazia and do everything within its powers to prevent the country from conducting international business, and on top of all that provocations and kidnapping of Abkhazians done from the Georgian side of the border continue, so official Tbilisi might say whatever it wants, he maintains.

“The most important thing is that we recognize ourselves,” Maksim Gvinjia said.

Source: RT

Sergei Bagapsh, he came to give freedom… By Nikolai Zlobin

The second president of Abkhazia Sergei Bagapsh passed away on May 29, 2011

Sergei Bagapsh was a strong and intelligent political leader. He was composed, courageous, cheerful and sincere, possessing great talent of a true high-level politician and an undeniably charismatic personality. Bagapsh came to power against the will of Moscow, but made it recognize him as a real player and unlike most of politicians of the post-soviet countries he had sincere support of his own people. It’s astonishing that such a small country like Abkhazia had two of such distinguished political leaders as Bagapsh and his predecessor, the first president of Abkhazia – Vladislav Ardzinba.

It is regularly forgotten that the independence of Abkhazia started not with it’s recognition by Russia in August 2008, but as a result of its own effort to achieve independence and the victory in the armed conflict with Georgia 15 year before. And Russian recognition of Abkhazia’s independence was not a charitable gesture, but was aimed at fulfilling the strategy and national interest of Russia in the region and in the international politics altogether. From the beginning I supported that decision and still consider it to be a very strong move by Medvedev. As a result of it, Russia not only gained an ally in the destabilized region, but also a new opportunity to protect and promote its interests in the Caucasus region, whilst Georgia has lost Abkhazia as a result of its own political mistakes and miscalculations.

The work of Sergei Bagapsh and his team made the independence of Abkhazia and the likelihood of it succeeding as a sovereign (and democratic) state much more realistic. It’s hard to forget the wise decision made by Sergei Bagapsh during the conflict in 2008 when he refused to listen to any promises, persuasions or threats coming from different sides. Although the obstacles on the path of independent Abkhazia are still there, a lot of them in fact having appeared only after the fact of recognition by Russia.

The passing of president Bagapsh came as a shock and it is a grim tragedy to the small country. But I know that among his colleagues there are people who can continue his work on building democratic and independent Abkhazia and succeed in acquiring broader international recognition. It is quite clear, that getting this recognition along with developing the national economy would become the main goal of the next president.

In fact the forthcoming presidential election will inevitably become a test of the maturity of Abkhazian establishment and society altogether. It will become a test of effectiveness of the government system that exists in Abkhazia, a system that is actually significantly more democratic than those of Abkhazia’s neighbors. It will become a test of country’s resolution to have a true independence, not an independence paid for by someone from outside. It’s possible that we will witness increased international activity concerning Abkhazia in the next several months as well: Russia, Georgia, Turkey and, of course, the Western countries. The presidential elections in Abkhazia will become a test of Moscow’s respect towards its own decision to recognize Abkhazia’s independence, since Abkhazia is more than capable of electing its own new leader. For Georgia it will be a test of its ability to build proper system of national interests. And for the West it will become a reality check and a test on their ability to recognize the political realities of Caucasus region and to base their decisions on those realities, instead of some abstract ideological concepts. In the recent years this process of international involvement with Abkhazia has slowly started to expand, mostly due to the diplomacy, patience and active work of Sukhum.

The process of development of new political geography that started two decades ago is still taking place in the Post-Soviet World. Sergei Bagapsh contributed greatly to Abkhazia’s role as one of the players and not as a passive hostage of someone else’s decisions and interests in this process. The people of Abkhazia must be grateful to this person and so should be Russia. I believe that a time will come, when the role that Sergei Bagapsh played in the history of Post-Soviet World will be perceived differently even in Georgia. He was a true man of peace and could quote Pericles who had managed to keep Athens out of war for 15 years that he had “never been a cause of any Athenean to wear mourning”. Today not many politicians can say the same.

Nikolai Zlobin

Director of the Russia and Eurasia Project at the World Security Institute in Washington.

UNPO General Secretary Expresses His Condolences on the Death of Sergei Bagapsh, President of Abkhazia

Brussels, 30 May 2011 – The UNPO has learnt with deep sadness and a great sense of loss, the passing of Sergei Bagapsh, President of Abkhazia, after a long illness on 29 May 2011. As the host of the 2006 UNPO Presidency in Sukhum, President Bagapsh reflected the generosity and hospitality of the Abkhaz people who have been such strong supporters of the UNPO since 1991.

The six years of Mr. Bagapsh’s administration were marked by notable progress in Abkhazia’s campaign for recognition and its democratic development. The notable peace proposals initiated by Sergei Bagapsh in his "Key to the Future" programme, characterised his leadership and Abkhazia’s multi-vector foreign policy and search for sustainable peace.

Today we share the grief of Abkhaz people at this irreparable loss and express our solidarity with them at the moment of national mourning. However, we believe that the admirable path of peaceful striving for self-determination taken by President Bagapsh’s administration creates a solid foundation for successful future prospects of Abkhazia.

Source: UNPO

Karabakh President sends condolences on Abkhaz leader’s death

STEPANAKERT. - President of the Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan sent a condolence letter to the Vice President of the Republic of Abkhazia Alexandr Ankvab in connection with the death of the President of the Republic of Abkhazia Sergei Bagapsh.

The letter runs as follows:

“I have heard with deep sorrow about death of a prominent state and political figure, President of the Republic of Abkhazia Sergei Bagapsh.

Sergey Bagapsh will remain in the memory of his people, all those who knew him closely as a true patriot of his native land having devoted life to the struggle for freedom and independence of Abkhazia. As a wise and respected leader he made an invaluable contribution to the formation of an independent Abkhazian statehood, securing its safety, development and prosperity of his country. Under his leadership Abkhazia’s independence gained international recognition.

On behalf of the people, the authorities of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic and myself I express my deep condolences to You, the whole Abkhazian people, all the relatives and friends in connection with the irretrievable loss, the death of Sergey Bagapsh,” NKR presidential press service informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Georgia fails to properly investigate war crimes

(Oslo, Tbilisi, Brussels, 23 May 2011) Today the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) publishes a new report on Georgia with the title, Unable or Unwilling? Georgia’s faulty investigation of crimes committed during the Russo-Georgian war of August 2008. Based on interviews with a large sample of witnesses to and victims of alleged crimes, the NHC concludes that Georgian authorities are at least both partly unable and partly unwilling to conduct an effective investigation into crimes falling within the jurisdiction of International Criminal Court (ICC) allegedly committed during and after the August 2008 war.

In a meeting today in The Hague, the report will be presented to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (OTP), as the OTP currently is monitoring domestic investigations of crimes in Georgia (a State Party to the Court) and Russia. The OTP has already decided that crimes allegedly committed during the war fall under its mandate, and the Court can therefore assume jurisdiction and open an investigation if it finds that the parties concerned are “unable or unwilling to carry out the investigation”.

The report is researched together with three prominent Georgian human rights groups (Article 42, Georgian Young Lawyers’ association, and the Human Rights Center – HRC) in the period from October to December 2010. 244 individual applicants to the European Court of Human Rights in cases related to alleged crimes committed during and after the 2008 war were interviewed about what they knew about the investigation. All of the interviewees had lodged applications against Russia with the European Court, and would appear to be key witnesses. Only 26 % of them had been questioned by the police, and 3 % were aware of other investigative steps (such as crime scene and forensic investigation) in their respective cases.

More than two thirds of the investigation interviews reported in the survey were conducted in August/September 2008, and most of these dealt with the hostages from Tskhinvali, a high profile media situation in Georgia at the time of the war. After the initial burst of investigative activity, the investigation seems to have proceeded at snail pace, posing the question of whether adequate resources have been allocated to this demanding and extraordinary task. There are also issues with the transparency of the investigation. Georgian authorities did not answer our requests for information about the status of the general investigation.

Overall, the survey of the ECHR applicants indicates that the Georgian authorities are at least partly unable and partly unwilling to conduct an effective investigation into international crimes allegedly committed during and after the August 2008 war. The Caucasus region has seen a number of armed conflicts over the last 20 years, but little justice. Almost three years have passed since the war, and the question of whether the Court should step up its engagement regarding the Georgia war is becoming pressing.

For more info: (Tbilisi) Ucha Nanuashvili, Director, HRC Georgia, + 99599508036

(Brussels) Simon Papuashvili, Researcher, NHC, +32494753942

(Oslo) Aage Borchgrevink, Researcher, NHC, +4790751150

Source: Human Rights Center, Georgia

The Human Rights Center Calls Upon the Government of Georgia To Apologize to Abkhaz and Ossetian Peoples in the Name of Georgian State

Human Rights Center, Georgia, May 20, 2011

On May 21, Abkhaz and other Caucasian nations, who became victims of the cruel Russian Imperialist Policy in the 19th Century, the Muhajirs Day. Last year the Human Rights Center celebrated the Day first time in Georgia.

May 21 will be politically hot day in Tbilisi this year too – radical part of the opposition parties plan large-scaled protest demonstrations in front of the Parliament building in the Rustaveli Avenue. The government is inadequately silent and trains army for the May 26 Military Parade at night.

During night rehearsals for the Military Parade, the noise of the military vehicles will again remind the society of the militarist atmosphere about the government. Unfortunately, the militarism has become a chronic disease of the government with its side-effects and deplorable results. Despite the lessons from the recent history, neither president, nor government and the parliamentary majority have introduced any taken any measures to ethno-conflicts in the Georgian territory.

The government intends to celebrate the Muhajirs Day with the resolution. According to the news agencies, the initiator of the resolution is chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Diaspora and Caucasian Issues Nugzar Tsiklauri. He wants to coincide the adoption of the document with May 20 because he said May 21 is a tragic day when Genocide of Cherkessk People occurred in the Caucasus.

The Human Rights Center thinks the parliamentary resolution about acknowledgement the Genocide of Cherkessk People is a next example of the awkward political controversy between Georgian and Russian governments. If the initiator of the resolution – the Parliamentary Committee for Diaspora and Caucasian Issues – had been really concerned about the fate of the Caucasian Nations, they would have first of all thought over the responsibilities of the Georgian state in this direction and waste its precious time on the research of the historical fate, current life and aspiration of Abkhaz Muhajirs. Logically, the problems of several thousands of Abkhaz muhajirs, residing in various countries, should be more important for the committee. Unfortunately, throughout the 20-year-long Georgian-Abkhaz conflict nothing has been done in this direction.

The Human Rights Center reminds the government of Georgia that it is high time for the Georgian state to share the responsibility for ethno-conflicts launched on its own territories; it is high time for the government of Georgia to apologize to Abkhaz and Ossetian peoples in the name of the Georgian state, because:

1. Georgian state has failed several times to prevent both large-scaled and local armed ethno-conflicts on its territory;

2. could not protect Abkhaz and Ossetian citizens from violence; moreover, Georgian military units actively participated in the bloodshed inspired by Russia in Abkhazia and South Ossetia;

3. Instead peacebuilding initiatives and reconciliation policy, the government of Georgia permanently used the unjustified method of conflict escalation, militarism, instillation of hatred and xenophobia.

The Human Rights Center launched “Sorry” Campaign in 2007. The Campaign unites the people, who apologize to Abkhaz people, for not having opposed the violence and for not having prevented the fratricidal war. These people do not apologize in the name of the Georgian state; they acknowledge their own individual responsibility for the results of the Georgian-Abkhaz Conflict, regardless the fact they participated in the armed conflict or not.

The Human Rights Center believes it is high time for the Georgian State to realize its own responsibility for both historical and current situation; not to take politically motivated and show-off steps but launch reasonable, peacebuilding policy which will lead Georgian, Abkhaz and Ossetian peoples to reconciliation and will again bring them together like it was in our past before ethno-conflicts.

The Human Rights Center

20.05.11

Source: The Human Rights Center, Georgia

Related

• Campaign “Sorry”/ “Hatamzait”
• Why I Apologize To Abkhaz People - Choice for Georgia: Georgian Chauvinism or Abkhazia? By Ucha Nanuashvili
• 1867 and all that: Abkhaz, Circassians and Georgians and Historical Justice, by Thomas de Waal
• Beware of Greeks bringing gifts, by Richard Berge
  
  

"No person will be left in Gagra" Gia Karkarashvili‏ (Telegraph Herald, Oct. 4, 1992)‏

http://abkhazworld.com/images/stories/awimages/Telegraph_H_4_Oct._1992.jpg

- "...Additionally, the Commander-in-chief of Georgian troops in Abkhazia, General Georgiy Karkarashvili warned in a televised formal address to the Abkhaz and Georgian people in Sukhumi on August 24, that no prisoners of war will be taken by the Georgian troops, that if 100,000 Georgian lose their lives, then [on the Abkhazian side] all 97,000 will be killed; and that the Abkhaz Nation will be left without descendants. The delegation saw a video recording of this ominous speech." (http://www.unpo.org/downloads/AbkGeo1992Report.pdf)

- A similar threat came from the head of Georgia's wartime administration, Giorgi Khaindrava, on the pages of Le Monde Diplomatique in April 1993. Goga (Giorgi) Khaindrava, told the correspondent from Le Monde Diplomatique that "there are only 80,000 Abkhazians, which means that we can easily and completely destroy the genetic stock of their nation by killing 15,000 of their youth. And we are perfectly capable of doing this."

- The Georgian Commander-in-Chief on TV threatens the Abkhazian nation with genocide: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzvtaZIMy98

- "In the first place, the Ossetian war [1991-92] in Tskhinvali had just ended. The Georgia National Guard suffered heavy losses. We were exhausted. That’s why I thought it was reckless to go into Abkhazia. But I was told that the 13th-14th August was a good time to launch a military operation because the Russian Parliament was in recess. Unfortunately, we entered Abkhazia in a very disorganized way. We didn’t even have a specific goal and we started looting villages along the way. As a result, in the space of a month we managed to make enemies of the entire local population, especially the Armenians." Gia Karkarashvili - "Absence of Will" Documentary film by Mamuka Kuparadze (11.52 sec.) http://vimeo.com/8826939

Reporter: Did they turn against us just because of the way our troops behaved?

Karkarashvili: "No, not just because of that. But we shouldn’t have allowed all that hatred to build up. We could have prevented it, but we didn’t."

____________

THE INDEPENDENT

Georgia seizes Sukhumi

Wednesday, 19 August 1992

SUKHUMI (AP) - Georgian troops backed by tanks seized control of the Abkhazian capital of Sukhumi yesterday and a military council was appointed to rule the rebellious region.

The Georgian Defence Minister, Tengiz Kitovani, arriving hours later at the Abkhazian parliament building where the Abkhazian flag had been pulled down and replaced by a Georgian one, said the action was taken because Abkhazia had declared its independence from Georgia last month.

'Every Georgian who loves his nation will support this step,' Mr Kitovani said.

Tanks and armoured vehicles rolled into the coastal city in western Georgia earlier yesterday. Georgian troops were reported to have fired upon the headquarters and set the parliament building on fire. A duty officer at the government building said the attack had left several buildings on fire.

Georgian military officials said its troops and Interior Ministry forces were in control of all major objectives in Sukhumi, including the airport. Georgian troops controlled the television tower, the seaport and other key sites.

The Georgian government sent 3,000 troops to the breakaway region of Abkhazia last week to pursue supporters of former Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who was ousted in a brief civil war in January. The leaders of Abkhazia denounced Georgia's move as an act of aggression.

At least 50 people were reported killed in four days of fighting between the Georgian troops and Abkhazian police in Sukhumi, a resort on the Black Sea.

Abkhazia's parliament voted in July to restore the 1925 constitution of independent Abkhazia. Ethnic Abkhazians total roughly 90,000 among the area's 500,000 people, but they enjoy the support of other ethnic groups in the Caucasus mountains.

'The restoration of by the Abkhazian parliament on July 27, 1992, of its 1925 constitution is tantamount to a self-annulment of its autonomy,' the State Council said in a memorandum released yesterday.

Mr Kitovani issued an ultimatum on Sunday demanding the resignation of the Abkhazian parliamentary speaker, Vladislav Ardzinba.

The ultimatum said Georgian troops reserved the right to launch combat operations if Ardzinba refused to step down. A group of Georgian Supreme Soviet deputies were reported to have demanded Ardzinba's resignation.

'Whether or not Abkhazia's parliament resigns is the business of the deputies and the Supreme Soviet of the republic,' Georgia's Acting Prime Minister, Tengiz Sigua, said, adding that he had no comment about Mr Kitovani's ultimatum.

Most of the Abkhazian leadership had apparently been evacuated from the city, although the Deputy Prime Minister, Sergei Bagapsh, remained in his office on the 12th floor.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/georgia-seizes-sukhumi-1541134.html

Related

• 'Absence of Will': A commentary
• Some Chapters from the UNPO’s Abkhazia Report in 1992
• Testimonies: Georgian - Abkhazian War - Asarkial Human Rights Group
• A history erased - Abkhazia's archive: fire of war, ashes of history
• Hitler calls on Georgians to win back Abkhazia