CoE Human Rights Chief on Missing, Detained Persons

“Hostage-taking” should be unacceptable and internationally-supervised investigation into the cases of missing persons should be conducted, Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe’s (CoE) human rights commissioner said on December 3 in Tbilisi.

He was speaking at a news conference after days of talks in Tbilisi and Tskhinvali, which led to release of total of seven persons from the both side, including two Georgian teenagers and five Ossetian men.

Two Georgian minors still remain held in Tskhinvali, but Hammarberg reiterated that he had received “a very firm commitment” from the breakaway region’s leadership that the two teens would be released on the morning of December 13 after their case be heard in the region’s upper court.

He avoided describing the reciprocal releases as a swap of detainees, “because I do not think we should be involved in trading of human beings; that is not right.”

The term has been also avoided by the Georgian officials, who were reluctant to speak publicly about the release of five Ossetian men, who were held in the town of Gori. The five Ossetians were arrested for various charges in the vicinity of the South Ossetian administrative border (four detained in October 2008 and one – in spring, 2009). According to the Georgian official this summer the five men were released – some on bail and others acquitted – in order to exchange them on Georgian detainees held in Tskhinvali. But the swap failed and since then the five men were held in Gori.

“If someone is acquitted by a court, they should be free,” Hammarberg said.

Asked if this case fell under the category of hostage-taking, Hammarberg responded: “You know, I’m both a human rights activist and a diplomat.”

“Sometimes there is a little bit of a clash between the two; I will be very clear in my report about this,” he added.

He was referring to his forthcoming report, which will address implementation of six principles, he outlined following the August war for protection of human rights in the war-affected areas. One of the principles refers to the issue of detainees.

Proposals

Hammarberg said that problem related with detained persons still remained. He said both Tbilisi and Tskhinvali provided with lists of those persons, which remained held by each side and which they believed should be released.

He also said that he had offered Tbilisi and Tskhinvali to arrange a visit of families to their detained relatives held on the other side of the administrative border. He said that he received “a positive feedback” from the both sides on this proposal.

Another “serious problem”, Hammarberg said, was related to missing persons. He said that he urged both Tbilisi and Tskhinvali to take all the possible steps to clarify all the cases.

He emphasized on the case of three Ossetian men, who went missing since October 13, 2008 after coming across the Georgian-controlled territory. The South Ossetian side released a video footage, apparently shot by a mobile phone, showing these three men being shouted at and harassed by other men, claimed by Tskhinvali to be Georgian law enforcement officers. Tbilisi denies the claims. It was not clear how the South Ossetian side obtain the video footage.
 
“One could feel that they are no longer alive as they are not in any of the prisons,” Hammarberg said.

“Investigations into three [missing Ossetians] and also into the other [cases of missing persons] can not just be done on a routine matter; there is a need to do that in a credible manner and I have suggested an international oversight on this in order for the results to be believed and credible on all sides,” Hammarberg said.

He said that this proposal for international oversight was accepted by Tbilisi, although modalities of it had yet to be defined.

‘Highly Critical to Int’l Community’

Asked if he thought that the international community was balanced in its approach towards Tskhinvali and Tbilisi on the issues of detentions, Hammarberg responded that he was “highly critical towards the international community on several points.”

The question was asked particular in the context of EU Monitoring Mission’s (EUMM) silence on the matter of five Ossetians held in detention by the Georgian authorities in Gori.

Hammarberg said he did not want to point a finger at any particular organization, but said: “I think several points have not been discussed and raised in a manner they should have.”

“I just feel that there is a need for the international community to go deeper into the issues and to try to protect the ordinary people, who are in many cases victimized in a shadow of this conflict and many of them hope that international community should be some kind of protection for them,” he said.
 
He said he cooperated and exchanged information with EUMM and added that the mission “does a good job”.

Hammarberg said that there was difficult choice between “quiet diplomacy” and “going public”, meaning making statements and condemning certain practices.

Hammarberg himself was slammed by senior Georgian lawmakers from the ruling party for, as they put it, “being inactive” and for not making “laud” and “sharp” statements, condemning detention of four Georgian teenagers.

Hammarberg, however, said that he was engaged in quiet diplomacy on the matter trying to convince those who have decision-making powers, “because I knew that if I went out publicly, condemning things, it would be very difficult to have any dialogue”.

He also said that those who follow quiet diplomacy should also be active as well. “Because risk always is that quiet diplomacy is a phrase you use and then you are not very active,” Hammarberg said.

He said the recent releases of detainees created “a positive momentum”, which should be seized upon by the sides and the international community.

‘Simple People’

CoE human rights commissioner said that all the persons – already released or still held in detention – “are simple people who got lost in this political tense situation.”

“My major message to the authorities is further steps must be taken in order to protect ordinary, simple people from the consequences of this conflict,” Hammarberg said.

“There is need for the politicians and international organizations to put a human dimension in the conflict.”

“And if the authorities on the both sides ask me to continue to work according to this, I will continue,” he added.