ICC Judgment, US Support or the Putin Compromise

Abkhazia Issue Torn Between Conflicting Agendas

The Tbilisi-based Abkhazia government in exile urges the Georgian Parliament for ratification of the Rome Statute of International Criminal Court (ICC), to allow for a case on genocide of ethnic Georgians in Abkhazia at ICC.

On March 10-15 the Justice Minister of Abkhazia Paata Davitaia, Assistant to the Chairman of the Supreme Council of Abkhazia Murman Omanidze and the Head of the International Division of the Constitutional Court of Georgia Levan Bodzashvili visited Hague. The delegation addressed the International Criminal Court to judge on evidence of the “genocide” of the ethnic Georgians during and after the 1992-93 war in Abkhazia.

“Genocide and ethnic cleansing of Georgians still continues. We have already submitted the general evidence to the court, annexed by the list of names of the executed Georgians.” Justice Minister of Abkhazia Paata Davitaia told Civil Georgia. He also says the court was “shocked” by these facts.

According to Davitaia, ICC has already started processing the appeal of the Georgian delegation.

“At the present time the ICC is receiving and filing communication but until when the Prosecutor won’t be elected, investigations cannot be carried on and no case can be considered by the Court,” Valentina Cosimati of Press and Public Information Division of Common Services of the ICC told Civil Georgia.

However Doctor of Law and the former First Deputy Justice Minister Kote Kublashvili doubts about the progress in this regard. “It is unclear whether the appeal would be considered and how the trial would take place,” Kote Kublashvili told Civil Georgia.

The court will not be able to discuss the case until the Georgian side has ratified the Rome statute of the ICC, which was signed by Georgia in 1998.

The Abkhazian Justice Minister Paata Davitaia explained that there are several ways to execute the court’s jurisdiction in Georgia: The UN Security Council should recognize genocide of Georgian people and instruct the ICC to accept the appeal; the Georgian President must directly recognize jurisdiction of the court, or the Parliament should ratify the document.

Davitaia added that at this stage ratification by the Parliament is the most desirable and feasible option. Last week the head of Abkhaz government in exile Tamaz Nadareishvili already requested the Parliament to discuss the issue.

“If the Parliament does not ratify the document, we will not be able to file the case in the court, because its jurisdiction could not be executed in Georgia. That is why we demand the Parliament to ratify the decumbent as soon as possible,” Paata Davitaia says.

The ICC statute was first submitted to the Parliament for ratification two years ago, but no decision is taken so far.

Kote Kublashvili says the Georgian government has been influenced by the United States to put the ratification on a back burner. He says the United States concludes a bilateral agreement with every ally, which obliges the partner country not to recognize jurisdiction of the ICC, especially over US citizens. Georgian concluded such agreement with the US on February 10, 2003. According to the document, the sides shall not extradite prisoners to third state or to the ICC.

“This is the American side’s approach to the issue. The Georgian government must choose which policy it should follow,” Kublashvili says.

There is another hindering factor as well – President Shevardnadze’s position. It seems that after discussing possible compromise on Abkhazia during the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on March 6-7, Georgian President decided not to support the initiative of the Abkhazian government-in-exile.

“This is a position of the legitimate Abkhazian government. The Georgian National Security Council has not discussed the issue. But we can not prohibit them to have their own opinions or to implement necessary measures and play their role in the problem resolution,” Shevardnadze said.

President thinks that an appeal to ICC would be meaningless, if the agreements reached with President Putin in Sochi, regarding return of the IDPs together with restoration of the railway communication, would start to implement. “In such case, the ICC issue will be dismissed automatically,” Shevardnadze said.

Nevertheless the Abkhazian government in exile is determined to push forward with the issue.

Chairman of the Supreme Council of Abkhazia government in exile Tamaz Nadareishvili says he is ready to visit the Hague personally to speed up the processes and submit additional materials to the court. He said that he would personally deliver to the court 200 volumes of evidence, concrete facts and photos confirming the genocide. These documents were already submitted to the General Prosecutor of Georgia.

“It does not matter how long this process would take,” Nadareishvili told Civil Georgia. He believes the court would prosecute all persons who are guilty, unless the Georgians who “do not wish to face the facts and to settle the Abkhazia conflict” would prevent this from happening.

By Tea Gularidze, Civil Georgia