Georgian Envoy’s Speech at the UN Security Council Session
Revaz Adamia, Georgia’s Permanent Representative to the UN delivered speech to the Security Council, which was held on July 30 beyond the closed doors regarding the situation in the Abkhazian conflict zone.
Mr. President,
First of all, I welcome this opportunity to address the Security Council’s debate on the situation in Abkhazia, Georgia. Transparency in the decision making process in the Security Council, which we have always supported, is vital to the UN led peace process, as well as for the citizens of Georgia.
We would like to thank the Secretary-General for the report and believe it provides a solid basis for this debate.
We are encouraged by the language of the draft resolution the Security Council is about to !
adopt. The resolution, which reflects the efforts and the increased involvement of the Group of Friends of Secretary-General and the United Nations in general, contains serious positive elements – a marked improvement since the one adopted six months ago. In this light, special thanks should also be addressed to Ms. Heidi Tagliavini, Special Representative of Secretary-General, for her tireless efforts, together with the UNOMIG staff in the field.
My government welcomes these positive trends, however, these changes, on the balance, do not represent any kind of needed breakthrough for the peace process as a whole.
Let me turn first to the positive developments:
1) A high-level meeting of Senior Officials of the Group of Friends, chaired by Under-Secretary-General Mr. J. M. Guйhenno, in Geneva on February 19-20 this year provided an overarching, all-inclusive structure for negotiations on political status as well as return of IDP’s and economic issue!
s through creating of three task forces.
2) The March m!
eeting of the presidents of Georgia and the Russian Federation in Sochi has had a positive impact on the resumption of the dialog between parties and, in line with the Geneva decisions, led to establishing of working groups on economic rehabilitation and return of refugees and IDP’s.
3) The most recent, second Geneva meeting of the Group of Friends with participation of the Georgian and Abkhaz sides on 21-22 July 2003 should be considered as further step in the UN-led peace process by producing important recommendations pertaining to the political and security issues, return of refugees and IDP’s, security guarantees for their return, as well as economic cooperation.
4) Even the position of the Abkhaz side has softened judging by their readiness to participate in the meetings of the Coordinating Council. The underlying reason for this decision is not entirely sincere, but let me expand on this matter later on.
5) The recommendations of the Se!
curity Assessment Mission in Gali are important as they provide for the framework to address issues related to the criminal situation in the district, management of the process of return of refugees and their self-government.
Mr. President,
It is unfortunate, but these changes have been paralleled by negative developments, which if not prevented, could bring progress to the naught and ultimately damage the peace process beyond repair.
The Abkhaz side continues to refuse every possibility of discussion of the Boden paper, despite unanimous support rendered to it by the Security Council. Even an unexpected willingness to participate in the meetings of the Coordinating Council looks nothing more then the attempt to avoid discussing political status issues.
Acts of ethnic cleansing/Genocide, as manifested in recent ethnically motivated killings in the zone of conflict, still continue. Just one example: in the incident of June 25, illegal Abkhaz fo!
rmations opened mortar fire at the Georgian civilians, flagra!
ntly violating international humanitarian law. More so, at local schools, total ban on instruction of Georgian children in their native tongue is still in force.
Remarkably, Abkhaz separatist regime has already established itself as a safe haven for the criminals and terrorists. At least two of them, Gitsba and Tokjan – terrorists who have participated in the hijacking of the vessel ‘Avrasia’, still remain in Abkhazia, beyond the reach of justice.
Mr. President,
Unfortunately, these are not the only negative developments in the past six months. Some unilateral actions by the Russian Federation can not but be viewed as undermining the conflict resolution process.
Despite the positive impulse of the Sochi meeting between the Presidents of Georgia and Russia on March 6-7, 2003 and expectations raised from it, the railway link between Sochi and Sokhumi still operates unhindered. At the same time the providing of Russian citizenship to the A!
bkhaz population en-masse, has never slowed down. Russian passports issued to the inhabitants of the separatist region have already fallen into the hands of the terrorists, in particular the Chechen terrorists, who are making the best use of free passage in and out of Russia through the Abkhaz section of the Georgian-Russian border. The border, where a visa-free regime is unilaterally imposed by Russia.
Illegal seizing of property in Abkhazia continues unabated. I deliberately used the term seizure to describe the process of illegal acquisition of properties, including possessions of the IDP’s, by the Government bodies, legal and physical persons of Russia. Needles to say these acts are carried out in violation of international law and represent an infringement on the sovereignty of Georgia. They run counter to the resolutions of the Parliament of Georgia that declared any transaction made with the Abkhaz separatist regime null and void.
Illegal operation !
of the Russian military base in Gudauta is one more element e!
xacerbating the situation in Abkhazia and straining the bilateral relations.
Nobody can benefit from its own illegal acts – we are told by international law. It would appear that this imperative has limitations once it concerns a permanent member of the Security Council. No other definition but indirect annexation of Abkhazia can be given to the process of accumulation of political and military control, together with illegal acquisition of property. Continued infringement on the sovereignty of Georgia can hardly be considered helpful to the peace process.
Mr. President,
The situation described above is compounded by the insecurity and violence in the zone of conflict in Abkhazia. In this respect I would like to register in the strongest terms my Governments’ condemnation of the recent hostage taking of the UN observers in Kodori Valley. The investigation is underway and we are committed to bringing the perpetrators before the justice.
Ne!
vertheless the important lesson that ought to be learned from this incident is that the structure of the peacekeeping in Abkhazia has fundamental flaws. The incident attested to the urgent need for new security arrangements that could ensure safety and security of the UN personnel in the zone of conflict. We strongly believe that the most effective way to address the issue of security is to implement the Secretary-General’s proposal on dispatching the self-protection units in Abkhazia, Georgia. To add, the present turn of events undoubtedly puts an issue of launching a full-scale UN peacekeeping operation back on the agenda.
At this point, let me address one of the thorniest issues at almost every Security Council discussions on the conflict in Abkhazia, Georgia, that is an extension of the CIS PKF mandate. Every six months we are being recommended to prolong the mandate of the CIS PKF to which the Security Council has never given its authorization. Yet, for the !
sake of the UN-led peace process, we demonstrated goodwill in!
exempting the 6-month limit for the prolongation of the CIS PKF mandate.
However, what certainly cannot be indefinite is patience of the 300 000 refugees and IDP’s scattered throughout Georgia. Their patience is wearing thin. If tangible progress is not achieved in the course of the conflict resolution they will no longer be able to accept and tolerate a peacekeeping force assuming the functions of the border-guards and effectively separating Abkhazia from the rest of Georgia.
Mr. President,
We do believe that the way out of this situation lies through the unified and resolute Security Council, capable of taking decisive actions for which the recent meeting of the Group of Friends in Geneva has laid down a solid ground. The Security Council should utilize all resources to ensure progress on the three sets of issues, envisioned in the concluding statement of the meeting, in particular the return of refugees and IDP’s, political and sec!
urity issues and economic cooperation.
We could not afford failure or inaction at this point as it would make resort to measures contemplated under Chapter VII of the UN Charter an imperative.
We do believe that under the present circumstances only the firm position taken by the Security Council will finally be heeded by the Abkhaz separatists and have an impact on them.
We have all to commit ourselves not only to changing things that ought to be changed in the process of the conflict resolution but also making sure that they are on balance good and lead to restoring long-waited peace in Abkhazia, Georgia.
Thank You