on the twenty-first round of the Geneva Discussions on Security and Stability Issues in Transcaucasia.

On 10-11 October 2012 the twenty-first meeting in the frames of international discussions on security and stability in the Caucasus was held in Geneva. It was attended by the delegations from the Republic of South Ossetia, the Republic of Abkhazia, Georgia, the Russian Federation, the United States, as well as by the representatives from the EU, the UN and the OSCE. South Ossetian delegation was headed by M.K. Jioyev - Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy for post-conflict settlement.

The main issue of the discussions was nonuse of force by Georgia against South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as it was recorded in the Medvedev - Sarkozy agreements on 12 August and 8 September 2008. South Ossetian delegation noted the need to expedite the preparation and conclusion of legally binding agreements on the nonuse of force between Georgia and the Republic of South Ossetia, Georgia and Abkhazia as the most important legal component of the security system.

Confirming the shared commitment to the standards of international law, as well as to the principle of non-use of force, and in support of unilateral declarations of non-use of force made in late 2010 by the Presidents of South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Georgia, the South Ossetian delegation supported the draft of the joint statement issued by the parties of the Geneva discussions on the nonuse of force previously proposed by the Russian delegation.

Parties started to work on a project of joint statement of the Geneva discussions on the nonuse of force at the expert level. South Ossetian and Abkhaz participants reiterated against the artificial imposition of the so-called "international security measures".
The issue of finding the missing was amongst the most important ones at the meeting. An informational session with the participation of international experts on the subject was held within the round. South Ossetian participants reiterated the findings that a number of residents of South Ossetia, considered missing since 2008, had been captured and kept in the paramilitary structures of Georgia for some time. The delegation expressed the hope that the new government of Georgia would react responsibly to clarify the fate of missing citizens of the Republic of South Ossetia.

The participants noted the usefulness of continuing the operation of Mechanisms on Prevention and Response to the incidents on the border between South Ossetia and Georgia. However, the South Ossetian participants noted the need to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the Mechanisms. The South Ossetian side called on Georgia to work together on the delimitation and demarcation of the state border.

The discussions also focused on humanitarian issues.

Panelists from South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Russia proposed to unify the two working groups and make changes to the format of the Geneva discussions in order to improve their effectiveness.

The next meeting in Geneva is scheduled for December 12, 2012.

Geneva,
October 12, 2012