On 22-nd round of Geneva International Discussions on security and stability in Transcaucasia

On 12 December 2012 another meeting in the frame of International Discussions on security and stability in Transcaucasia took place.
At the meeting participated delegations from Republic of South Ossetia, Republic of Abkhazia, Georgia, Russian Federation, USA as well as representatives of EU, UN and OSCE. The South Ossetian delegation was headed by the Plenipotentiary Envoy of the President of South Ossetia on post conflict resolution Mr. Murat Dzhioev.

The main attention during the 22-nd round of discussions we paid to security and non-use of force by Georgia against South Ossetia and Abkhazia as per the agreements between D. Medvedev and N. Sarkozi from 12 August and 8 September 2008. It was noted that situation in the region after the 21 round of discussions was characterized as stable, however there were certain incidents that were of concern. South Ossetian delegation paid the meeting participants’ attention to the incident that took place on 24 November when as a result of an explosion of a shell, that remained there since August 2008, was killed a resident of village Mugut, South Ossetia. The South Ossetian delegation stated that the incident was another proof that Georgia used cassette ammunition, prohibited by international conventions, during its aggression against South Ossetia. South Ossetian delegation described the incident that happened on 2 December near village Koda as provocation from Georgian side near the State border between the Republic of South Ossetia and Georgia.

As an important step in reaching the main goal of the discussions – preparation of legally binding document on non-use of force between Georgia and South Ossetia, Georgia and Abkhazia, as an international and legal guarantee for the people South Ossetia and Abkhazia, was backing by the South Ossetian delegation the draft suggested by the Russian side, considering the inputs of the participants, on commitment to principals of non-use of force and suggested to accept the draft. Experts continued working on adjustment of the text of the joint statement.

The South Ossetian delegation again raised the question of missing citizens of South Ossetia since the war in 2008, most of whom, according to supported evidence, are held by military agencies of Georgia. Considering the new situation in political life of Georgia, representatives of South Ossetia paid attention of the participants to the problem of South Ossetian citizens that are in the prisons of Georgia. It was noted that the criminal cases under which the citizens of South Ossetia were sentenced for long and lifelong imprisonment, were forged by authorities of Georgia and were of clear political character. The South Ossetian representatives called on the Georgian side to revise those unfair judicial decisions.

The participants noted usefulness of the joint incident prevention and response mechanism along the state border between Republic of South Ossetia and Georgia, increase its effectiveness and efficiency.

Considering the previous meetings in the framework of Geneva Discussions, the South Ossetian and Abkhaz delegations suggested to carry out a joint closing session of the working groups to increase effectiveness of the discussions. However, the unconstructive position of the Georgian did not allow reaching consensus in this question.

In the frame of twenty second round the international experts carried out an informational briefing on population needs’ assessment.

The next meeting in Geneva will take place in the end of March 2013.

Geneva, 12 December 2012