US embassy cable - 05TBILISI3202

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TBILISI 003202 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, GG, Abkhazia 
SUBJECT:  NON-PAPER ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ABKHAZIA 
 
 
1.  Poloff received the following non-paper on recent 
developments in Abkhazia from Giorgi Nikolaishvili, Advisor to 
the Minister of Foreign Affairs.  The non-paper is laying out the 
Georgians position on Abkhazia. 
 
2.  Begin Text: 
 
After the UN Secretary General's last report on the situation  in 
Abkhazia, Georgia (October 19, 2005) the situation in the  region 
became  rather  strenuous.   The separatist  regime's  deliberate 
actions  against  the remaining Georgian population  in  Abkhazia 
grew in number and intensity. 
 
1.   The  statements of the Abkhazian de facto leader on granting 
Abkhazian   citizenship  and  issuing  Abkhazian  passports   are 
targeted  against the Georgian population and present an  attempt 
to  bring  to an end the process of ethnic cleansing and  confine 
the ongoing process within the legal frames: 
 
--  On  October  24,  2005  the Abkhazian  separatist  parliament 
adopted a law on the so-called Abkhazian citizenship, which is  a 
discriminatory decision towards the region's Georgian  population 
(The  law  envisages granting dual citizenship  only  to  Russian 
citizens); 
 
--  On November 10, S. Bagapsh made another destructive statement 
on  the Abkhazian passports, which would be issued by the end  of 
November.   `Those (Georgians) declining to accept the  Abkhazian 
passports  will  have to move their residence to the  neighboring 
country beyond the river Enguri'. 
 
2.   Attacks,  kidnappings  and  murders  against  the   Georgian 
population  have recently taken on a mass character  in  Abkhazia 
and  particularly in Gali region.  Such a tendency serves as  the 
main  tool  for  implementation of the  statements  made  by  the 
separatist   leaders.   These  actions  are  being  carried   out 
deliberately  and  with singular brutality against  the  Georgian 
villages: 
 
--  On  October 29, Guliko Rodonaia's family was attacked in  the 
village  of  Kokhora.  The attackers confiscated  20,000  Russian 
rubles  and  a cellular phone.  Later on, they kidnapped  Gulnazi 
Rodonaia, a mother of two and demanded a USD 100.000 ransom; 
 
--  On October 31, a 200-strong armed group was deployed in  Gali 
region  forcing the Georgian youth to conscript in the  Abkhazian 
army.   On  November 2, they blocked entrances to the village  of 
Gagida,  took  several families as hostages, forced  a  group  of 
passengers to get off the bus and carried them away to an unknown 
direction; 
 
-- On November 2, Daniel Tsurtsumia, a resident of the village of 
Gagida,  was  detained  groundlessly  together  with  two   local 
villagers.  Daniel Tsurtsumia was beaten brutally and on November 
4 he died; 
 
-- On November 8, Revaz Jakhaia, 68, was kidnapped from his house 
by  a  special unit of the Abkhazian militia and taken reportedly 
to the woods North of Saberio village.  His whereabouts are still 
unknown; 
 
--  On November 13, in an attack against the Georgian youth,  Kh. 
Arkania,  a  resident  of  Chuburkhinji  was  shot  dead  and  G. 
Sichinava was wounded and taken to hospital in Gali; 
 
--  On  November  13,  in the village of Pichori,  the  Abkhazian 
militia detained Demuri and Giorgi Morgoshias, residents of Kvemo 
Bargebi without any reason. 
 
3.  The  Abkhazian  side's  rigid and negative  position  at  the 
negotiations  held within the conflict settlement process  blocks 
systematically the realization of concrete initiatives and agreed 
issues.  The  Abkhazian side's disregard for the  recommendations 
drafted  at  the  high-level meetings in  Geneva  and  its  total 
neglect  of  the possibility of developing the negotiations  into 
various directions are results of the separatist regime's  policy 
aimed   at  protracting  the  conflict  settlement  process   and 
legalizing the artificially altered demographic situation.   Such 
a political stance stalemates the implementation of issues like: 
 
--  Opening of the UN/OSCE Sukhumi Human Rights Office branch  in 
Gali,  as  envisaged by the recommendations of the  April  Geneva 
meeting; 
 
--  Activation of the UN civilian police component  in  the  Gali 
district, as underlined at the April Geneva meeting; 
 
--  Adoption  for consideration of the so-called  Boden  Document 
supported by the UN Security Council and the Group of Friends  of 
the UN Secretary General on Georgia. 
 
Such approach of the Abkhazian side is not accidental and on  the 
one  hand, is largely due to the culpable inaction of the Russian 
peacekeeping  forces and, on the other hand, due to the  official 
Russia's destructive activity in Abkhazia. In particular: 
 
4.   Inaction  of the Russian peacekeeping forces over  the  acts 
taking  place in the Security Zone while they are presence equals 
committing  a crime. They systematically violate obligations  and 
duties determined by the mandate approved on October 21, 1994 and 
the  Decision  on Use of Collective Peace-Keeping Forces  in  the 
Zone  of  the Georgian-Abkhazian Conflict, taken by the Heads  of 
the  CIS States on August 22, 1994, [b) providing conditions  for 
the  safe  and  dignified return of refugees to  their  permanent 
places  of  residence;  c) promoting restoration  of  the  places 
damaged  as  a  result  of  the conflict, rendering  humanitarian 
assistance, facilitating mine clearing and putting into operation 
the facilities of vital importance; d) insuring the protection of 
international norms of the Humanitarian Law and human rights] and 
facilitate   the   realization   of   the   separatist   regime's 
discriminative resolutions through their inaction  or  deliberate 
acts. 
 
5.  The  Russian  Federation is the facilitator of  the  conflict 
settlement process and the member of the Group of Friends of  the 
UN  Secretary General in Georgia. The peacekeeping forces  acting 
under  the CIS mandate are fully staffed by the Russian  military 
personnel.   Despite  the  official  recognition   of   Georgia's 
territorial integrity, representatives of Russia's executive  and 
legislative  authorities carry out illegal acts,  which  are  not 
coordinated with Georgian authorities.  There is a clear evidence 
of  supporting the separatist regime and violating bilateral  and 
multilateral  obligations and the Georgian legislation.   Despite 
the  repeated  official  appeals  by  the  Georgian  authorities, 
Russian officials continue to disregard Georgia's sovereignty and 
territorial integrity: 
 
--  The Russian side, in cooperation with the so-called Abkhazian 
customs and border protection structures, set up an illegal check- 
point  on  the  Abkhazian  section of the Georgian-Russian  state 
border,  through  which  a  large volume  of  smuggled  goods  is 
imported  to  the territory of Georgia.  The illegal crossing  of 
the Georgian state border takes place on a regular basis. 
 
--  On  the background of the discriminative visa policy  towards 
Georgia, against the will of the Georgian Authorities and despite 
the  repeated  protests of Georgian officials, the  Russian  side 
arbitrarily introduced a simplified and in fact a non-visa regime 
for the Abkhazian population. 
 
--  Joint economic projects, including the restoration of railway 
and   maritime  connections  with  the  Russian  Federation,  are 
implemented without consent of the Georgian Authorities; there is 
a  growing tendency of transferring various facilities to Russian 
individuals  and  legal  entities as part  of  the  privatization 
process;  cooperation in the banking sector is  on  the  rise;  a 
number  of  Russian  companies are  based  and  function  in  the 
Abkhazian  territory; the sums allocated from  Russia's  regional 
budgets are spent for supporting the Abkhazian separatist regime. 
 
--  Cooperation agreements are signed between various regions  of 
Russia and the Abkhazian separatist leadership. The executive and 
legislative branches of the Russian Government periodically  send 
their  delegations to Abkhazia and make statements which  support 
Abkhazia's independence; 
 
--  The  official documents and comments issued in the  last  few 
years  by  the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs refer  to  the 
representatives  of  the separatist regime as legal  authorities, 
presidents and prime ministers, rather than leaders of the  self- 
proclaimed republic; 
 
-- Without coordinating this issue with the Georgian Authorities, 
almost  the  entire  population of Abkhaiza was  granted  Russian 
citizenship  in  a  simplified order. Russian officials  entering 
illegally  the Abkhazian territory are issuing Russian  passports 
with complete disregard for the Georgian legislation; 
 
--  With  this illegal handout of passports to the population  of 
the  conflict  zones  and with violation of  Georgia's  sovereign 
rights,  Russia  is  seeking to exert pressure  on  the  Georgian 
Authorities,  citing the protection of the interests  of  Russian 
citizens as a motive; 
 
-- High-ranking officials of the Russian law-enforcement agencies 
are assigned to Abkhazia and appointed to senior positions within 
the separatist government. 
 
The   above-listed   facts  confirm  Russia's   unequivocal   and 
undisguised  support for the separatist regime and  the  idea  of 
Abkhiazia's  either independence or its integration into  Russia. 
This  very  support  lies behind the de facto Abkhazian  regime's 
rigid  and  destructive position and its disregard for the  world 
community's  recommendations  and attempts  to  achieve  peaceful 
resolution   of   the  conflict,  ultimately   leading   to   the 
inefficiency of the conflict settlement process as a whole. 
 
For   the  conflict  settlement  process  to  break  through  the 
persisting  impasse  and  attain real  results,  we  consider  it 
necessary   to  further  activate  the  international   component 
involved  in  this  process and insure its urgent  and  effective 
action  over each violation of human rights and each case of  the 
separatist regime's destructive activity. A major breakthrough in 
the  conflict  settlement process is hardly  conceivable  without 
active  and  concerted action of the Group of Friend  of  the  UN 
Secretary General on Georgia and the UN Mission. 
 
SIPDIS 
End Text. 
TEFFT