APPEAL OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH OSSETIA to the VII Congress of the Peoples’ Deputies of the Russian Federation

The Supreme Council of the Republic of South Ossetia submits the appeal to the VII Congress of the peoples’ deputies of the Russian Federation and asks for deciding the political status of the Republic of South Ossetia.

Until 1917 October Revolution South Ossetia was the part of united and undivided Ossetia. After 1917, when the Menshevik Government of Georgia declared its independence from the Soviet Russia, the people of South Ossetia, together with their northern brothers, declared about their firm decision to stay within the friendly Russia. The civil war deprived the leaders of Russia from the possibility to consider the said appeal of the south Ossetians. However, the government of Georgia, since the will of south Ossetians did not coincide with the geopolitical interests of Georgia, hurried to “solve” the Ossetian problem through the forcible measures. Georgian side committed genocide against south Ossetians (1918-1920), which took the lives of more than 15 000 peaceful Ossetians, or about 20% of the total Ossetians in South Ossetia.

After establishing of the Soviet Power in Georgia the Bolsheviks “decided” the Ossetian issue – giving the political status to the geographical division of Ossetia by the main Caucasus range into north and south Ossetia. The South Ossetia was attached to the Georgian SSR as an autonomous oblast, and the North Ossetia stayed within the Russian Federation.

This decision, made right after the genocide of Ossetian people, was unfair decision, but at that time Ossetia in fact was the part of one state – the USSR, and its division, even though it jeopardized the economic, cultural and psychological state of the Ossetian people, was not unbearable, as the imperial ambitions of Georgian politicians were constrained by the Union authorities.

Perestroika, declared by Gorbachev, bred the hope of the people of the former USSR to the survival and revival. However, it had become another challenge for the Ossetian people: likewise in the beginning of the 20^th century, Georgia, having announced about its independence from Russia, again committed genocide against South Ossetia. You know very well the results of the last genocide: thousands of brutally killed, tortured and assassinated young people, elders, children and women of the Ossetian nationals, hundreds of burnt and robbed villages, devastated economy, more than 100 thousand refugees, and the most important – non-healing wound in the heats of the people.

Russia’s involvement stopped the bloodshed in South Ossetia. The traffic and energy blockade has been removed; the part of refugees returned their native dwellings. All of these breed the hope to the future, and the future of South Ossetia may not be decided once and forever without adopting the relevant resolution on political status of the Republic of South Ossetia.

Certain very important circumstances make impossible to include South Ossetia within the Republic of Georgia. These circumstances are:

1. South Ossetia has never entered voluntarily Georgian state; in 1974 it joined Russia voluntarily together with North Ossetia;

2. Ossetian people experienced two attempts of genocide within the considerably short period of time. The trauma of those genocides still have the trace in the heart of the people, and it may not be healed without isolating the victims from aggressors;

3. Fascist ideology still dominated in Georgia, and Georgia still is the unitary state;

4. The developments in Abkhazia have showed that even the status of the autonomous entity within Georgian may not be the guarantee for preventing from the violation of the minority rights on their historical territory, either the guarantee for avoiding the genocide;

5. The part of Ossetian people is under the Russian Federation, enjoying the status of the Republic, and this will always bar the reunification. Without positive settlement of these issue the Ossetian problem will never be solved.

Let us remind you that the Ossetian people anonymously voted in favor of the independent Republic of South Ossetia and of reunification with Russia.

Given the aforementioned, the Supreme Council of the Republic of South Ossetia submits the appeal to the 7^th Congress of the People’s deputies of the Russian federation and asks to recognize the independence of the Republic of South Ossetia and include it within the Russian Federation.

Adopted at the session of the Supreme Council of the Republic of South Ossetia.

17 November 1992

(Conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Documents 1989-2006 (Supplement to “Kavkazskie Sborniki”, edition #1). Collected and commented by M. A. Volkhonski, B. A. Zakharov, N. Y. Silaev. – Moscow, 2008, p. 211-212/in Russian)