PROTOCOL on the status of talks on regulation of
Georgian-Abkhaz issue
Since April 1995 the talks have been conducted
in
In the course of the talks the efforts have
been made to respect the wishes of the sides to the maximum intent, as well as
of the personal envoy of the UN Secretary General E. Brunner.
In the beginning of July of this year there was
a break in the talks due to the confrontation between the sides on the
characteristics of the state that had been talked bout. On July 22 the talks were resumed on the
basis of mutual consent of the sides.
After having consultations in Sukhumi A. M. Jergenia
returned in
In 22-25 July of this year the proposals of the
Abkhaz side were negotiated with the Georgian authorities and endorsed by the
representatives of the sides, also by the mediators. The protocol endorsed at 12h00 of July 25 was
prepared for initialing (attached).
However, at 19h00 of 25 July of this year the
representative of the Abkhaz side, having consultations with his authorities,
declared that the document would not be ratified and that he had to leave for
Sukhumi to have the document reconsidered with the members of parliament.
The sides failed to sign the Protocol at the
highest level on 29 July.
A. M. Jergenia
(signed)
V. G. Lordkipanidze
(signed)
A. A. Bolshakov
(Signed)
B. N. Pastukhov
(signed)
A. N. Kovalev
(signed)
PROTOCOL on Georgian-Abkhaz
conflict settlement
Representatives of Georgian
and Abkhaz sides, under the mediation of representatives of Russian Federation,
held negotiations on implementation of basic provisions of "Statement on
measures aimed at political settlement of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, dated 4
April, 1994" and
Desiring to put an end to the
dividing conflict and restore state-legal relations, to reestablish peaceful
coexistence, mutual respect that dates back for centuries,
Convinced that it is high time
to put an end to the heave legacy of the past and to embark upon the road
leading to peace and prosperity, believing that it is high time to treat one
another with dignity and mutual tolerance and start building our common future
in the spirit of compromise and reconciliation.
Taking care of establishment
of civil peace, inter-ethnic concord and security of nations, realizing
fundamental human rights and freedoms of citizens, irrespective of their
nationality, religion, place of residence and other differences,
Believing that only through
pooling together our efforts it will be possible to solve difficult economic
problems and embark on the road leading to prosperity,
Committing themselves not to
allow resumption of violence, which had brought immense
sufferings and human casualties,
have agreed upon the following:
1. The Parties take
commitments not to resort to arms and under no circumstances allow resumption
of hostilities and bloodshed. Any differences shall be resolved exclusively by
peaceful means of negotiations and consultations with the support and under the
mediation of the
2. The Parties declare about
their consent to live in an unitary federative state
within the borders of the former Georgian SSR. Relations between the Parties
shall be regulated by a constitutional law.
3. Foreign policy and foreign
economic links, determination and implementation of defense policy, protection
of state border, federal budget, energy sector, transport, custom service,
protection of human rights and civil freedoms, ethnic minorities rights;
ecology and liquidation of consequences of natural disasters; prevention of
epidemics and liquidation of their consequences; meteorology service; standards,
etalons, metric system and time
standards shall be under the competence of federal authorities.
Competence of federal
authorities can be expanded upon agreement between the Parties.
4. Within
the framework of agreed upon competence, an federative legislative body
(parliament) shall be created, decision of which shall be legally binding on
the whole territory of the federative state. The Abkhaz side shall have in
advance agreed upon number of seats in the federative legislative body.
Decisions of the federative
legislative body on issues directly relating to Abkhazia shall be of legal
force if there are adopted by simple or qualified majority of deputies from
Abkhazia, depending on whether these decisions are adopted by simple or
qualified majority of the federative legislative body.
Procedure of making decisions
on moot questions whether this or that issue is directly related to Abkhazia, shall be a subject of future negotiations.
5. The federal state shall be
presented as a unified entity in international relations, including membership
in international organizations. International treaties, concluded by the
unitary federative state within its competence, shall be mandatory for
Abkhazia.
Within the framework of its
exclusive competence, Abkhazia shall be entitled to conclude international
agreements, about which it shall inform relevant federative bodies.
6. The process of organized
return of refugees and internally displaced persons shall be resumed in
accordance with the quart partite agreement of April 4, 1994.
For organization of works
aimed at return of refugees, a special working group composed of
representatives of the Parties and the
The working group shall start
its activities beginning from …August 1995 and within two weeks aftermath, and
in accordance with a action plan adopted by the working group, the process of
organized return of refugees to places of their permanent residence, first of
all to the Gali region, shall start.
The Abkhaz side, alongside the
working group and the UNHCR shall register those refugees who have already
returned in a chaotic manner.
The Abkhaz sides
reiterates its responsibility to guarantee security of returning
refugees and internally displaced persons.
Tangible measures aimed at
guaranteeing equal rights for all people residing in Abkhazia irrespective of
their nationality, religion and other affiliations.
The
The Parties reconfirm, that
the operation aimed at maintaining peace and carried out by the CIS collective
peace-keeping forces in the conflict zone, must contribute to the speedy and
safely return of refugees and internally displaced persons to the regions of
their previous residence.
7. In order to create the conditions for
returning the refugees and improving the life of the war victims, the sides call upon the Russian
Federation to establish the normal border and customs regime, in parallel to
the return of refugees, to solve the transport problems, first of all to
restore the two-way railroad communication and secure the functioning of the
energy system.
The sides demonstrate their
will to join the federal state to the customs union of
8. The issues relating to the state arrangement
of the unified federal state, distribution of competences, structure and
function of the federal authorities, gradual introduction of the common
currency, banking affairs, gradual development of the military forces,
organization of border and customs services shall be subject of the further
negotiations, which will be resumed right after this Protocol is signed.
9. This Protocol shall come into effect after it
has been signed.
10. The sides note with satisfaction the
readiness of the
On behalf of
the Georgian Side …
On behalf of
the Abkhaz Side…
In the presence of
the
the United Nations
the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in
" …" 1995
(Personal archive of Wazha Lortkipanidze)