RESOLUTION 1524 (20 JANUARY 2004)
Adopted by the UN Security Council
The Security Council,
Recalling all its relevant resolutions, in particular resolution 1494 (2003) of 30
July 2003,
Having considered the report of the Secretary-General of 14 January 2004
(S/2004/26),
Recalling the conclusions of the Lisbon (S/1 997/57, annex) and Istanbul summits
of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) regarding the
situation in Abkhazia, Georgia,
Recalling the relevant principles contained in the Convention on the Safety of
United Nations and Associated Personnel adopted on 9 December 1994,
Deploring that the perpetrators of the shooting down of a helicopter of the United
Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) on 8 October 2001, which resulted
in the death of nine people on board, have still not been identified,
Stressing that the continued lack of progress on key issues of a comprehensive
settlement of the conflict in Abkhazia, Georgia, is unacceptable,
Welcoming, however, the positive momentum given to the United Nations-led peace
process by regular high-level meetings of the Group of Friends in Geneva and
the Georgian-Russian summit meeting in March 2003,
Noting the holding of presidential elections in Georgia in January and encouraging the new Georgian
leadership as well as the Abkhaz side to pursue a comprehensive, peaceful
political settlement of the conflict in Abkhazia, Georgia,
Welcoming the important contributions made by UNOMIG and the Collective
Peacekeeping Forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS peacekeeping
force) in stabilizing the situation in the zone of conflict, and stressing its attachment to the close
cooperation existing between them in the performance of their respective
mandates,
1. Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General
of
2. Reaffirms the commitment of all
Member States to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of
Georgia within its internationally recognized borders, and the necessity to
define the status of Abkhazia within the State of Georgia in strict accordance
with these principles;
3. Commends and strongly supports the
sustained efforts of the Secretary-General and his Special Representative, with
the assistance of the Russian Federation in its capacity as facilitator as well
as of the Group of Friends of the Secretary-General and of the OSCE, to promote
the stabilization of the situation and the achievement of a comprehensive
political settlement, which must include a settlement of the political status
of Abkhazia within the State of Georgia;
4. Stresses, in particular, its strong
support for the document on "Basic Principles for the Distribution of
Competences between Tbilisi and Sukhumi" and for
its letter of transmittal, finalized by, and with the full support of, all
members of the Group of Friends;
5. Deeply regrets, the continued refusal
of the Abkhaz side to agree to a discussion on the substance of this document,
again strongly urges the Abkhaz
side to receive the document and its transmittal letter, urges both parties thereafter to give
them full and open consideration, and to engage in constructive negotiations on
their substance, and urges those
having influence with the parties to promote this outcome;
6. Regrets the lack of progress on the
initiation of political status negotiations, and recalls, once again, that the purpose of these documents is to
facilitate meaningful negotiations between the parties, under the leadership of
the United Nations, on the status of Abkhazia within the State of Georgia, and
is not an attempt to impose or dictate any specific solution to the parties;
7. Underlines further that the process
of negotiation leading to a lasting political settlement acceptable to both
sides will require concessions from both sides;
8. Welcomes the convening of regular
meetings of senior representatives of the Group of Friends in Geneva and the
intention expressed by the parties to accept the invitation to participate in
the forthcoming meeting and calls upon
them to participate again in a positive spirit;
9. Urges the parties to participate in a
more active, regular and structured manner in the task forces established in
the first Geneva meeting (to address issues in the priority areas of economic
cooperation, the return of internally displaced persons and refugees, and
political and security matters) and complemented by the working groups
established in Sochi, and stresses that results
oriented activities in these three priority areas remain key to building common
ground between the Georgian and Abkhaz sides and ultimately for concluding
meaningful negotiations on a comprehensive political settlement based on the
paper entitled "Basic Principles for the Distribution of Competences between
Tbilisi and Sukhumi" and its transmittal letter;
10. Welcomes the joint Georgian-Abkhaz
high-level visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina and to Kosovo, Serbia and
Montenegro, led by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, as
agreed in the second Geneva meeting;
11. Calls on the parties to spare no
efforts to overcome their ongoing mutual mistrust;
12. Calls again on the parties to ensure
the necessary revitalization of the peace process in all its major aspects, including
their work in the Coordinating Council and its relevant mechanisms, to build on
the results of the Yalta meeting on confidence-building measures in March 2001
(S/2001/242), to implement the proposals agreed on that occasion in a
purposeful and cooperative manner, and to consider holding a fourth conference
on confidence-building measures;
13. Reminds all concerned to refrain from
any action that might impede the peace process;
14. Stresses the urgent need for progress
on the question of the refugees and internally displaced persons, calls on both sides to display a
genuine commitment to make returns the focus of special attention and to
undertake this task in close coordination with UNOMIG and consultations with
UNHCR and the Group of Friends and recalls
the understanding in the Sochi summit that the
reopening of the Sochi-Tbilisi railway will be
undertaken in parallel with the return of refugees and displaced persons,
starting in the Gali district;
15. Reaffirms the unacceptability of the
demographic changes resulting from the conflict, reaffirms also the inalienable right of all refugees and IDPs affected by the conflict to return to their homes in
secure and dignified conditions, in accordance with international law and as
set out in the Quadripartite Agreement of 4 April 1994 (S/1994/397, annex II)
and the Yalta Declaration;
16. Recalls that the Abkhaz side bears a
particular responsibility to protect the returnees and to facilitate the return
of the remaining displaced population;
17. Welcomes the mission led by the
United Nations Development Programme to the Gali region (December 2003) to assess the feasibility of a
sustainable recovery process for the local population and potential returnees
and to identify further actions to improve the overall security conditions and
ensure sustainable return and looks
forward to the publication of the resulting report;
18. Welcomes the positive consideration
by the parties given to the recommendations of the joint assessment mission to
the Gali district, urges them once again to implement those recommendations and in
particular calls upon the
Abkhaz side to agree to the opening as soon as possible of the Gali branch of the human rights office in Sukhumi and to provide security conditions for its
unhindered functioning;
19. Welcomes the start of the deployment
of a civilian police component as part of UNOMIG, as endorsed in resolution
1494 (2003) and agreed by the parties, looks
forward to an early confirmation by the Abkhaz side that the deployment in
the Gali district of the remaining police officers
can proceed, and calls on the
parties to cooperate and actively support the police component;
20. Calls in particular on the Abkhaz
side to improve law enforcement involving the local population and to address
the lack of instruction in their mother tongue for the ethnic Georgian
population;
21. Calls on both parties further to
publicly dissociate themselves from any militant rhetoric and demonstrations of
support for military options or for the
activities of
illegal armed groups, notes the
efforts undertaken by the Georgian side to put an end to the activities of
illegal armed groups and encourages the
parties, in particular the Georgian side, to maintain their efforts;
22. Condemns any violations of the provisions of
the Moscow Agreement of
23. Welcomes the continuing relative calm
in the Kodori Valley and the intention reaffirmed by
the parties to resolve the situation peacefully, recalls its strong support to the protocol signed by the two
sides on 2 April 2002 regarding the situation in the valley and calls on the sides to continue to
fully implement this protocol;
24. Deplores the deterioration in the security
environment in the Gali sector including repeated
killings and abductions;
25. Welcomes the holding of a
Quadripartite meeting with high-level representation by the parties on 19
January 2004, and their signing of a protocol on security issues and urges the parties to abide by the
provisions of that protocol and the protocol signed by them on 8 October 2003
and to cooperate more closely with each other to improve security in the Gali sector;
26. Calls on the Georgian side to
continue to improve security for joint UNOMIG and CIS peacekeeping force
patrols in the Kodori Valley to enable them to resume
monitoring of the situation independently and regularly when road conditions
permit;
27. Underlines that it is the primary
responsibility of both sides to provide appropriate security and to ensure the
freedom of movement of UNOMIG, the CIS peacekeeping force and other
international personnel; strongly
condemns the repeated abductions of personnel of those missions, deeply deplores that none of the perpetrators
have ever been identified or brought to justice and reiterates that it is the responsibility of the parties to end
this impunity;
28. Urges the parties, once again, to take all necessary
steps to identify those responsible for the shooting down of a UNOMIG
helicopter on 8 October 2001, to bring them to justice, and to inform the
Special Representative on the steps taken;
29. Decides to extend the mandate of
UNOMIG for a new period terminating on 31 July 2004, subject to a review as
appropriate of its mandate by the Council in the event of changes in the
mandate of the CIS peacekeeping force;
30. Requests the Secretary-General to
continue to keep the Council regularly informed and to report three months from
the date of the adoption of this resolution on the situation in Abkhazia,
Georgia;
31. Decides to remain actively seized of
the matter.
(www.un.org/docs)