RESOLUTION 1582 (28 JANUARY 2005)
Adopted by the UN Security Council
The
Security Council,
Recalling
all
its relevant resolutions, in particular resolution 1554 of
Welcoming
the
report of the Secretary-General of
Recalling
the
conclusions of the
Recalling
the
relevant principles contained in the Convention on the Safety of United Nations
and Associated Personnel adopted on
Deploring
that
the perpetrators of the shooting down of a helicopter of the United Nations
Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) on
Stressing
that
the continued lack of progress on key issues of a comprehensive settlement of
the conflict in
Welcoming,
however,
the positive momentum given to the United Nations-led peace process by regular
high level meetings of the Group of Friends in
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. Reaffirms the commitment of all Member States to the
sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of
2. 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
3. Reiterates its strong support for the document on "Basic
Principles for the Distribution of Competences between
4. 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;
5. Regrets also 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;
6. Notes its position on Abkhaz elections as expressed in
resolution 1255 of
7. Calls on both sides to participate in constructive negotiations
towards a political settlement of the conflict and to spare no efforts to
overcome their ongoing mutual mistrust and underlines that the process of negotiation leading to a lasting
political settlement acceptable to both sides will require concessions from
both sides;
8. Welcomes the commitment by the Georgian side to a peaceful
resolution of the conflict and calls on
both parties further to publicly dissociate themselves from all militant
rhetoric and demonstrations of support for military options;
9. Reminds all concerned to refrain from any action that might
impede the peace process;
10. Welcomes the convening of regular meetings of senior
representatives of the Group of Friends and the United Nations in
11. 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
in March 2003, and reiterates 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;
12. Encourages the sides in that respect to continue their
discussion on security guarantees with the participation of the Group of
Friends;
13. Calls again on the parties to take concrete steps to revitalize
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)
and to implement the proposals agreed on that occasion in a purposeful and
cooperative manner, with a view to holding a fourth conference on
confidence-building measures, and welcomes the intention expressed by Germany
to host such a conference pending progress in the conflict resolution process;
14. Notes that contacts at the level of
civil society can reinforce mutual confidence and calls on both sides to facilitate such contacts;
15. 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;
16. Calls for the rapid finalization and signature of the letter of
intent on returns proposed by the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General and welcomes the
meetings with the participation of the SRSG and UNHCR of the Sochi working group on refugees and internally displaced
persons;
17. Reaffirms the unacceptability of the demographic changes
resulting from the conflict, reaffirms
also the inalienable right of all refugees and internally displaced
persons 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/1994/3 97, annex II) and the
Yalta Declaration;
18. Recalls that the Abkhaz side bears a particular responsibility
to protect the returnees and to facilitate the return of the remaining
displaced population;
19. Welcomes the continuing activities of UNDP in the Gali, Ochamchira and Tkvarcheli districts and the opening of offices by UNDP in
20. Urges the parties once again to implement the recommendations of
the Joint Assessment Mission to the Gali sector (November
2000), regrets that there has
been no progress to that effect despite the positive consideration by the
parties given to those recommendations in the first Geneva meeting and calls again 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;
21. Reiterates its concern that despite 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, the deployment of the remaining officers
in the Gali sector is still outstanding and calls on the Abkhaz side to allow for
a swift deployment of the police component in that region;
22. 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;
23. Welcomes the measures taken by the Georgian side to put an end
to the activities of illegal armed groups and encourages the maintenance of these efforts;
24. Condemns any violations of the provisions of
the Moscow Agreement of
25. Welcomes the continuing relative calm in the Kodori
valley, condemns the killings and abductions of civilians in the Gali district;
26. Urges the parties to abide by the provisions of the protocols on
security issues in the Gali district signed on 19
January 2004 and 8 October 2003, to continue their regular meetings and to
cooperate more closely with each other to improve security in the Gali sector, and takes note of the resumption of Abkhaz
participation in the Quadripartite meetings and the Joint Fact Finding Group;
27. Reiterates its call on the Georgian side to provide
comprehensive security guarantees to allow for independent and regular
monitoring of the situation in the upper Kodori
valley by joint UNOMIG and CIS peacekeeping force patrols;
28. 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;
29. Strongly condemns in that respect the repeated abductions of
personnel of those missions in the past, deeply
deplores that none of the perpetrators have ever been identified or
brought to justice, reiterates that
it is the responsibility of the parties to end this impunity and calls upon them to take action;
30. Also calls upon 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 SRSG of the steps taken in particular
in the criminal investigation;
31. Decides to extend the mandate of UNOMIG for a new period
terminating on
32. 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
33. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.
(www.un.org/docs)