AGREEMENT  on a Cease-fire And Separation of  Forces

In the statement on Measures for a Political Settlement of the Georgian–Abkhaz Conflict, signed in Moscow on 4 April 1994, the Sides committed themselves to strict compliance with a formal cease-fire from that date, and once again reaffirmed their commitment to the non-use of force or threat of the use of force against each other, as expressed in their Communiqué dated 13 January 1994. That commitment

remains in force. This Agreement on a Case-fire and Separation of forces lays the official basis to this commitment.

1. The sides shal formly observe the cease-fire on land, in the sea and in the air and shal refrain from all military actions against each other.

2. The armed forces of the sides shal be separated in accordance with the following principles:

1) The area berween  lines B and D on the attached map shall encompass a security zone. There shall be no armed forces or heavy military equipment within this zone. The territory between lines A and B and lines D and E shall constitute a restricted-weapons zone. There shall be no heavy military equipment within this zone. The local civil authorities shall function in the security zone and the restricted-weapons zone. The police militia employed  for this purpose may carry personal arms.

Heavy military equipment includes:

- All artillery and mortars of a caliber exceeding 80 mm;

- All tanks;

- All armored vehicles;

2) The peacekeeping force of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the military observers, in ac­­co­­rdance with the Protocol to this Agreement, shall be deployed in the security zone to monitor compliance with this Agreement;

3) The heavy military equipment to be withdrawn from the security zone and the restricted-weapons zone shall be stored in designated areas to be determined by the parties and shall be monitored by the United Nations military observers;

4) Under the supervision of representatives of the peace-keeping force of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the United Nations observers, with the participation of representatives of the sides from the Kodori gorge, the troops of the Republic of Georgia shall be withdrawn to their places of deployment beyond the frontiers of Abkhazia;

A regular patrol of the peace-keeping force and international observers shall be organized concurrently in the Kodori gorge.

5) All volunteer formations made up of persons outside of the frontiers of Abkhazia shall be disbanded and withdrawn;

6) The movement of units and sub-units of the peace-keeping force and of the international observers outside the security zone in the relevant areas shall be subject to agreement with the sides;

7) United Nations military observers shall also monitor the coastal waters and airspace between lines A and D;

8) In the event of an attack or a direct military threat against the peacekeeping force, it shall take appropriate measures for its safety and self-defence.

3. The precise demarcation on a detailed map and a plan for the separation of forces in the initial phase of the deployment of the peace-keeping force shall be worked out by the command of the peace-keeping force with the participation of the sides in the context of a stage-by-stage, comprehensive settlement, with a continuation of the return of refugees and displaced persons and in compliance with this Agreement, in a working group, which shall begin its work to this end in Moscow within five days after the signing of this Agreement. It shall complete this task within five days. Disengagement shall commence five days after the working group has completed its task. The process of disengagement shall be completed no later than 10 days after it has commenced.

4. A map 3B and 3OB indicating the security zone and the restricted-weapons zone is contained in the appendix.

The Protocol concerning the peacekeeping force of the Commonwealth of Independent States is as follows:

The sides agree that:

The function of the peacekeeping force of the Commonwealth of Independent States shall exert its best efforts to maintain the cease-fire and to see that it is strictly observed. Furthermore, its presence should promote the safe return of refugees and displaced persons, especially to the Gali region. It shall supervise the implementation of the Agreement and the Proticol thereto with regard to the security zone and the restricted-weapons zone in carrying out its mission, the force shall comply with local laws and regulations and shall not hamper the functioning of the local civil administration. It shall enjoy freedom of movement in the security zone and the restrected-weapons zone and freedom of communicatins, and other facilities needed to fulfil its mission.

 The peackeeping force of the commonwealth of indepedent States shall operate under the interim Unified Command and the Commander of the Peackeeping Force.

5. The process of achieving a comprehensive political settlement shall be continued.

6. The sides appeal to the United Nations Security Council to expand the mandate of the United Nations military observers in order to provide their participation in the above mentioned operations.

 7. On the basis of the statement by the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Inde­­pe­­­ndent States of 15 April 1994 the parties appeal to the Council to take a decision on the use of a co­­lle­­­­­­ctive peacekeeping force in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone.

For the Georgian side:  J. Ioseliani

For the Abkhaz side:  S. Jinjolia

14 May 1994

(www.unomig.org)