APPEAL OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH OSSETIA to the VI Congress of the People’s Deputies of the Russian Federation

Honorable Deputies,

In 1774, the united Ossetia - Ossetia not divided in North and South – voluntarily asked the Russian throne to join it, and since then it had been within Russia until 1917. In 1918 Georgia declared its independence and voiced its territorial claims towards the southern part of Ossetia.

In 1920, the Agreement concluded between Russia and Georgia laid the foundation to Ossetia’s division. This Agreement encouraged Georgian government to unleash aggression in 1920 as a result of which 18 thousand Ossetians perished; South Ossetia was annexed. After Georgia’s sovietization, in April of 1922, South Ossetia, against its people’s will, was included within Georgia and granted the status of the Autonomous Oblast. All of these are one of the first facts of repression against smaller nations in the former USSR.

On 20 September 1990, Supreme Council of the People’s Deputies of the South Ossetian Autonomous oblast, using its right to self-identification, declared the Republic of the South Ossetia. 72 percent of voters took part in the next elections of its Supreme Council.

Georgia’s current claims on the territory of South Ossetia have no ground as annulment of its union acts and dissolution of the USSR make null and void any right of Georgia over the South Ossetia.

Today Georgia is ignoring all of these developments trying to keep the South Ossetian Republic within its state despite the fact that the people of South Ossetia did not participated in the elections of the Supreme Council of Georgia, did not voted for its President and for the independent Georgia.

The people of South Ossetia, supporting the policy aimed at restoring the historical truth and realizing its right to the self-identification, through the referendum on 19 January 1992 approved its will towards independence and its aspiration to join Russia. Based on the results of the Referendum, the Supreme Council of the Republic of South Ossetia makes appeal to the VI Congress of the People’s Deputies of the Russian Federation on the following:

1. To extend the sovereignty of the Russian Federation over the territory of South Ossetia in order to restore historical justice and stabilization in South Ossetia.

2. To grant the Russian citizenship to the population of the Republic of South Ossetia, on the basis of its will and in accordance with the Law on Russian citizenship.

3. To pay attention to the need of implementing the resolutions on the situation in South Ossetia and inadmissibility of ignoring this issue in Russian-Georgian relations, adopted at the III and V Congresses of the People’s Deputies of the Russian Federation.

4. Given the fact that the military units (including Internal Troops) deployed on the territory of South Ossetia represent the constraining and stabilizing factor in the region, they should be given the status of Russian forces and their mandate should be extended in order to secure the population’s safety and prevent from the possible withdrawal or disbandment of the said troops.

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

Tskhinval, 30 March 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. 207-208/in Russian)