RESOLUTION 1615 (2005) ADOPTED UN SECURITY COUNCIL , on 29 July 2005
The Security Council,
Recalling all its relevant resolutions, in particular
resolution 1582 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 Georgia;
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. 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;
7. 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;
8. Reminds all concerned to refrain from
any action that might impede the peace process;
9. Welcomes the convening of regular
meetings of senior representatives of the Group of Friends and the United
Nations in Geneva as well as the
participation of both sides in the last meeting on 7 and 8 April 2005 and the
commitments expressed by the parties during this meeting and strongly urges
both sides to continue to participate constructively in future meetings;
10. 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;
11. Regrets the cancellation of the
meeting on security guarantees planned for July 2005 and expects that such a meeting with the
full participation of both sides will be held as soon as possible;
12. Welcomes the signing on
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 meeting on
economic cooperation and confidence-building measures pending progress in the
conflict resolution process;
14. Welcomes the positive
developments towards the
reopening of the railways
between
15. Notes that contacts
at the level of civil society can reinforce mutual confidence and calls on both sides to facilitate
such contacts;
16. 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;
17. 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;
18. Reaffirms the unacceplability of the
demographic changes resulting from the conflict, reaffirms also the inalienable rights of all refugees and
internally displaced persons affected by the conflict, and stresses that they have the right 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/l994/397, annex II) and the Yalta
Declaration;
19. Recalls that the Abkhaz side bears a
particular responsibility to protect the returnees and to facilitate the return
of the remaining displaced population;
20. Welcomes the continuing activities of
UNDP in the Gali, Ochamchira and Tkvarcheli districts and the opening of
offices by UNDP in
21. 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;
22. 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;
23. Calls in particular on the Abkhaz
side to improve law enforcement protection of the local population and to
address the lack of instruction in their mother tongue for the ethnic Georgian
population;
24. 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;
25. Condemns any violations of the provisions of
the Moscow Agreement of
26. Welcomes
the continuing relative
calm in the
Kodori valley and condemns
the continuing criminal activities, including killings and abductions of
civilians, in the Gali and Zugdidi districts;
27. 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;
28. 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;
29. 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 and calls upon
both sides to fulfil their obligations in this regard;
30. 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;
31. 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;
32. Welcomes the efforts being undertaken
by UNOMIG to implement the Secretary-General's zero tolerance policy on sexual
exploitation and abuse and to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the
United Nations code of conduct, requests
the Secretary-General to continue to take all necessary action in this
regard and to keep the Security Council informed, and urges troop-contributing countries to take appropriate
preventive action including
the conduct of
predeployment awareness training, and to take disciplinary action and
other action to ensure full accountability in cases of such conduct involving
their personnel;
33. Decides to extend the mandate of
UNOMIG for a new period terminating on
34. 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
35. Decides to remain actively seized of
the matter.
(www.un.org/docs)