STATEMENT OF THE PARLIAMENT OF GEORGIA

To His Excellency, the President of the Russian Federation Mr Boris Yeltsin

To the participants of Sochi meeting of the Quadripartite Commission of Georgian-Abkhaz Conflict Regulation

To His Excellency, Head of OSCE Mission to Georgia Mr Hans-Jorgen Eiff

To His Excellency, Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Georgia Mr Vladimir Zemskiy

To His Excellency, Head of the UN Mission in Georgia me Theodor Starcevic

To His Excellency, Commander of the Peace-Keeping Forces of the Russian Federation in conflict zone General-Major Vasil Iakushev

The situation has been acerbated again in the Georgina-Abkhaz conflict zone that is a consequence of policy carried out by the Abkhaz side aimed at protracting the negotiations and putting the bar  to the return of thousands of refugees to their own dwellings.

The Abkhaz side linked the return of refugees to the withdrawal of Georgian military formations from Kodori Gorge.  Though these two issues, according to the signed agreement, have no links with each other, the Georgian side made a compromise and carried out inspection in Kodori Gorge thereby confirming that the Georgian side was observing the commitments pledged in the course of bilateral negotiations.

Despite the widely applied International practice, the representatives of Abkhaz separatists have accepted as few applications from refugees that practically it was demonstration of frustrating the process of peaceful return of refugees.

In addition, the separatists resort to provocations to impede the peaceful settlement of the conflict.  On September 17 of the current year the Abkhaz pirates kidnapped fishing boat and a barge of Poti.  The people who were on the board are released, including two servicemen of Russian Army, but the fate of 9 Georgian members of a crew is still unknown.

Despite the obligations on security guarantees, the Abkhaz side constantly breeds the atmosphere of threat and terror aimed at disrupting the process of return of refugees, especially through punitive expeditions in Gali district.  Assassinations, raping and robbing are often applied there.  Georgian population is persecuted and mining of country-roads is still in practice.  Under the pretext of anti-crime activity, on behalf of so called ‘Abkhaz Police’ the Abkhaz boeviks burnt down more than 100 houses and unlawfully arrested innocent citizens in the villages of Nabakevi and Otobaia.  These operations were led by the minister of Interior of the separatist power.  It should be mentioned that all of the aforementioned facts have been reported in the ‘security zone’, which is under the control of the peacekeepers of the Russian Federation.

The Parliament of Georgia will never reconcile with separation of Abkhazia from the state of Georgia and continue protecting the rights of the population of Abkhazia.  The Parliament of Georgia calls the International organizations involved in the peace process and the government of the Russian Federation for unconditional release of the kidnapped people and property and for firm resistance against attempt of Abkhaz side to collapse the peace process.

12 October 1994, Tbilisi

(Bulletin of the Parliament of Georgia, 1994,  # # 21-22, p. 353-354)