President Zurabishvili - Our peace initiative, our unilateral refusal to use force, was not appropriately responded

We are encouraging restoration of confidence among divided societies, but our peace initiative, our unilateral refusal to use force, was not appropriately responded. On the contrary, their response to us is militarization, threats and incidents in the occupied regions, ”President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili said during her speech at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

As Zurabishvili pointed out, almost 12 years have passed since the Russian-Georgian war and 20% of our territory is still occupied. According to her, the human rights situation in the occupied territories is deplorable and is constantly deteriorating.

“The occupation line is constantly changing, and checkpoints are often closed, which deprives the population of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region of their right to move," Zurabishvili said.

The President said that the Tskhinvali checkpoint has been closed since September, often resulting in human tragedy - “for example, the death of Margo Martiashvili was one of such tragedies. She was not allowed to enter the territory, controlled by the central government of Georgia to receive emergency medical care.”

Our citizens’ rights are constantly limited in the occupied territories - access to health services; It is forbidden to receive education in the native language - both in Georgian and in Abkhazian and Ossetian; Russification is underway. Discrimination against the Georgian population continues in Gali.

The villages along the occupation line are divided; Citizens are often kidnapped, demanded for ransom, tortured and even murdered for crossing a non-existent boundary that sometimes divides the yard, sometimes the village, sometimes the cemetery. The latest incident was the detention of doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili by the Tskhinvali regime. He moved to help a local patient. Such actions are contrary to internationally recognized humanitarian principles and create a basis for further escalation.

I would like to take this opportunity today and thank all the international partners who have made great efforts to release Dr. Gaprindashvili from his two-month detention, ”Zurabishvili said.

She said that monitoring of the situation on the ground is limited, as Russia does not allow EU monitoring mission in the occupied territories. "This is a violation of the 2008 ceasefire agreement," Zurabishvili said.

The president said that last summer, Georgia filed another interstate lawsuit against Russia at the European Court of Human Rights over violations of human rights in the occupied territories.

"The Georgian Government's peace initiative - 'Step Towards a Better Future' is a demonstration of our goal - to improve the socio-economic status of our population living in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region. We are encouraging restoration of confidence among divided societies, but our peace initiative, our unilateral refusal to use force, was not appropriately responded. On the contrary, their response to us is militarization, threats and incidents in the occupied regions, ”the President said.

Levan Gurgenidze - Progressing Towards Transparent and Fair Elections in Pakistan: Mapping the Course for Democratic Advancement
Azerbaijan’s energy resources as one of the key elements of Europe’s energy diversification
George Katcharava - On the second anniversary of the war in Ukraine, there is no alternative to Georgia’s EU and NATO membership to ensure our national security and prosperity