Security Council
5363rd Meeting (PM)
SECURITY COUNCIL EXTENDS UN MISSION IN GEORGIA UNTIL 31 MARCH,
UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTING RESOLUTION 1656 (2006)
In a unanimous vote this afternoon, the Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) until 31 March 2006 by adopting resolution 1656 (2006).
The meeting began at 12:10 p.m. and ended at 12:15 p.m.
Council Resolution
The full text of resolution 1656 (2006) reads, as follows:
“The Security Council,
“Recalling its relevant resolutions on the issue and in particular resolution 1615 (2005) of 29 July 2005,
“Taking note of the scheduled meeting of the Group of Friends of the Secretary-General on Georgia in Geneva on 2 and 3 February 2006,
“1. Decides to extend the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) until 31 March 2006;
“2. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.”
Background
Before the Council was the Secretary-General’s report on the situation in Abkhazia, Georgia (document S/2006/19), dated 13 January 2006 and covering the period since his report of 19 October 2005 (document S/2005/657).
The Secretary-General, stressing that the United Nations remains committed to assisting the Georgian and Abkhaz sides in the search for a peaceful and comprehensive settlement, notes that, in an encouraging development, both sides engaged constructively with the mediation of his Special Representative in exchanges on joint draft documents on the non-resumption of hostilities, as well as the safe and dignified return of refugees and internally displaced persons.
He calls on both sides to refrain from actions or statements that could damage emerging opportunities in the peace process. The Georgian side is urged to take into due account the Abkhaz security concerns and the Abkhaz side effectively to meet the security and human rights concerns of the local population and returnees to the Gali district.
Stressing that the free movement of UNOMIG personnel in fulfilling their mandate is of continuing concern, the Secretary-General urges the two sides to ensure their safety at all times. They are urged to identify and prosecute the perpetrators of criminal acts against Mission personnel, including the September 1998 ambush of a UNOMIG bus in Sukhumi, the October 2001 shooting down of a UNOMIG helicopter in the Kodori Valley, and various hostage-taking incidents. Regular patrolling of the Kodori Valley remains an essential part of UNOMIG’s mandate, and cooperation in security-related matters, including provision of effective security guarantees, is key for its resumption.
Expressing his conviction that UNOMIG’s presence remains critical to maintaining stability on the ground, advancing the peace process in the priority directions, and ultimately promoting a peaceful and comprehensive settlement of the conflict, the Secretary-General recommends an extension of the Mission’s mandate until 31 July 2006.
Besides the Secretary-General’s observations and recommendations, the report also covers the political process, operational activities, policing issues, cooperation with Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) peacekeeping forces, human rights and the humanitarian situation, support issues and financial aspects.
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/sc8626.doc.htm
Security Council extends UN Mission in Georgia through March
31 January 2006 – The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Georgia until 31 March, and emphasized it would keep a close watch on events in the troubled country.
Today’s unanimous vote came after a report earlier this month by Secretary-General Kofi Annan stressed that the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) was “critical for maintaining stability” between the government side and Abkhaz separatists.
Mr. Annan had recommended that the mission, whose mandate was due to expire today, be extended for a further six months until 31 July but the two-month extension will now allow Security Council members to further discuss the situation in Georgia.
As of the start of this year, there were 122 military observers and 13 civilian police officers in UNOMIG, an operation that has been deployed in Georgia since 1993 monitoring peace agreements between the two sides.
In his report, the Secretary-General said UNOMIG was focusing on three priority areas in the country, namely economic cooperation, the return of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), and political and security matters. He stressed that political will on both sides of the conflict is key to progress.
“The security of UNOMIG is of continuous concern,” Mr. Annan emphasized, calling on both sides to ensure the safety of the mission’s personnel at all times and urging them to bring to justice the perpetrators of crimes against UNOMIG, including those responsible for shooting down a helicopter in 2001.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=17356&Cr=georgia&Cr1=
Diplomats meeting at UN-chaired talks on Georgia stress need for peaceful settlement
3 February 2006 – Wrapping up two days of United Nations-chaired talks on Georgia held in Geneva, key countries involved in the peace process stressed the need to address the core political cause of the conflict between the Government and Abkhaz separatists.
In a press statement, the so-called Group of Friends of the Secretary-General ? Germany, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States ? underlined that the basis of their efforts was the settlement of the conflict by peaceful means and in the framework of relevant Security Council resolutions.
The Group “underscored the urgent need for tangible results in the peace process and agreed that, in addition to continuing work on confidence-building measures, including the finalization of the package of documents on non-use of force and the return of internally displaced persons and refugees, there was a need to address the core political issues of the conflict.”
The meeting was chaired by the UN Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping, Jean-Marie Guйhenno, and was attended also by the senior UN envoy to Georgia, Heidi Tagliavini.
In another development, a senior official with the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) met with a joint Georgian-Abkhazian delegation on Thursday in talks aimed at assisting the 220,000 internally displaced persons in Georgia and about 50,000 people who have returned to the Gali District.
Pirkko Kourula noted UNHCR\\\'s success in bringing the plight of the internally displaced persons to the global community\\\'s attention and securing additional funds for its efforts in the region.
The conflict in Abkhazia, strategically located on the Black Sea, began with social unrest and the attempts by the local authorities to separate from the Republic. It escalated into a series of armed confrontations in the summer of 1992. A ceasefire agreement was concluded later that year but never fully implemented. Fighting which followed forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee.
Diplomacy by the Secretary-General\\\'s envoy helped to secure another peace agreement, paving the way for the establishment of the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG). Fighting later resumed, sending hundreds of thousands of civilians, mostly Georgians, fleeing their homes. Subsequent talks led to the deployment of a peacekeeping force of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as well as the strengthening of UNOMIG.
The Security Council has adopted a series of resolutions successively renewing UNOMIG\\\'s mandate, most recently on 31 January.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=17385&Cr=georgia&Cr1=
01/02/2006
Press conference by Georgia
If the international community was interested in achieving a lasting solution to the conflict in Abkhazia, Georgia, it must begin thinking about internationalizing the peace process, and in particular establishing a “real UN-led peacekeeping operation”, Georgia’s Permanent Representative, Revaz Adamia, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this morning.
He began by noting that the Security Council yesterday adopted a resolution on the matter, extending the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) for two months. The fact that it had been a technical rollover, rather than a resolution which also reflected developments on the ground to promote the peace process, indicated major differences in the positions of Council members, he said.
[UNOMIG was established in August 1993 to verify compliance with the ceasefire agreement between the Government of Georgia and the Abkhaz authorities in Georgia. That ceasefire broke down later that same year. With the signing in May 1994 of the Agreement on a Ceasefire and Separation of Forces, the parties agreed to the deployment of a peacekeeping force of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to monitor compliance with the Agreement, with UNOMIG monitoring implementation of the Agreement and observing the operation of the CIS force.]
It appeared, he continued, that the Russian Federation had suddenly decided to change its position. Russian policymakers had decided to withdraw their support to the basic principle of resolving the conflict, namely defining the status of Abkhazia within the State of Georgia.
While the Russian Federation had been verbally supporting the territorial integrity of Georgia from the beginning of the peace process, what was taking place on the ground in the zone of conflict was fundamentally different, he said. Abkhazia’s de facto annexation was manifesting itself in a variety of forms. Among them, he noted the granting of Russian citizenship to a majority of the population residing in Abkhazia, and the training of secessionist officers in Russian military schools.
In addition, he said the CIS peacekeeping force, which consisted exclusively of Russian troops, was playing the role of border guards protecting the separatist regime, rather than enabling the return of refugees and internally displaced persons in security and dignity, which was the most important part of their mandate.
Asked what he thought about Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin’s statement yesterday that giving independence to Kosovo would have implications for Abkhazia, Mr. Adamia said he found both the statement and the approach of the President and Russian policymakers worrisome. The notion that the “Kosovo model” should be a universal model for the entire “post-Soviet space” was a dangerous one. Neither President Putin nor the leaders of the separatist regime understood what was meant by the Kosovo model. The situation in Kosovo was entirely different than that in Abkhazia, and the Kosovo model alluded to the achievement of independence. He could not accept the Kosovo model for solving the problems in Georgia, whether in South Ossetia or Abkhazia. Georgia could not sacrifice its territorial integrity.
As for Russia’s claim that the Boden Paper on “Basic Principles for the Distribution of Competences between Tbilisi and Sukhumi” -- the document intended to serve as a basis for meaningful negotiations on the future status of Abkhazia within the State of Georgia -- had been rejected by the Abkhaz side, Mr. Adamia said that the main principle outlined in the Boden Paper was the territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders and the inviolability of those borders. The Paper also stated that the future status of Abkhazia was to be determined by the parties involved.
On whether Abkhazia had a case regarding secession, he said his Government was not against any part of Georgia being independent, if that decision was taken by the entirety of Georgia and the part in question. But the precondition for that was that the population that was there before the conflict started must be able to return.
Personally, he believed genocide and ethnic cleansing had been committed in Abkhazia. The ethnic cleansing that occurred there had been confirmed by the international community, and reflected in resolutions of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) during the 1990s. More than 300,000 Georgians had been expelled from Abkhazia. Before the conflict began, Abkhazians represented 17 or 18 per cent of the population in that territory, and Georgians about half the population. Today, there were almost no Georgians left in Abkhazia.
He believed genocide had occurred, since more than 10,000 people had been killed during the conflict, and added that the Russian Federation had participated in that with its military and mercenaries, as had been described in the “appropriate sources”.
As for the next steps on the part of Georgia, he said that if there was no improvement either in the positions or behaviour of the Russian peacekeepers or in the general conflict resolution process, his Parliament would ask the Government for the appropriate resolutions. After the passing of the October resolution, he had expected the Russian Federation to “make some moves” to discuss the dissatisfaction expressed about the peacekeeping operation. Unfortunately, the Russian Foreign Ministry responded to that resolution by calling it provocation by the Georgian side.
He noted that discussions would be taking place in Geneva on 2 and 3 February on the Abkhaz problem, adding that there was more readiness on the part of the international community and among the players involved to understand that it was time to change the modalities and framework of the entire peace operation.
A correspondent referred to allegations by the Central Bank of Georgia that Russian banks in Abkhazia were involved in money-laundering. Mr. Adamia replied that it was clear that money-laundering and other activities, such as the illicit trade in small arms and sheltering terrorists, were happening in places lacking control by the international community.
Asked if Georgia’s relationship with the Russian Federation had hit an all-time low since Georgia gained independence, he said there had definitely been a serious change in the Russian position, not only towards Georgia but also towards the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. He had noted an increased irritation and anger towards his country and others in the region.
http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2006/060201_Georgia.doc.htm
