The war between Georgia and Russia: one year on

In a draft resolution adopted on Wednesday 9 September in Paris, PACE Monitoring Committee strongly urges the Russian authorities, before the end of the year, to give unrestricted access to EU Monitors to South Ossetia and Abkhazia, grant freedom of movement for Georgian civilians and international and humanitarian organisations over the administrative boundaries, recognise the right of return of all IDPs of this conflict and to initiate a credible investigation into alleged ethnic cleansing in South Ossetia.


Report
Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee)
Co-rapporteurs: Mr Luc van den BRANDE, Belgium, Group of the European People’s Party, and Mr Mátyás EÖRSI, Hungary, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe

Summary

The Monitoring Committee deplores the fact that, one year after the tragic outbreak of the war between Georgia and Russia, little tangible progress has been achieved in addressing the consequences of this war, and that, in several areas, the situation has actually regressed. While Georgia has complied with most, albeit not all, demands of the Assembly, Russia has not complied with most of the key demands placed upon it. Having taken note of Russia’s argument that its non-compliance with the demands of the Assembly is the result of its diverging position with regard to the status of the two break-away regions (South Ossetia and Abkhazia), the Committee argues, for its part, that most demands have no relation to the status issue and therefore can not understand that Russia failed to comply even with them. It therefore considers that Russia’s non-compliance with the Assembly demands underscores its lack of political will to address the consequences of the war in a manner incumbent on a member state of the Council of Europe.

The report concludes by strongly urging the Russian authorities, before the end of the year, to give unrestricted access to EU Monitors to both South Ossetia and Abkhazia, grant the freedom of movement of Georgian civilians over the administrative boundaries of the two break away regions, recognise the right


Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, 9 September 2009
http://www.assembly.coe.int/CommitteeDocs/2009/20090909RussiaGeorgiaEN.pdf