Georgia: Annan urges both sides to move beyond impasse on Abkhazia issue
30 October -- Calling the lack of progress in defining the status of Abkhazia "deeply regrettable," Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appealed to both sides in the Georgian conflict - particularly the Abkhaz side - to move beyond the current impasse.
In a just-released report to the Security Council on the United Nations Observer Mission to Georgia (UNOMIG), the Secretary-General writes that the next step in the process must be negotiations on the "distribution of competencies" between Tbilisi and Sukhumi, taking into account the Council's view that any solution must be based on Georgia's territorial integrity.
Mr. Annan also voices concern about the situation of returnees in Gali District who, having returned for the late summer harvest season, now face economic hardship, insufficient protection of human rights and a lack of representation in the local administration. "The two sides should treat the return of refugees and internally displaced persons as a matter of the most urgent humanitarian concern [...] and not link this issue to other political matters," he says.
Mr. Annan also welcomes the readiness of the Georgian and Abkhaz sides to accept the invitation by the Government of Ukraine to the third Meeting on Confidence-building Measures, to be held in Yalta in late November, encouraging both sides to "prepare actively for the event and be ready to take decisions that will improve confidence and contribute to the overall peace effort."
On the issue of security, the Secretary-General reminds the parties to the conflict of their responsibility to protect both local populations and UNOMIG staff members. He also says it is still necessary for the perpetrators of the hostage-taking incidents in Kodori Valley in October 1999 and June 2000 to be brought to justice.
Turning to human rights, Mr. Annan writes that the situation in Abkhazia since late July has remained "unsatisfactory," with large segments of the population depending on humanitarian assistance for their well-being and facing food insecurity and the lack of shelter, sanitation and access to health care.
UNOMIG was established in August 1993 to verify compliance with the ceasefire agreement between the Government of Georgia and the Abkhaz authorities. Its mandate was expanded after the 1994 Agreement on a Ceasefire and Separation of Forces. As of 1 October, the Mission had a strength of 102 military observers supported by 90 international civilian personnel and 157 local civilian staff.
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