August 14 , 2006
U.S. Calls on Parties in Georgia's Conflict Regions to Show Restraint
The United States is concerned about renewed tensions in the conflict regions of Georgia and is calling on all parties “to continue showing restraint while refraining from words or actions that could worsen the situation on the ground,” according to a statement released August 11 by the U.S. Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) .
The statement, which dealt with Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions, said the government recently conducted a police action in the Kodori Valley in Abkhazia, with the stated aim of eliminating a rebellious militia engaged in criminal activity that is destabilizing the region. The government cited the need to restore the rule of law and provide humanitarian support and social services to the local population.
“Enforcing rule of law is critical to the peaceful resolution of the conflict and is both a sovereign right and an obligation of the Georgian Government,” the U.S. statement said. It welcomed the confidence-building measures undertaken by the government during the police action, including maintaining close contact with the Abkhaz de facto authorities, renouncing the further use of force and beginning an orderly withdrawal of forces.
On August 2, a senior U.S. official, Matthew Bryza, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) that “so far the operation seems to have been conducted well.”
“If indeed this operation was conducted in accordance with international law, and if it continues in the same direction, and the Georgian government shows it can take care of the Georgian people in the upper Kodori Gorge, and if tension remains at a low level, then this will be a very successful operation,” said Bryza, the deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs.
Bryza also said the two sides “need to be in constant contact to reduce the level of tension, to make sure no one miscalculates, and stumbles into a more serious dispute or conflict.”
Abkhazia is a region of northwestern Georgia on the Black Sea coast that was an independent Soviet Socialist Republic (S.S.R.) until 1931 and then an autonomous republic of the Georgian S.S.R. Armed conflict began in August 1992 when Georgian troops were deployed to Abkhazia and ended after the Abkhaz side captured the Abkhaz capital city of Sukhumi on September 27, 1993. Most of the Georgian population of Abkhazia fled or forcibly was expelled as a result of the conflict.
The Kodori valley is the de facto border area between Abkhazia and territory fully under the control of Georgia’s central government.
The August 11 U.S. statement called on the government of Georgia and the Abkhaz de facto authorities to abide by the 1994 cease-fire agreement, and said the United States supports demilitarizing the Kodori Valley.
“While we commend the Abkhaz de facto authorities for their initial restraint during the police action, their recent threats to use force, the cut-off of the Kavkazioni power line to Enguri, and the verbal encouragement of so-called volunteers from outside Georgia's Abkhazia region are heightening tensions,” the statement continued.
Citing press reports of Russian officers and private volunteers from the North Caucasus entering Abkhazia, the statement said that the 1994 cease-fire agreement requires that all volunteer formations from beyond the frontiers of Abkhazia be disbanded and withdrawn.
“These reports combined with continued lawlessness throughout the conflict zone underscore the immediate need for international civilian police force in Georgia's Abkhazia region,” the statement said. The United States has advocated this measure for some time.
On August 2, Bryza explained that the international civilian police force would be “a complement, an additional capability” to the peacekeeping force of the Commonwealth of Independent States that first was deployed in 1994 to monitor compliance with the cease-fire agreement, not a replacement for it.
SOUTH OSSETIA
The August 11 statement also addressed tensions in South Ossetia, condemning the recent shooting of three Georgian policemen at a checkpoint and expressing concern at reports that OSCE monitors have discovered South Ossetian trenches dug near the village of Tbeti.
“These incidents underscore the need for international monitoring of the Roki Tunnel, a permanent checkpoint at Didi Gupta, and an increase in the number of OSCE monitors in Georgia's South Ossetia region, with adequate protections for these monitors.”
The statement renewed the U.S. call for “meaningful progress” on the peace plan endorsed by the OSCE Ministerial Council for South Ossetia, and the Georgian roadmap for peace in Abkhazia.
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