Strive Against Terrorism in Abkhazia

OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Human Dimension Implementation Meeting 2012
 26 September, Session 5:Fighting Against Terrorizm

 

 The Abkhazian civil society is deeply concerned with acts of terrorism being undertaken nowadays by Georgian authorities supporting penetration of terrorists into the district of Gal which is located on the border between Georgia and Abkhazia. Terrorism is a criminal act that influences an audience including children beyond the immediate victim.

The Abkhaz authorities had repeatedly and also recently called on the United States, United Nations, and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to pressure on Georgia to halting what it called "terrorist activities" in a district bordering Georgia. The Gal district is mostly populated by ethnic Megrelians.

Abkhaz State Security Service Chief Mr. Aslan Bzhania said on June 20 that residents of the Gal area were kidnapped and another resident of a village in the district was allegedly kidnapped early on June 22.

The number of terrorist actions recorded in the Gal district gives evidence to Georgia's wide-ranging campaign to terrorize inhabitants of the Gal region of Abkhazia. The Gal district is mostly populated by ethnic Georgians.

The ApsnyPress Information Agency reported that on January 2012 the Gal police department detective Mr.Vitaly Rodonaya was murdered in the village of Gagida, in Gal. The terrorists broke into his house and took him at a gunpoint. Later the dead body of Mr.Rodonaya with 11 gunshot wounds was found 150 meters away from the house. The local militia found spent cartridges of 7.62 mm and 5.45 mm, and three anti-tank mines and fragmentation mine directionality. The criminals fled to Georgia.

May 28, 2012 in the city cafe in Gal the murders were reported of Mr. Leonid Kvitsinia, the Gal region traffic police officer, Mr.Davy Buava, criminal investigation police department detective, as well as Mr. Gultazi Kolbaya resident of the village Nabakia.

Based on the testimony of witnesses and detained citizen of Georgia on the territory of Abkhazia during his activities it was found out that the killing of the Abkhaz militiaman Mr. Davy Buava was planned and executed by the Georgian subversive group led by Mr.Slava Bigvava that previously was commander of one of the groups forming subversive "Forest brothers "and now is the officer in the official structures of Georgia.

In March 2012 in the Rapi village of the Gal district Georgian citizen Mr. Malkhaz Rurua was detained who was a member of sabotage and intelligence group, he had: the AK-74 ammunition, anti-tank mines, anti-tank and anti-personnel grenade F-1 grenade with him.

In December 2012 the assassination of the Repi village Head of Administration.

In January 2010 in Mr.Eduard Kubrava, the Gal region Interior officer was killed.

In June 2010 a terrorist act was committed against the Gal customs officers.

In July 2010 the Bargeb village militia officer died in ambush.

As for the famous Georgian guerrilla groups “White Legion” and “Forest Brothers” for a long time Georgian authorities denied that they were involved in any of the activities of partisan organizations and stated that they were without control in the region, although some Georgian politicians at that time even publically applauded the partisan activity. Mr.David Shengelia, the leader of the Forest Brothers group, was appointed the Deputy Chief of the Gal administration-in-exile in 2002 and stated in an interview with Rustavi 2 television that some arms which were recovered from a member of the Georgian Ministry of State Security actually belonged to partisans fighting against Abkhaz separatists. The arsenal consisted of three anti-tank grenade launchers, nine anti-tank missiles and other types of arms. Furthermore, Mr.Shengelia also remarked that he had evidence of the participation of the Ministry of State Security of Georgia in acts of smuggling on the border across the River Ingur. Mr. Shengelia himself was accused of smuggling at the time when he was occupying his official post. Obviously, acts of sabotage were combined with robbery and smuggling so it is extremely difficult to distinguish between political crimes and those committed for personal material gain in the border zones, particularly in the Gal District.

Together, these facts testify to the criminal activities .As for the White Legion, the unit under the leadership of its head, Mr.Zurab Samushia was especially active in the Gal District during the events of 1998, although after that year the activities of the group gradually stopped. The Georgian press published materials describing the linkage between the White Legion and the Georgian Ministry of Interior Affairs, which was never refuted by the authorities.

Following the events of August 2008, Mr. Samushia stated in an interview to a Russian newspaper that his group should resume subversive activities in Abkhazia.

In 2006 under the personal supervision of President Saakashvili, a so called patriotic camp for youth was built right on the border with Abkhazia in the village of Ganmukhuri. The camp was intended for preparation and training of young people for the purposes known just to the Tbilisi government.

We are referring to you as the community security in Abkhazia and especially in the Eastern part of Abkhazia is under a continuous threat and the right to life is violated.

Liudmila Sagariya

"VERESK"

 Foundation for Disabled and Amputees, Abkhazia

 http://www.osce.org/odihr/94577