Abkhaz officials spoke out against the plant to open a UN Human Rights Office and introduce an international civilian police component under the aegis of the UN in the Gali district of Abkhazia.
Talking to Abkhazia’s “Nuzhnaya Gazeta,” Stanislav Lakoba, Secretary of the Security Council of the breakaway republic, said there is “no need to open a [UN] human rights office in Gali, especially as their is a human rights office already operating in [Abkhazia’s capital] Sukhumi, which is only 70-80 kilometers away.” He also added that the Georgian government’s demands to open the office and introduce the police force “is nothing other than an attempt to squeeze out the Russian peacekeepers.” He also accused Gerogia of fueling “terrorist activity” in Gali district.
Speaker of the Abkhaz parliament Nugzar Ashuba agrees, saying he sees no need for a civilian police, as there is already a number of foreign observers and UN military observers monitoring the situation in Gali.
Abkhaz foreign minister Sergey Shamba says he supports the opening of a Human Rights office in Gali, but thinks that it should be run by Abkhaz NGOs. He also stated, however, that tactics of “blackmail and pressure” from Georgia, in the form of activating paramilitary groups in Gali, is unacceptable and will not help convince Abkhazia to concede to opening the office. Shamba says he is personally for the civilian police component, but “public opinion is not ready [for this decision]…and we will never go against the public opinion.”
The Georgian authorities have recently intensified calls to open a separate Human Rights Office in the Gali district and introduce an international civilian police presence there. Tbilisi says these measures are necessary to secure the rights of ethnic Georgians in the Gali district to study in their own language, to prevent their forceful conscription into the Abkhaz army and to improve security in the area, which has lapsed, allowing for a recent increase in kidnappings and murders.
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