Sokhumi Calls on NGOs to Set Up Human Rights Center in Gali

Abkhaz authorities called on the local non-governmental organizations to set up “a human rights center” in the predominately Georgian-populated Gali district of unrecognized republic, Abkhaz news agency Apsnipress reported on January 26.

Foreign Minister of breakaway Abkhazia Sergey Shamba told Apsnipress that the Abkhaz authorities are ready to provide assistance to the local human rights groups and grant office space in Gali for this purpose.

“We realize that there is a complicated situation in Gali and understand that think kind of office can play a positive role in establishment of rule of law [in Gali],” Sergey Shamba said.

This proposal of the Abkhaz side comes amid continues demands from the Georgian side to open UN/OSCE Human Rights Office in Gali district, as well as calls from the UN on the Abkhaz side “to effectively meet the security and human rights concerns” of local population in Gali.

The Abkhaz side is strongly against of opening UN Human Rights Office in Gali, citing that a similar office already operates in the Abkhaz capital Sokhumi.

Sergey Shamba also said that the Abkhaz-proposed human rights center in Gali will be an independent non-governmental organization, which will closely cooperate with UN Human Rights Office in Sokhumi, as well as with international human rights organizations.