A series of thus-far unexplained arrests of dozens of civilians by the Georgian law enforcers in the South Ossetian conflict zone have worsened the security situation on the ground there.
The South Ossetian side reported that the Georgian law enforcement agencies, including Defense Ministry forces, carried out raids and arrested ethnic Ossetians in the Tamarasheni-Kekhvi section of the major road in the conflict zone, known as Trans Caucasus Highway, as well as in the Ossetian village of Khelchua on May 27.
Those arrested, including women, were brought to Gori police station, according to the South Ossetian Press and Information Committee, which also reported that the women were released after two hours of detention.
There were no precise reports about exact number of detainees and numbers varied from 40 to 60.
“At approximately 2 am [on May 28] 41 men were released from the Gori police station. Many of them claimed that in the police station they were warned that actions of this kind [arrests] will continue,” Maj. Gen. Marat Kulakhmetov, Commander of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces (JPKF) stationed in the conflict zone, told Interfax news agency on May 28.
The Georgian media sources reported that the series of arrests occurred after the Ossetian peacekeepers, who are part of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces stationed in the conflict zone, briefly detained eight Georgians – all residents of the village of Achabeti. All of them were released shortly after being detained. But it also remains unclear whether these two incidents are linked with each other.
The South Ossetian side reported that at least 25 Ossetian detainees were beaten by the Georgian police.
The Georgian televisions interviewed several of the released Ossetians in Tskhinvali, who said that they were beaten in the Gori police station. Wounds could be seen on their faces.
Meanwhile, the Georgian media sources reported that in response to the Georgian law enforcers’ raids, the South Ossetian militia groups detained several Georgian men and brutally beat them up. They were released only after the Georgian side freed the Ossetian detainees.
Georgian Public Defender Sozar Subari said that he will probe into the case and “if reports on the beating of detainees is confirmed, the policemen should be held responsible.”
The Georgian law enforcement officials made no comments. On May 28 Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili kept silent and left journalists’ questions about the incident unanswered.
Giorgi Khaindrava, State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues, told Imedi television that the detainees were heading from Russia’s North Ossetia and had no Georgian visas, which is a violation of the law.
But later on May 28 Khaindrava told Imedi television that he will travel to Tskhinvali on May 28 “to study the situation on the ground.”
The incident was immediately condemned by the authorities of breakaway South Ossetia.
Interior Minister of the unrecognized republic Mikhail Mindzaev described the incident as “a act of vandal” committed by the Georgian side.
Deputy Chairman of the breakaway South Ossetian government Boris Chochiev told reporters that the incident has revealed the real intentions of the Georgian side.
“Yesterday, Saakashvili was calling for the celebration [of Georgia’s Independence Day on May 26] together with Abkhazians and Ossetians, and today this kind of incident is happening. It has proved once again that in reality [Georgian Defense Minister Irakli] Okruashvili and people like him govern Georgia,” Chochiev told reporters on May 27.
He also said that he has talked several times with Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Giorgi Khaindrava over the phone in an attempt to solve the problem, but Chochiev said Khaindrava failed to take any steps that could help defuse the tensions.
South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity called for an emergency session of the of the quadripartite Joint Control Commission, which oversees the ceasefire in the conflict zone, and instructed South Ossetian law enforcers “to protect the security of the people.”
“We should do everything in order to prevent the detention of our citizens by the Georgian units, which are illegally operating here. This is an instruction to everyone: arrest everyone whose presence is unauthorized in the conflict zone and in case of resistance, destroy them. We do not need war; [Georgian President] Saakashvili and [Georgian Defense Minister Irakli] Okruashvili need it, because they have exhausted themselves as political leaders. The only thing remaining for them is to build their policy on blood,” Kokoity said.
