CoE Official: Sokhumi Pledges Human Rights Office in Gali

Authorities in breakaway Abkhazia have pledged to open a human rights office in the Georgian-populated Gali District, Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights, said at a news conference in Tbilisi on February 15.

Hammarberg, who visited Abkhazia as part of his trip to Georgia, said at the joint news conference with Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili that he also traveled to Gali District to investigate the situation in schools and the possibility of offering education there in the Georgian language.

?I am satisfied to be able to report that leaders in Abkhazia have promised to support the establishment of a human rights office in Gali. And we will endeavor to be in touch with that office in order to secure that it operates in an impartial, independent and honest manner,? the CoE Commissioner for Human Rights said.

The Abkhaz side has for a long time rejected a proposal to set up a UN human rights office in the Gali District, citing the fact that one already operates in Abkhazia with its headquarters in Sokhumi.

?For three years we have been working intensely with the UN, OSCE and the Council of Europe to insure that such an office be set up there. If the separatists did seriously promise to facilitate this process, we can only welcome the fact,? Gela Bezhuashvili, the Georgian Foreign Minister, said at the news conference.

CoE Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg is paying a visit to Georgia from February 12-18 to assess the human rights situation in the country, including in breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as in the Adjara Autonomous Republic. After visiting Abkhazia, Commissioner Hammarberg will visit South Ossetia and Adjara.

CoE Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg also said that he discussed the situation of Georgian internally displaced persons from Abkhazia with the Georgian authorities.

He hailed the adoption of a new strategy aimed at helping IDPs to return to their homes and secure conditions in which basic human rights will be provided to IDPs before their return. An international donors? conference is planned in Geneva, at which the Georgian authorities will ask for financial support for implementing this strategy.

?Frankly the situation for more than 200,000 IDPs is not satisfactory today and basic human rights are not fulfilled. I do realize that the international community has an obligation here,? Commissioner Hammarberg said.

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