PACE Passes Resolution on Humanitarian Consequences of August War

Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) passed a resolution on April 29 on the humanitarian consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia, which is a follow-up to the PACE’s resolution of January, 2009.

The resolution calls on Russia and the authorities of breakaway South Ossetia “ensure the voluntary return of all displaced persons in safety and in dignity, in accordance with international law.”

“The villages in South Ossetia previously under Georgian control have been razed to the ground with the exception of a handful of houses. The intention to cleanse the area of ethnic Georgians is clear,” the document reads. “There is clear evidence of destruction of civilian objects and homes of South Ossetians carried out by Georgian military forces during the war.”

It also says that situation of ethnic Georgians “in the occupied Akhalgori district remains a major concern.”

“While these persons are currently not being forced to leave their homes through threats or violence, they are facing many problems which unless addressed will lead to a further exodus of persons from this region,” the resolution reads.

It says that these problems include restrictions on crossing the administrative border, education in Georgian, pressure to take up South Ossetian passports, as well as “acts of discrimination by individuals and problems of access to health care.”

The resolution calls on Georgia “to revise the Law on the Occupied Territories or refrain from implementing it in a way which may be incompatible with international human rights and international humanitarian law.”

The law, which is in force since October, 2008, prohibits the entry of foreigners or stateless persons to breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia from any other direction than from two Georgian-controlled entry points. Entry from any other direction – from Russia, without the authorization of Tbilisi would constitute a criminal offence under Georgian law. The law makes no explicit exceptions for humanitarian aid or emergency situations.

Venice Commission, which is the Council of Europe’s advisory body on constitutional and legal issues, has reviewed the law and said in March that the criminalization of entry into the occupied territories without making no explicit exceptions for emergency situations or humanitarian aid, was contrary to the rule of customary international law. Venice Commission also said that retroactive application of the law for property transactions was a matter of concern.

The same issues is also raised in an information report, submitted by the co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee (Luc Van den Brande and Matyas Eorsi), which was reviewed by PACE session on April 29. The report concluded that Georgia has not yet fully complied with all of the Assembly’s demands and Russia, for its part, has failed to comply with most of the demands and “might even be seen as moving further away from the minimum conditions for meaningful dialogue.”

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