Tbilisi: The office of the Public Defender of Georgia has urged the authorities to use all measures to protect the rights of people living in conflict-prone areas. The office’s comments came on the occasion of the 16th anniversary of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war.
It is to be added that a total of 16 years have passed since the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia. Although no active armed actions are taking place in the country the population of the ethnically Georgian, Ossetian, and Abkhaz regions living in the occupied territories are still experiencing the devastating consequences of the war. The situation of internally displaced persons is also severe.
At the same time the facts of illegal violation of the right to life are especially alarming in above areas also. The murder of Tamaz Ginturi by the occupation regime in 2023 shows this threat openly.
So far the representatives of the occupation regimes who directly participated in the murders of Davit Basharuri in 2014, Giga Ochtozoria in 2016, Archil Tatunashvili in 2018, and Irakli Kvaratskhelia in 2019 have not been punished for which the Russian Federation is directly responsible.
As per the office the most important challenge remains the availability of education in the native language in the occupied regions, so the number of students decreaseing yearly in both regions.
To continue studying in the Georgian language parents leave their permanent residence and transfer their children to schools in the territory controlled by the central government.
Moreover the occupation regime continues the so-called practice of illegal arrest and imprisonment of people for illegal crossing of the border both in the areas of occupied Abkhazia and occupied Tskhinvali which puts the lives of locals on both sides of the occupation line under challenging situations.
Similarly the violation of property rights caused by modernization remains a daily challenge for the population living near the occupation line. The occupation regime is trying to implement the so-called illegal process and violates property rights. Nowadays the whole country is paying tribute to those who lost their lives.
The public Defender of Georgia calls on the authorities of Georgia to use all international mechanisms to strengthen the pressure on the occupation forces to protect the rights of people living in the occupied regions.
