Web Portal on Human Rights in Georgia

Ever since President Barack Obama took office, his administration has refused to sell military equipment to Georgia. In a newly released WikiLeaks cable, the U.S. ambassador to Russia made the argument that U.S. military support to Georgia is unwise because it would upset the U.S.-Russian "reset."

The ministry of defense confirmed an incident in the 42nd battalion of the fourth brigade of the Armed Forces on November 4. However, the ministry denies the information about a physical assault of soldiers by commanders.  The public defender who personally visited the unit provided a similar response to the allegations.

The ministry of defense does not have program for the training of reserve army and the National Guardia does not have commander. Despite that, the ministry of defense with Bacho Akhalaia as a minister started call up for the reserve army. The reservists took corresponding medical examination in Vaziani military base. However, the reservists said that only small part of soldiers took medical examination.

The international oppression had its output. Today, de-miners work in the village of Perevi where Russian army had been deployed since August of 2008. The representatives of the local authority and EUMM freely move in the village now. However, villagers say that the situation has not been much changed because occupants have not gone too far. The Russian soldiers retreated only at two kilometers to the north.

Much was said on the 17th anniversary after the defeat of Sokhumi but the words of the General Giorgi Karkarashvili made impression on me. “Today, our gathering looks like a toast. I want to remember the soldiers who died on our side and make a memory toast to those who were killed by us.”

On the night of September 29th, the population of villages (Zemo and Kvemo Niqozi (Upper and Lower Niqozi), Zemo and Kvemo Khviti (Upper and Lower Khviti) belonging to the community of the village Niqozi, Gori Region, started panicking. According to the information spread by the national televisions, Russian armed forced transferred in Zemo and Kvemo Niqozi and occupied 25 hectare territory. This information is confirmed only by one lady in the whole community who names the policemen as the source of the information.

The Russian government is planning to accommodate some of the sufferers of conflagration in Abkhazia.  This was reported to “Interpressnews” by IDPs from Abkhazia now living in Yaroslav and Nizhny Novgorod of Russian Federation. According to their allegations, the sufferers of conflagration from these regions are promised to be definitely accommodated in Abkhazia by government.

Russia deployed C-300 anti-air defense systems in the territory of Abkhazia, reports news agency Itar-Tass. According to the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force, Alexander Zelin, the anti-air defense army units were deployed in so-called South Ossetia. The US State Department representative stated that he already knew about the C-300 system deployment in Russia two years ago.

We all remember a commercial shown by numerous national television channels before the 2008 August war in which a tank violating traffic rules outruns a car. The young driver of the car is fascinated by the capabilities of the tank. Another young person climbs out of the tank and calls to him with a shout, “Come to the reserve, it’s cool!” In the two years following the August war, new militarist video clips are expected. The government is currently amending the laws concerning reserve service and the calls for militarism have increased in President Saakashvili’s speeches.

Georgia needs “a total defense” wherein “each village should be able to defend itself”, as Russia has not dropped its plans to occupy entire country, President Saakashvili said on July 28.