Salome Achba
The Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) where the Georgian-Russian dossier was heard, happened without a Georgian delegation. The session discussed the humanitarian issues connected to the outcomes of war. Why did the Georgian government refused to participate in the session and how reasonable was this decision? Experts state that the position of the Georgian side is argumentative, but such a boycott will not be fruitful.
The closed session of the Monitoring Committee of PACE was held on January 17th in Paris. According to Russian media, the session was attended by the head of International Affairs Committee of the Russian Duma and other Russian PMs. The session participants included the head of Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia, Heidi Tagliavini, and Thomas Hammarberg, High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Tagliavini and Hammarberg are not very popular within Georgian government. Swiss diplomat Heidi Tagliavini was head of the International Investigation Commission for Russian-Georgian War, created with the support of the EU. According to the commission inference, the Tskhinvali bombing is considered to be the start of the escalation to war. Thomas Hammarberg participated in the process of exchange of captives and is noted for his independence, principality and strictness. However, the leaders of the National Movement and MIA high officials often blame him for inactivity and partiality towards Russia. Thus, there is a speculation that the Georgian government did not participate in the Parliamentary Session of Council of Europe because of these personalities.
According to Leonid Slutsky, deputy head of Russian delegation to Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe, because of the absence of Georgian delegation, “the session passed without unnecessary emotions and aggression.” The Russian side requested inclusion of the so-called South Osettia representatives in the next hearing. “They are the residents of Europe just like us and their position should definitely be heard in Strasbourg,” stated Slutsky.
The session on January 17th was evaluated by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, ThorbjornJagland. According to his statement, the latest hearing was positive, but it is early to talk about any progress. He expressed regret that the Georgian delegation did not participate in it.
“We should not argue about the past anymore – we need to discuss the future,” stated Mevlut Chavushoglu at the session opening. He emphasized the humanitarian aspects of Russian-Georgian war in his speech: "We must, first of all, deal with the living conditions, human rights and perspectives of the populations directly affected by these conflicts. I am persuaded that, if we are really determined and concerted, we can and must achieve concrete results on this 'humanitarian dimension' of the consequences of the war without further delay.”
“Humanitarian issues cannot be solved without political ones. This is an illusion,” – responds Georgian delegation to Council of Europe’s decision on highlighting the humanitarian issues. One of the reasons for the refusal to participate in the hearing was exactly focusing on the humanitarian aspects and ignoring political issues.
“The process of organization showed that they were going to discuss only humanitarian issues when the political theme is also very important. We base our actions on already adopted resolutions and refuse to take part in the deceitful games! We refused to participate in these consultations in order to express this position,” – stated Davit Darchiashvili, the representative of Georgian Parliamentary Delegation to PACE to radio Liberty.
The refusal to participate in the Georgian-Russian dossier is also explained by the fact that the Assembly is factually incapable. Three resolutions adopted by it obliging Russia to withdraw armies from Georgia, deny the recognition of Abkhazia and South Osettia independence and regulating other important matters still have not been fulfilled.
“The Assembly strictly calls on Russia to fulfill its obligations. Russia has not even started doing so. It is of the highest priority for the Georgian side that these obligations are fulfilled. That is why our delegation did not consider it reasonable to participate in the hearing,” states the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nino Kalandadze.
“The Assembly exhausted its resources. It did what it could and had to do. Now the fulfillment of assembly resolutions depends on other organizations and formats. Thus, our delegation did not find it necessary to participate in the hearing where nothing real can happen. We do not see any additional value in the organization of such hearings,” – notes Davit Darchiashvili.
One more interesting detail: The former representative of Council of Europe Monitoring, British deputy David Wilshire met with Boris Chochiev, a personal representative of Kokoiti in the so-called embassy of South Ossetia de-facto republic while visiting Moscow. The Georgian government harshly reacted to this meeting. The similar fact reoccurred when, again in Moscow, the head of the PACE Monitoring Committee, Dick Marty, met with the representatives of South Ossetia and Abkhazia de-facto governments in December. The meeting on January 17th was Dick Marty’s initiative and he visited Tbilisi and Moscow for the arrangement of this meeting in December. When Dick Marty visited Tbilisi, the Georgian side did not give any sign of not being willing to participate in the Paris meeting. Is the refusal of the Georgian side connected to Dick Marty’s meetings with de-facto government in Moscow? The fact is that the Council of Europe’s representative’s Moscow voyage displeased Georgian political circles.
Political scientist Zurab Abashidze noted while talking with Interpressnews that the Georgian delegation’s refusal looks like a boycott: “In light of the fact that the Council of Europe adopted three resolutions, but Russia did practically nothing for fulfilling them, the boycott of the Georgian side is understandable. I will not exclude that our delegation is tired of circling the same circle. However, I doubt that this protest will bring any results.”
Conflict scientist Giorgi Khutsishvili noted while talking with the Human Rights Center that all three resolutions of Council of Europe were positive and constructive for the Georgian side as it obliged the Russian side to withdraw the Russian Army from Georgia, decline the recognition of South Ossetia and regulate other important matters. However, these decisions of the Council of Europe have the nature of recommendations and are not obligatory. As Russia has not taken any steps for fulfilling these requests, we can conclude that these resolutions are inactive and will not achieve its goal in such hard situations as the discussion of Russia-Georgia War.
Despite all this, I consider that we should not yield the platform to just one side and decline the hearing where the Russian-Georgian matter is discussed. I do not think these actions can bring any positive results for the Georgian side. I think that we, as a suffered side, need to use any international platform. We do not have any mechanism to force another side fulfill its obligations. The only way is diplomatic activity – maximal usage of all platforms and sharp expression of our position. If we oppose the European community there is a real chance of falling into complete isolation.”
The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs assures that the refusal to participate in dossier hearing does not mean diplomatic passiveness. The Georgian delegation will talk in detail about the reasons of the corresponding refusal in PACE winter session on January 24th in Strasbourg.
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