Situation about Missing People in Georgia

Salome Chkheidze

About 2 000 people went missing as a result of armed conflicts and wars in Georgia. Majority of family members of the missing people live in poor social, psychological and health conditions. There is no official instrument in the state to support these people but they still look for their missing relatives.

Levan Memanishvili was 20 when war started in Abkhazia. He had just entered university and was about to start studies but said “I can postpone education but not war” and went to fight.

“He went to take ordinary military service but unfortunately he had to fight in the war. He could not do otherwise. We warned him to be careful but he used to say that he could stay at home when perfect boys were dying in Abkhazia. He was not married. I am sorry that he did not have children,” Levan’s sister Nona Memanishvili recalled.

On September 27, having left Macharki, Levan gave his place to a wounded person because he was not injured at all and could walk. The family has not heard about him since that day. Levan Memanishvili is still missing person from the Abkhazian armed conflict.

“We cannot cure our wounds and pains caused by his disappearance. Years have gone but the pain remained. Levan might be ordinary warrior without any titles or status but he was aware that he was fighting for his homeland. He could learn but preferred to postpone education because he had to defend his country. Years ago, we were told that missing people were kept hostages somewhere. I still hope I will see him one day. We tried to look for him but we cannot travel to the occupied territory,” Nona Memanishvili said.

Like Levani, 1 800 Georgian and 135 Abkhaz people disappeared as a result of Georgian-Abkhaz armed conflict. Part of the missing people was military servants and another part – civilians.  In addition to that, 140 people went missing during Georgian-Ossetian conflict in 1989-1992 and 50 during 2008 August war. 

In accordance to the definition of the Red Cross International Committee, individuals of whom their families have no news and/or who, on the basis of reliable information, have been reported missing as a result of an armed conflict. 

On August 30 the International Day of the Disappeared is marked. Georgia has been marking this day for the last three years. This year Georgian Center for Psycho-Social and Medical Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (GCRT), Foundation “Molodini” and International Committee of Red Cross organized the event to mark the day in Georgia. 

“It is very hard day for me and for every mother, who has son/daughter missing. I am mother of the only son - disappared Gia Martiashvili. He was 31 and voluntarily went to the military commissariat and requested to go to Abkhazia. He fought in Gagra, Ochamchire and later he was seen wounded in Sokhumi airport; since then we have not heard anything about him. He is declared missing hero. When they wanted to award him second time, he asked the senior officers to give Georgian military mandate instead the award. He received Georgian military document and soon went missing on October 22. I have not heard anything about him since then. My brain is telling me that if he is still alive he would have lived with me, but I have not seen him dead and am still waiting for him. It is very painful but expectation makes me stronger,” Nazi Martiashvili said.

GCRT implements a project “Support of Families of Missing People” and provides family members of the missing people with psychological, medical and physical assistance. GCRT representative Sopo Tabagua said the families of missing people still cope with many problems for what they require particular assistance. 

“They do not know anything about their family members – whether they are dead or alive that causes psychological, physical and social problems. These people live in permanent obscurity, pain and expectation. We should value and support them but in fact they feel that nobody understands and remembers them. As a rule, these families live in poverty and do not receive any aid from the state. In order to receive the pension, the families have to declare their relatives dead that causes more psychological trauma for them,” Sopo Tabagua said.

In accordance to the international humanitarian law, conflict parties shall look for the missing people and assist families in the search process. Conflict parties also have obligation to exchange lists about graves and provide the opposite sides with the information about wounded, dead and jailed people. Although commissions of missing people are set up both in Georgia and in Abkhazia, they are accountable before governments and do not cooperate with each other that hinders the search process. 

One of the main actors of the search process is International Committee of Red Cross, whose mission has been in Georgia since 1992. The Committee has established two-sided and three-sided commissions for the search of missing people; they meet up twice a year and conflict parties exchange information. Names of commission members, their activities and obtained information are confidential and ICRC can make it public only based on the family members’ agreement. 

There are graves, where missing people might be discovered and international experts study the corps exhumated in Abkhazia. First results of the analysis will be known by the end of this year.

On December 20, 2006, United Nation adopted International Convention against Enforced Disappearance, which entered into force on December 23, 2010. By August 30, 2013 the convention was signed by 93 states, 40 of these signatory parties have already ratified the convention. Georgia is not one of them.

On the International Day of the Disappeared, Public Defender addressed to the president of Georgia with recommendation:

Ucha Nanuashvili said, it is necessary to initiate implementation of procedures in order to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance as soon as possible. 

“Ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance is rather important for Georgia. First of all, this would ensure prevention of this type of criminal acts under the jurisdiction of Georgia and secondly it would be a clear indication that the Georgian government is effectively fighting against this crime,” the Public Defender’s recommendation reads.