Life in the villages of conflict affected area

Giorgi Janelidze, www.humanrightshouse.org 

Villages - Plavi, Plavismani and Kveshi are located near the ABL, adjacent to the occupied South Ossetia. The road finishes with wire-fence 150 meters away from the Georgian blockpost. The 150 meter distance is a risky zone, where person can be kidnapped and taken to Tskhinvali for alleged “violation of the border” and keep you in prison before paying 2 000 Russian rubles. De-facto authority of South Ossetia calls it “administrative fine.” Nobody is secured from the so-called “blind shooting” in the direction of the Georgia controlled area from the 150-meter zone. 

In the fall of 2013 Ossetian separatists arrested Robinzon Terashvili from Plavi village because of “illegal crossing of border.” “They took me to Tskhinvali, where I spent 6 days in prison. [Imprisonment period] coincided with the weekend and it took them long to identify my personality. [Prison personnel] treated us well; we were allowed to go out. Mostly they spoke in Georgian with us – everybody knows Georgian there. We were offered the same food as they had at canteen they. Finally the trial was held and my relative in Tskhinvali paid 2 000 rubles for my bail and I was freed. I was delivered to [Georgian] police officers in Ergneti village,” Terashvili recalled.

On January 9, 2009, Mikheil Vazagashvili was arrested on his way to his garden. Traditionally he was accused of illegal crossing of border. “My brother and I usually walked across that road without problems but on that day they arrested us. They did not take us to Tskhinvali; Ossetian officers took us to Artsevi village, which is controlled by them. With the support of our Ossetian acquaintances we were saved from imprisonment in Tskhinvali; we did not pay money either; they released us on the same day.”

Similar incidents often occur in the conflict affected zone. Local woman was kidnapped from her garden in summer of 2014. Ossetian side claims it is official detention instead kidnapping people for further extortion of money. Afterwards, local inhabitants urge the Government of Georgia to reimburse the incurred damage.

When commenting on the information collected by the mobile group of the Human Rights House Tbilisi, the executive director of Human Right Center Aleko Tskitishvili said that histories of kidnapped people show that despite strict regime of occupation, Georgian and Ossetian peoples continue cooperation. “In one case a relative from Tskhinvali assisted kidnapped Georgian citizen and paid his administrative fine. In another case, the kidnapped persons were sent back home without putting in prison because Ossetian acquaintances helped them. Similar examples show that regardless occupation regime, people continue close relation and friendship. The occupation can be defeated with the support of similar relations, trust building and reconciliation instead using weapon though some people believe it is the solution. Similar examples of mutual assistance and friendship feed our optimism that wire-fences between Georgian and Ossetian peoples, set up by Russian occupation army, will fall down just like Berlin Wall did.”

Georgian police officers say they do their best to ensure safety of the citizens living in the 150 meter distance. However, locals are still very worried about current situation. “Nobody takes care of people. See where wire-fences were set up! I cannot take cows on the other side. Russian soldiers are standing on the other side of the fence and I am here. Tell me, who takes care of us?! People got nervous. Where is America, let them come and help us! America helps the government but why nobody helps us, the people? I worked hard all my life and now I have health problems. I receive pension of 150 lari that is not enough for my medicines either. We are wretched people and what shall our children do?! How could they [government] abandon population without attention?!” an old man complained but did not wish to make his name public.

Resource-center, funded by different foreign and local nongovernmental organizations, is functioning on the so-called ABL, where local population learns how to cope with everyday problems. They have a lot of problems besides aforementioned ones: locals say they cannot roof their damaged houses with at least second-hand materials. People gathered in the center of Kveshi village mostly complained about gasification and electricity meters.

Villagers also request qualified medical assistance at affordable price. Gori is the nearest city for them. Aversi Medical Clinic is one of the two best medical centers in Gori which offers high-level medical assistance to patients but General Insurance Program no longer works at Aversi clinic “because of insufficient resources.” Residents of Plavi village say “They get very poor medical service at GoriMED; in addition to that they have to preliminarily appoint meetings with doctors and it is very inconvenient system for them.” 

Medea Turashvili is senior adviser to the Public Defender on human rights issues in conflict affected regions. She said social-economic problems are most urgent for the inhabitants of the conflict affected regions now. “It concerns to social allowances too. There are many lonely people, who cannot get social and monetary aid from the state. People have problems in registration of plots, with regard to free movement and illegal detention of people. Besides that, people do not have information about their rights, state programs and the most important is that they have limited access to different services due to bureaucratic procedures.”

There are unbearable living conditions in Gori based kindergarten, where about 30 families displaced from Zardiaantkari village live now. Although since 2012 Zardiaantkari village has been within the jurisdiction of the Georgian state, life is still impossible there because of intensive shooting, demolished houses and public school, lack of irrigation and drinking water systems. Regardless all that, Nugzar Mariamidze is ready to return to the village if the state restores his demolished house and live in the difficult situation there. “They refused to give compensation to me. I asked for the reconstruction of my house. Although it is very dangerous there, if they restore my house I prefer to go there than stay here. The kindergarten director requests me to empty the room several times per week. Where should I go - to the destroyed house? Not only I am in similar situation, but all other 27 families who shelter this kindergarten have the same problems.”

Families from Zardiaantkari do not have IDP status and do not get allowances either. Leila Mkalavishvili fled from the burnt down village together with her husband. The man had a stroke. “My husband still has health problems. We live in terrible conditions. They do not give compensation to us. When we first applied for the compensation, they were distributing 15 000 lari. Then they asked to be satisfied only with 10 000 lari. Finally we could receive neither 15 000 nor 10 000 lari. If they had given compensation then, we would not have lived in similar situation. In the past we at least received bread from the state but now nobody helps us. We live here and nobody pays attention to us,” said 74-year-old woman and saw us off in tears. 

On our way back to Tbilisi we still felt smell of the damp building of kindergarten. Our feelings got harder and harder approaching the capital; in Tbilisi the feelings mixed up and turned into a huge pain. Maybe, this pain will unite the society to support the people displaced from the conflict affected regions, who live in completely different situation, in poverty and permanent fear. 

Original