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Georgia
UN Security Council open debate on
“Protection of civilians in armed conflict”
New York, January 19, 2016
Statement by
H.E. Mr. Kaha Imnadze,
Permanent Representative of Georgia to the United Nations
Mr. President, Excellencies,
At the outset, let me express our appreciation to the Presidency of Uruguay for organizing
today’s open debate and for the concept note distributed earlier, which has significantly
contributed to the constructive and comprehensive nature of our deliberations today.
I would also like to thank the Deputy Secretary-General as well as Ms. Christine Beerli and Ms.
Eveline Rooijmans for their valuable briefs earlier today.
Georgia fully aligns itself with the statement delivered by the European Union.
In my national capacity, I would like to make the following brief comments, while the full text
would be made available.
Mr. President,
More than ten years have passed since the UN Security Council held its initial open debate on
this issue. Yet, as we speak, millions of people worldwide are suffering from the dire
consequences of armed conflict, which deprives them of their fundamental rights and freedoms,
separates them from their family members and forces them out of the places of their permanent
residence.
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The task of protecting civilians in conflict remains challenging due to the scale of brutality and
violence committed against them. From Syria, to Iraq, Yemen and Libya to the Central African
Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, South Sudan, the Sudan, to Ukraine,
civilians caught up in armed conflict are being killed and injured. I would like to stress that it is
the collective responsibility of the UN and, in particular, of the UN Security Council, to
undertake all necessary measures to protect civilians and ensure their basic rights.
Mr. President,
Another vital issue is the ability of the international community to address the human rights
situation in areas where the official authorities cannot exercise their sovereign rights and which
are under effective military control of the occupying power. In such situations, international
human rights and humanitarian law should operate without any impediment in order to provide
for a minimum level protection of the civilian population.
Safe and unhindered access for humanitarian actors to people in need of protection and
assistance is another important element. It is imperative that the population residing in conflict
affected areas be provided with unhindered humanitarian aid and, to this end, relevant
international organizations be allowed to carry out their activities.
Mr. President,
The issue of protection of civilians in armed conflict is of particular concern for me as a
representative of a country that had to withstand a full-scale military aggression against its
statehood and independence in the recent past.
More than seven years after Russia’s military invasion of my nation, 20 percent of our sovereign
territory remains under illegal military occupation, in blatant violation of Russia’s obligations
under international law, including the 12 August 2008 Ceasefire Agreement. The population,
currently residing in Georgia’s occupied regions, is deprived of minimal safeguards for their
lives, whereas those hundreds of thousands of Georgian IDPs and refugees, who fled as a result
of several waves of ethnic cleansing, are doomed to protracted displacement.
Over the past several years, the occupation regime has been installing barbwire fences along the
occupation line to divide families and communities, and to prevent people-to-people contacts.
This is happening against the backdrop of continued militarization and complete absence of
international monitoring mechanisms inside the occupied regions. Notably, after being refused
the access, the former UN High Commissioner, Navi Pillay, referred to the occupied Tskhinvali
region of Georgia as “a black hole” and “one of the most inaccessible places on earth, with no
access permitted for international agencies.”
People residing in occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions of Georgia are repeatedly
subjected to ill-treatment, kidnappings and arbitrary detentions and are deprived of the rights to
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free movement and education in native language. Their civil, social, economic and cultural rights
continue to be restricted. Local residents are prevented from cultivating their agricultural lands,
visiting religious sites, accessing local cemeteries and, most alarmingly, reaching emergency
medical services. And this is happening despite the numerous calls of the international
community, also reflected in the UN General Assembly resolutions and reports of the SecretaryGeneral and the Special Rapporteur on the rights of IDPs. In addition, the detailed account can
be found in the Quarterly Reports of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia on the Human
Rights Situation in the Occupied Regions of Georgia, which have been issued as official
documents of the UNGA and UNSC.
The grave security and human rights situation in Georgia’s occupied regions illustrates an urgent
necessity for international mechanisms to be deployed on the ground. After the unilateral
blockage of the mandate of the UN Observer Mission to Georgia (UNOMIG) in 2009, there is a
dangerous vacuum of international presence in the occupied territories. The European Union
Monitoring Mission (EUMM) – the only international mission in Georgia – is continually
prevented from thoroughly implementing its mandate to monitor the situation inside the occupied
regions of Georgia. It is imperative that the conflict-affected population be provided with
unhindered humanitarian aid and the relevant international actors be allowed to carry out their
activities according to their respective mandates.
I would like to use this opportunity to once again call on the Russian Federation to fulfill its
obligations under international law and withdraw all its occupation forces from Georgia.
Mr. President,
Strengthening our common efforts to protect civilians in armed conflicts has no alternative. We
need to make concrete steps to alleviate the consequences of armed hostilities for civilians and
safeguard their rights and freedoms. I would like to subscribe to the EU statement and call on all
relevant actors to ensure rapid, safe an unimpeded humanitarian access to the affected population
in unresolved conflicts worldwide. On our part, Georgia stands ready to contribute to concerted
international efforts to ensure more effective protection of the civil population in armed conflict
and in the post-conflict phase.
I thank you.
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