9 years have passed since the August 2008 war, though the people living on the occupied territories and along the dividing line still suffer from the consequences of the war. The situation of IDPs, who still do not have the opportunity to return to their homes, is also grave.

Restrictions on freedom of movement, illegal arrests and violation of property rights caused by borderization remain daily challenges for the population living nearby the dividing line.

G.Kh., resident of the village of Bershueti in Gori municipality, was deprived of the right to use his property only a month ago. Digging the so-called anti-fire trenches, pre-announced by the de-facto Tskhinvali region, restricts the access of the population living along the dividing line to their lands and pastures, which is their source of income. The residents of the village of Artsevi and Ikorti, who remained on the occupied territory after the war, are in complete isolation even after nine years from the conflict. As a result of the closure of a checkpoint in 2012, locals cannot move to the Georgian controlled territory and they cannot move to Tskhinvali either due to the absence of the so-called South Ossetian passports.

Many other people living on the occupied territories are in the similar situation, as they cannot freely move due to the absence of relevant documents. As a result, in addition to the restrictions on freedom of movement, violation of these persons’ right to education and health, as well as other rights, are frequent. The Public Defender considers that it is important to resolve the acute humanitarian issues without their politicization and to find a way out of the situation based on the human rights approach.

Illegal detentions still continue, which puts the locals living on both sides of the dividing line in a difficult situation. Long-term detentions over the past year cause special concerns. The Tskhinvali de-facto court sentenced illegally detained G.G. to 20 years in prison in 2016. This year, the de facto authorities of Abkhazia have increased sanctions against the persons detained on the dividing line. On April 5, 2017, the Abkhazian de-facto court sentenced a father and his son, detained in breakaway Abkhazia, to two years in prison, for illegal crossing of the so-called border and disobeying the so-called border guards. The vicious practice of detentions negatively affects the safety of the local population and casts shadow on the agreement reached in the spring of 2016 on the release of prisoners.

It is alarming that ethnic discrimination of the Georgian population remaining on the occupied territories is part of the unresolved conflicts. According to the media reports, from the new academic year of 2017, it is planned to replace the teaching language in the Georgian schools of the occupied Akhalgori by the Russian and Ossetian languages. The similar process started in Abkhazia in 1995 and due to this policy, in the next 5 years, the Georgian language will be fully removed from the pre-school, primary and secondary education of the Gali district of Georgia. This policy creates a serious obstacle for students in getting education in their native language and enjoying access to quality education. The Public Defender of Georgia termed the replacement of the teaching language in the Gali schools as violation of the right to education and ethnic discrimination. It is likely that the execution of the mentioned decision by the de facto Tskhinvali authorities will facilitate the complete expulsion of the Georgian population from Akhalgori.

Taking into consideration the unresolved conflict and the difficult situation in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region, it is of great importance to involve civil society representatives in dealing with the existing challenges. Against this background, the frequent attacks of the de facto and Russian officials on civilian activists cause concerns. In June of this year, civil activist T.M. was kidnapped from the occupied Akhalgori district. In addition, a campaign was launched in Abkhazia against the NGOs and civil activists who are involved in various peacekeeping projects. Such policy weakens civil society, which has already negatively affected human rights situation in these regions.

The Public Defender welcomes the launch of an investigation by the International Criminal Court into the crimes committed during and after the August 2008 war and considers that this process will facilitate the establishment of the truth, restoration of victims' rights and acceleration of the peace processes between the conflicting sides and the affected population. In addition, the Public Defender considers that active cooperation between all parties to the conflict is crucial for the effectiveness of the process.

The Public Defender again calls on all parties to the conflict and representatives of the societies to promote human rights and peace issues, as well as transformation of attitudes between the opposing societies, which is a precondition for normalizing relations between the parties.

The Public Defender also urges the Government of Georgia to formulate a unified vision and approach concerning the conflict transformation in order to effectively realize its policy – to ensure access for everybody, including people living on the occupied territories, to the benefits, offered by the state, in an equal manner.