On May 4, 2015, Georgian media sources disseminated information on the death of a 12-year-old minor near the administrative boundary line (ABL) with Abkhazia. According to these sources, the child was not allowed to cross the line with Abkhazia and receive timely medical help.

The Public Defender expresses sadness and offers his condolences to the family of the deceased child.

According to available information, the family decided to take the child to Zugdidi – a Tbilisi-administered municipality – for treatment due to the Gali district’s inadequate healthcare system. However, they did not possess the necessary documentation to pass a checkpoint on the dividing line. Therefore, they attempted to cross over to Georgian-controlled territory via bypass routes. This is not an isolated case for people living in Gali district. Several similar incidents resulted in fatal outcomes in 2011 and 2012. In 2014 the Public Defender spoke with a 12-year-old minor and her parent, both of whom were detained by Russian boarder guards in December, 2014 as they were on their way to Tbilisi to undergo a scheduled surgery. They were forced to spend 5 hours in a freezing basement at the Russian base, conditions which caused high fever and an asthmatic reaction in the child. The surgery had to be postponed for several months due to the child’s prolonged illness stemming from the detainment.

We would like to emphasize that the aforementioned incidents reveal several problems requiring immediate reaction from all parties.

First, the healthcare system in Gali district is in grave condition. There is no functioning emergency department in the Gali hospital, qualification of medical personnel is low and several of the hospital’s cases have ended in fatal outcomes. Local residents have no trust in the system. This forces them to seek the treatment in other, faraway cities, even in cases of emergency.

Secondly, very often contradictory and unverified information is disseminated on developments in Gali district, and conflict regions in general. Independent international human rights organizations – which could clarify disputed facts and prevent manipulation of information – do not operate in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Neither are there independent and impartial media sources present to ensure objective reporting free from political agenda. All of the abovementioned factors disrupt official contact between the two sides, straining relations between ethnic groups and negatively affecting efforts for peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Third, freedom of movement is restricted for persons residing in Abkhazia. The population of Gali district is entitled to cross the dividing line via checkpoints – if they possess so-called Abkhazian passports and the form N9. Many residents do not have these documents and thus are forced to cross the dividing line via bypass routes - a fact that heightens risks of detention. To address this issue the de-facto authorities of Abkhazia are elaborating several approaches. However, human rights violations will continue until concrete decisions are made.

And fourth, according to international and European human rights standards, the obligation to protect human rights in Abkhazia and South Ossetia lies with the Georgian, Russian and de-facto regional governments. But today, this obligation is flouted by all parties: Georgia cites an argument that it cannot effectively control the territories; the de-facto authorities claim exception on the basis that they have not signed the international conventions; and the Russian Federation flatly denies any involvement in the situation.

As a result, fundamental human rights are violated in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, including the rights to life, health, education and movement, and the rights to protection from discrimination and illegal deprivation of freedom, among others.

The Public Defender believes that for elimination of the above-mentioned problems, and for the sake of protecting the rights and freedoms of the conflict-affected population, the following actions are necessary:

1. Politicizing human rights issues and linking these issues with political agendas should be ceased;
2. Georgian, Abkhazian and Ossetian authorities should cooperate in taking effective steps toward the improvement of the healthcare system, including raising the qualifications of doctors and equipping hospitals;
3. Russian border guards should cease illegal detention of medical patients, school students and local residents;
4. The Russian Federation and the de-facto authorities should ensure the unhindered access and operation of international human rights organizations and missions in Abkhazia and South Ossetia;
5. Political pre-conditions for restoring the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism meetings in Gali should be removed;
6. International human rights organizations and bodies established by UN treaties should engage more actively to monitor the respective human rights situations in the non-recognized territories, using every available means (including gaining the consent of the Russian Federation) to carry out monitoring in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and prepare relevant conclusions. The Georgian authorities should provide all possible support to this initiative; and
7. The Georgian authorities should exercise maximal flexibility in the negotiation process in order to ensure the protection of human rights in the conflict regions.

On a closing note, almost 25 years have passed since the end of armed conflict in Abkhazia, and 7 years for South Ossetia. It is now time for the Georgian, Abkhazian and Ossetian societies to speak out regarding past and ongoing human rights abuses, and raise their voices for protection of conflict-affected individuals, regardless of their ethnic belonging.