16 years have passed since the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia. Despite the fact that hostilities are no longer taking place in the country, the ethnically Georgian, Ossetian and Abkhaz population living in the occupied territories are still acutely experiencing the devastating consequences of the war. The situation of internally displaced persons is also serious.

The cases of illegal violation of the right to life are especially alarming. The killing of Tamaz Ginturi by the occupation regime in 2023 was an example of the above.[1] So far, representatives of the occupation regimes, who directly participated in the murders of Davit Basharuli in 2014, Giga Otkhozoria in 2016, Archil Tatunashvili in 2018, and Irakli Kvaratskhelia in 2019, have not been punished, for which the Russian Federation bears responsibility.[2]

The most important challenge remains the problem with the availability of education in the native language in the occupied regions, which is why the number of students in both regions decreases every year. In order to continue studying in the Georgian language, parents have to leave their permanent residence and take their children to schools in the territory controlled by the central government.

The occupation regime still continues the practice of illegal arrests and imprisonment for the so-called illegal border crossing, both in the direction of occupied Abkhazia and occupied Tskhinvali region, which puts the locals on both sides of the occupation line in a difficult situation.

Violation of the property rights caused by the illegal borderization remains a daily challenge for the population living near the occupation line. The occupation regime is trying to present the illegal process as the process of arranging the so-called state border and to establish the occupied regions as independent subjects.

Similar illegal actions carried out by the occupation regime grossly violate the rights of the population living in the occupied territories.

The Public Defender of Georgia calls on the authorities of Georgia, by using all international mechanisms and with the involvement of the international community, to strengthen pressure in order to protect the rights of people living in the occupied regions and to spare no effort to expand and strengthen the dialogue between the artificially divided societies.

[1] Statement of the Public Defender of Georgia of November 6, 2023. Information is available on the website: https://rb.gy/u1ivza [08/08/2024]/

[2] The judgement of the European Court of Human Rights of January 21, 2021, which unequivocally confirmed the effective control of the Russian Federation over the territories out of control of Georgia and held Russia responsible for the human rights violations on those territories. Information is available on the website: https://shorturl.at/tCVZ6 [08/08/2024].