Archive - 3/2010

The authorities of Georgia released three South Ossetians detained by law enforcement bodies of Georgia. Two of them – a resident of Tskhinval Gennady Pliev and a resident of vil. Didmukha Vadim Tadtaev were abducted from the territory of South Ossetia and charged with illegal carrying and keeping of arms. The third person – citizen of South Ossetia Khatuna Charaeva, resident of Leningor district, was detained in Tbilisi and charged with keeping counterfeit dollars.
As former detainees reported to journalists, they were forced to plead guilty in exchange to the possibility to be released under amnesty. According to Tadtaev, he "went through three trials, served the term and had no hope for a pre-term release." However, yesterday, on 29 March, he was all of a sudden taken from the prison and brought to the boundary line with South Ossetia.

The 10th round of the Geneva discussions on security in South Caucasus is starting today in Geneva (Switzerland).
The South Ossetian delegation is going to present to the talks participants its vision on the Non-Use of Force Agreement. "We hope that our proposals on the Non-Use of Force Agreement will be well-considered. Otherwise, we will have to perceive the Geneva discussions as a gathering of today's Georgia's allies meeting in Geneva to help implement the evil plans of Georgian authorities", stated the Special Representative for Post-Conflict Settlement Boris Chochiev before departing for Geneva.

The personnel of the military base deployed in the Republic of South Ossetia will participate in a training to be held at the South Ossetian Defense Ministry's firing range. As acting Defense Minister Ibragim Gasseev reported to RES Agency, the training is taking place from 30 March to 2 April. "The Military base tank detachment will be participating in the firing training to test their assigned military equipment", reported Gasseev.

On 30 March 2010, an opening ceremony of South Ossetian Media-Center “Ir” will be held in Tskhinval. A round-table “Role of the media in strengthening of Russian-South Ossetian cooperation” will take place within the frames of the first day’s events.

In the light of the terrorist attacks in Moscow, the president of the Republic of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity tasked the law enforcement bodies to intensify their preventive activities to warn against subversive-terrorist acts on the territory of the republic. At the meeting with representatives of law enforcement and defense structures, the participants rose in the memory of the killed. Eduard Kokoity draw the attention of the law enforcement and defense representative to the information about transfer of prisoners from Guantanamo to Georgia.

Soslan Bekoev, 14, “Albion” School

My first day after arrival in Vladikavkaz before the war
I went to Vladikavkaz together with my mum to see my granny. Mum had to return Я приехал the same day, she could leave her work.
Now, I have to stay in Vladikavkaz. I have got a new school and new teachers. My parents do their utmost to have me in a calm situation to continue studies. It was not long ago that I had a house in Tskhinval and a granny there. I cannot help but keep recalling the life destroyed by Georgian extremists. As it were movie shots, I keep in mind the pictures of that horrific August of 2008. My mother, Maya Kharebova, works for an informational agency in Tskhinval, and I could read her journalist reports, newspaper features, brief TV news reported by the informational agency, conversations of journalists; everything was concentrated on those event, which could be also restored through my diary notes.

The CoE independent experts Bruce Pegg and Nicolas Sebire continue their work in South Ossetia. As reported by Special Representative for Human Rights David Sanakoev, the experts are staying in Tskhinval until 25 March. "They planned meetings wit the relatives of the missing South Ossetian citizens. During their meetings, the CoE representatives should obtain information about the circumstances of seizure of South Ossetians, details of their whereabouts available with the relatives", said Sanakoev.

The President of the Republic of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoitz held a meeting with chief representatives of law enforcement and defense bodies of South Ossetia. Prime-Minister Vadim Brovtsev attended the meeting. In his opening speech, Eduard Kokoity noted that the people of South Ossetia had once again demonstrated high political culture: "Our people is well aware of who is going to destabilize the situation around South Ossetia for what purpose, who is pursuing what political goals by organizing different actions", said the president commenting on the information disseminated by certain media sources about the "opposition" rally scheduled for 20 March in Tskhinval.

The Geneva Talks Co-Chair delegation visited South Ossetia. The delegation was headed by the EU Co-Chair Pierre Morel. OSCE Co-Chair Bolat Nurgaliev and UN Co-Chair Antti Turunen, OSCE Secretariat representative Rasa Ostrauskaite, the European Commission Senior Political Advisor and UNHCR representative were among the delegation.
In Tskhinval, the delegation was received by South Ossetian Foreign Minister Murat Djioev and Deputy Special Representative for Post-Conflict Settlement Merab Chigoev. The Deputy Foreign Minister Alan Pliev and the President's Special Representative for Human Rights David Sanakoev also attended the meeting. In his introductory speech, Murat Djioev expressed his hope that the meeting would be fruitful for the preparation of the next round of talks. He noted that after August 2008, the only international mechanism capable to defuse tensions in the region are the Geneva discussions. "We believe we can reach an agreement on non-use of force paper within the frameworks of the Geneva discussions. It is crucially important. It is a key element in the process of settlement on other issues of Georgian-Ossetian relations", said Djioev.

On 18 March, the Co-Chairs of the Geneva Discussions- representatives of the EU, OSCE and UN, are arriving in South Ossetia, reports the office of the Special Representative for Post-Conflict Settlement. The Co-Chairs Delegation is headed by the EU Envoy Pierre Morel.
It was also reported the during their visit, the Co-Chairs will meet with the South Ossetian Foreign Minister Murat Djioev, the RSO President's Advisor Konstantin Kochiev, HR Commissioner David Sanakoev and Deputy Special Representative for Post-Conflict Settlement Merab Chigoev.