Relatives of people missing after the Georgian military aggression against the Republic of South Ossetia in August 2008, residents of South Ossetia, sent an appeal to the UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, the President of the European Union, Mr. Herman Van Rompuy, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Mr. Kanat Saudabayev asking for an objective assessment of the actions of the Georgian side.
The IA "Res" publishes the full text of the appeal:
"Dear Sirs,
We, hereby, the parents and relatives of the missing people of South Ossetia address you with a request to help in tracing our relatives.
After the Georgian military aggression against the Republic of South Ossetia in August 2008, the Georgian side, in spite of the agreements between Medvedev and Sarkozy of 12 August and 8 September 2008, continued to carry out activities near the border with South Ossetia that could lead to escalation of tension. Following the withdrawal of the Russian troops from the former "buffer zone" there was a significant deployment of Georgian security forces in the area adjacent to the borderline with South Ossetia.
The Georgian side has resorted to ever more sophisticated methods of struggle against the Republic of South Ossetia (shelling of Ossetian border villages, abduction of ethnic Ossetians, preparation of firing positions, etc.) and all this happened in the area of responsibility of both the observers of the OSCE Mission to Georgia and the international monitors of the European Union. Harrassment and abuses by Georgian police against the peaceful inhabitants of the border Ossetian villages at these and other illegal Georgian checkpoints continued, resulting in cases of disappearances of people.
Since October 13, 2008 at the segment of the Korcula-Khelchua road, Tskhinvali district of South Ossetia, the Georgian special services abducted our sons Alan Khachirov, born 1992, Alan Khugaev, born 1989, Soltan Pliev, born 1983. When abducted, one of these young men, Alan Khachirov was under 16 years old.
Despite the evidences available to us about their abduction by power structures of Georgia and our repeated requests , as well as the repeated requests of the relevant authorities of South Ossetia to the Co-Chairmen of the Geneva talks, the EUMM and authorities of Georgia with the demand to provide us with information about their fate and the fate of 4 other citizens of South Ossetia (Mairbeg Tedeev, Dmitry Gagloev, Radik Ikaev, Tamaz Kabisov), abducted by soldiers of the Georgian MoD during the attempted seizure of Tskhinval and the villages of the republic in August 2008, the latter responded with formal letters that they used all available to search for the mentioned persons. The Georgian side categorically denied the detention of these persons.
However, it should be noted that in the report (based on the work of two international experts assigned by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Mr. Tomas Hammarberg to monitor the investigations of missing cases) the independent international experts noted that their findings indicated that Khachirov, Khugaev and Pliev were arrested and taken into custody by the law enforcement bodies of Georgia on October 13, 2008.
In the case of Khachirov, Khugaev and Pliev, the experts have emphasized that the Georgian side had done very little to investigate the cases, despite urgent appeals from international monitors of the European Union (EUMM), Georgian Young Lawyers Association and the parents of missing persons after nearly a year and a half after their disappearance. For example, the police officers who were on duty in the area during the disappearances were not interviewed. The witness testimonies of the local residents were not documented, etc. Moreover, while trying to find the truth the experts had faced various obstacles put by the Georgian side. Therefore, it should be noted that the Georgians deliberately wanted to ruin the investigation of these cases.
The Georgian side questioned and did not acknowledge the report of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Mr. Tomas Hammarberg on the monitoring of investigation on missing cases, although the experts objectively characterized the actions of the Georgian side.
It should also be noted that at meetings, the Co-Chairmen of the Geneva discussions openly took pro-Georgian position and persistently avoided discussion of missing persons.
Based on the above, we call you, gentlemen, for taking the control over this problem, to give an objective assessment to the actions of the Georgian side and urge them for immediate implementation of the recommendations by CoE HR Commissioner Mr. Tomas Hammarberg.
