The statement of the South Ossetian delegation for the media on the twenty-first round of the Geneva Discussions on Security and Stability in Transcaucasia
October, 10-11, 2012 the twenty-first meeting of the international discussions on security and stability in Transcaucasia was held in Geneva. It was attended by delegations of the Republic of South Ossetia, the Republic of Abkhazia, Georgia, the Russian Federation, the United States, as well as by representatives of the EU, the UN and the OSCE. South Ossetian delegation was headed by Presidential Envoy for post-conflict settlement Murat Dzhioev.
The focus of the discussion was the issue of non-use of force by Georgia against South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as it had been reached by signing the Medvedev – Sarkozy agreements on August, 12 and September, 8, 2008. South Ossetian delegation noted the need to expedite the conclusion of the legally binding agreements on the nonuse of force between Georgia and the Republic of South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Georgia as the most important legal component of the security system.
In confirmation of a shared commitment to the international law, including the principle of non-use of force, and in support of the unilateral declarations of non-use of force, made in 2010 by the Presidents of South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Georgia, the South Ossetian delegations supported the previous draft joint statement of the Geneva talks participants on the nonuse of force, proposed by the Russian delegation.
The parties at the expert level started to work on a draft joint statement of the Geneva discussions on the non-use of force. The South Ossetian and the Abkhaz sides have expressed again a protest against the artificial imposition of the so-called "international security"
One of the key questions at the meeting was to address the issue of searching for the missing persons. Within the framework of the round was held an information session on the subject with participation of the international experts. South Ossetian participants reiterated the findings that a number of residents of South Ossetia, considered the missing since 2008, had been captured and kept for some time in the paramilitary structures of Georgia. It was expressed the hope that the new government of Georgia would react responsibly to clarify the fate of the missing persons of the Republic of South Ossetia.
The participants noted the reasonability of the activity of the Mechanisms on Prevention and Reaction to Incidents at the border of South Ossetia and Georgia. However, the South Ossetian participants noted the need to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the activities of the Mechanisms. The South Ossetian side called on Georgia to work jointly on the delimitation and demarcation of the state border. The humanitarian issues have also been discussed at the meeting.
The participants from South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Russia supported the unification of the two working groups to amend the format of the Geneva discussions for improving their effectiveness.
The next meeting in Geneva is scheduled for December 12, 2012.
