Today, relatives of the missing persons and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), together with the authorities of the Republic, began installing anonymous boxes in border villages, as well as in districts of the Republic, so that people who have useful information regarding the fate or whereabouts of the missing persons can share it, said the Presidential Commissioner for Human Rights of the Republic of South Ossetia, Inal Tasoev.
According to the Ombudsman, the boxes were installed in the villages of Tbet and Balta, as well as in the village of Znaur. In general, it is planned to install 15 boxes. In addition, a helpline was launched.
“More than a hundred people are listed as missing in South Ossetia. Most people went missing during the first conflict in the 1990s. Great efforts have been making by the authorities and the ICRC to clarify their fate. And the installation of such boxes throughout the Republic, as well as the launch of a helpline, we hope, will help clarify the fate of at least a few people. Moreover, the initiators of this project were the families of the missing persons themselves, who appealed to the authorities and the ICRC to assist them in this matter,” he said.
Tasoev has expressed hope that the installation of these boxes will serve as an impetus for Georgia and their representatives to install the corresponding anonymous boxes in the border villages already on the territory of Georgia.
“This will be the important step in the search for the missing, as people living in border villages in Georgia undoubtedly have more information that they can share anonymously, without fear of persecution by the Georgian authorities,” the Ombudsman believes.
Two numbers are allocated for the helpline for calls during working hours from 9:00 to 18:00 from Monday to Friday: +7 929 803 30 11 – the line allocated to the office of the Plenipotentiary Representative for post-conflict settlement, +7 929 803 30 22 is the number where calls will be received by the staff of the ICRC Mission.
