S/PV.3488 Security Council

I should like to inform the Council that I have received a letter from the representative of Georgia in which he requests to be invited to participate in the discussion of the item on the Council’s agenda. In conformity with the usual practice, I propose, with the consent of the Council, to invite that representative to participate in the discussion without the right to vote, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter and rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure. There being no objection, it is so decided.

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Security Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. Members of the Council have before them the report of the Secretary-General concerning the situation in Abkhazia, Georgia, contained in documents S/1995/10 and Addenda 1 and 2. Members of the Council also have before them document S/1995/23, which contains the text of a draft resolution prepared in the course of the Council’s prior consultations. The first speaker is the representative of Georgia, and I now call on him.

First of all, Sir, I should like to extend our sincere congratulations to you on your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council for this month and to wish you success in your activities. We It is an honour and great pleasure for us to see here present the new members of the Security Council. We believe that their contribution to the work of the Council will be important and valuable. On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Georgia and in the personal name of its Head of State, Mr. Eduard Shevardnadze, allow me to express our deepest appreciation to the United Nations, to its Security Council and especially to the Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and his Special Envoy, Ambassador Edouard Brunner, for the attention and goodwill they have accorded to the process under way in my country. The resolutions on Georgia adopted by the Security Council and the recent visit of the Secretary-General to the region have made clear to the world community the importance that the family of nations attaches to the comprehensive settlement of the protracted conflict in Abkhazia. I should like to express my sincere gratitude to the members of the group of countries known as Friends of Georgia' and to the Russian Federation, as facilitator, for their efforts to bring about a peaceful settlement of the dispute. I should also like to underscore the joint activities being carried out by the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) and the peace-keeping forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States to monitor the cease-fire and ensure the safe return of thousands of homeless, which is being organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It has been more than a year now since negotiations began in Geneva. My Government remains fully committed to the peace process initiated by the United Nations and has complied with all the documents adopted by the Security Council and the Quadripartite Commission. Bearing in mind the importance of reaching a negotiated settlement of the dispute, Georgia is fully cooperating with the United Nations and has taken realistic, practical steps to reach a compromise. As I mentioned earlier, a year has passed since the negotiations opened in Geneva, but no arrangements have yet been made for the return of the more than 250,000 refugees and displaced persons to their homes. The Abkhaz side is doing its utmost to prevent the return of those who have been forcibly expelled, even terrorizing the few still remaining in the Gali and other districts of Abkhazia. The decision of the Security Council that the refugees and displaced persons should be allowed to return to their homes is being effectively disregarded and ignored. Although the Security Council has condemned any attempt to change the demographic composition of Abkhazia, the region is still being settled with people of so- called Abkhaz origin — in fact mercenaries, who, as a reward, are given the houses of Georgians free of charge. The current plight of the refugees, who are scattered throughout Georgia, is ruinously affecting its already devastated economy. Despite intensive humanitarian assistance from the international community, Georgia is experiencing, in the face of the cold winter, severe shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Speaking of the present situation in Georgia, I would presume to remind the Security Council of the prediction that Mr. Eduard Shevardnadze made in his speech before the forty-seventh session of the General Assembly. He warned at that time against the danger of aggressive separatism under the guise of the ideals of self-determination, and he urged the international community to take all necessary measures to keep at bay this new trend, running counter to the purposes and principles of the United Nations and jeopardizing the lives of thousands of innocent people. My President also expressed the fear that in the Caucasus Unfortunately, in the light of current events this ominous prediction is becoming ever more realistic and imminent. Under the circumstances, the Government of the Republic of Georgia would welcome a decision by the Security Council to extend the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia, for we believe that the United Nations presence in the region will greatly contribute to its stability and to the peace process as a whole.

I thank the representative of Georgia for his kind words addressed to me. It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. Unless I hear any objection, I shall put the draft resolution to the vote. There being no objection, it is so decided. I shall first call on those members of the Council who wish to make statements before the voting.

Today, we have little reason for optimism. The main problems of the crisis under review — namely, the humanitarian situation and the political process — have barely budged since our last meeting on this issue. The humanitarian situation resulting from the conflict and the fate of Georgia’s one-quarter of a million refugees and displaced persons have always been the primary preoccupation of my country in this issue. In this context, we are horrified by the complete lack of progress on their repatriation. Fewer than 500 of the quarter million have been repatriated voluntarily over the past three months — which is absolutely laughable. At this pace, it would take about 182 years before the repatriation was completed. And it is small wonder that under these circumstances spontaneous repatriation is under way, with ail the risks it entails. But even that has affected only a Meanwhile, in Georgia itself these refugees and displaced persons have been forgotten by the world. They suffer outside the field of vision of CNN cameras, and their suffering has resulted among other things in a full-blown health crisis: recently we dealt here approving the export of some vaccine against diphtheria — one of the diseases now plaguing Georgia. And it is pitiful that the operation of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the one organization that does help, is facing a financial crisis that might force it to curtail its work in one of the world’s spots where it is needed most. Repatriation has to be speeded up by at least two orders of magnitude, so that its end can be timed in months, not centuries. My delegation is in fact particularly chagrined that this draft resolution makes no reference to a repatriation timetable such as the one the UNHCR has repeatedly proposed — in vain — to the Quadripartite Commission, dealing with refugee issues; nor does our draft propose any other measure that would refocus our attention on the need to bring refugees and displaced persons back to their villages and fields. No movement on humanitarian issues of course follows from the absence of movement on political issues — the two are interrelated. We are distressed that no progress has been made in the last six weeks or so to resolve the political and constitutional crisis. If anything, the crisis deepened when Abkhaz leaders very unadvisedly adopted certain unilateral constitutional steps. In the light of these steps it is all the more important that our draft resolution once again clearly and unambiguously reiterate our support for Georgia’s territorial integrity. Its territorial integrity formed also the basis of a joint paper which the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Russian Federation submitted to the parties as a basis for further discussions — which, alas, again went nowhere. The Secretary-General has made many efforts personally, but even these have not been fruitful. We urge him, however, not to be discouraged and to continue trying, again and again, to get high-level talks on Abkhazia off the ground. We do, however, agree with him that a general preoccupation with events taking place elsewhere in the Caucasus region hinders his efforts, and indeed that the crisis in Chechnya may impede the politics of seeking an If there is anything positive in this altogether gloomy situation, it is the work of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG). UNOMIG has reached its full authorized strength. It has correspondingly expanded its activity. It is cooperating well with the peace-keeping forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Its freedom of movement is being observed. Even its status in Georgia has been successfully settled. All this is very welcome news. And we are also happy to learn that an arrangement has been reached on the cooperation between the United Nations and the CIS forces, on the basis of the Secretary- General’s proposals of 4 November last. This cooperation will, we hope, lead to an improvement of the security situation on the ground. It seems to be especially poor in the Gali region — which the Secretary-General’s report touches on in several paragraphs. We certainly hope that the combined activities of the CIS peace-keepers and of UNOMIG will help calm the situation. If there is one other thing we would like, it is richer reporting on the operations of the CIS peace-keeping force. We are grateful to the Russian delegation for the briefings it occasionally provides to Council members during informal consultations, and indeed I have used today some numbers precisely from these briefings. But we believe it would be very advantageous for their content to find its way into official documents of the Security Council, for the benefit both of greater transparency of the CIS peace-keeping operations and of fuller information for United Nations Members. No new ground would be broken in doing so: The United States delegation, for example, regularly provides comparable briefings on Haiti, which, as we all know, are publicly available as part of the official record. Extending the UNOMIG mandate until 15 May will in effect synchronize the timetables of the United Nations and the CIS operations, something we have advocated in the past. We therefore fully support this extension and the draft resolution before us.

There were 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 971 (1995). I shall now call on those members of the Council who wish to make statements following the voting.

My delegation welcomes the decision the Council has just taken to extend the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) until 15 May 1995. This resolution sends the right message to the parties concerned, since it confirms the international community’s commitment to securing a political settlement of the Abkhaz conflict while respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Georgia. The maintenance of a United Nations presence in Georgia is legitimate; the Secretary-General recognizes in his latest report that this presence, in close cooperation with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) peace-keeping force, is playing a stabilizing role. The situation in Abkhazia is indeed disquieting. There has been no progress on the issue of displaced persons, and this state of affairs is making it impossible to solve the humanitarian problems effectively. The political process is at a standstill and it is to be feared that it will remain there so as long as the return of the refugees is not ensured in secure conditions and in accordance with the agreements undertaken. This is a key factor for the stability of the region and for the return of the peoples concerned to normal living conditions. Thus our Council, by today reaffirming its readiness to support the efforts to achieve a settlement, expects the parties to demonstrate without delay their resolve to break the present deadlock. The resolution we have just adopted In this respect, my delegation lends its full support to the Secretary-General for the personal assistance that he is ready to give, as well as to the mediation role played by Mr. Brunner, with a view to restarting the negotiating process. Doing our utmost to promote this process should be our primary concern. Sir David Hannay (United Kingdom): The resolution which this Council has just adopted, and of which my Government was a co-sponsor, renews the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) for a further four months in parallel with the mandate of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) peace-keeping force. My Government welcomes the contribution by UNOMIG and by the CIS peace-keeping force towards reinforcing the parties’ commitment to their obligations under the Cease-fire and Separation of Forces Agreement signed last May. We also welcome the satisfactory cooperation between UNOMIG and the CIS peace-keeping force, and the exchange of letters on their respective rules and responsibilities that has now been concluded. My country is a contributor of personnel to UNOMIG, and we are especially grateful to the Chief Military Observer, Brigadier-General Hvidegaard, and to the members of UNOMIG for their work. But my Government remains deeply concerned by the unacceptably slow rate of return of refugees. The Abkhaz authorities must cooperate fully with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in significantly accelerating the pace of repatriation and in formalizing the position of those who have already returned. This is an essential component in the international humanitarian agencies’ efforts to address the human suffering both in Abkhazia and elsewhere within the Republic of Georgia. The overall aim of this Council’s policy is to bring about a viable and lasting settlement to the Georgian- Abkhaz conflict while fully respecting the Republic of Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy, Mr. Brunner, with the assistance of the Russian Federation and the participation By adopting the resolution before us, this Council has committed itself to undertake a thorough review of all aspects of the situation in Abkhazia, Republic of Georgia, in four months’ time, before the next expiration of UNOMIG’s mandate. It is essential that significant progress, both in the political negotiations and also on the return of refugees, be achieved by then.

The Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic, in recent consultations, made a very pertinent remark. He said, UNOMIG may be a small operation, but it is an operation of great importance.' We fully concur with that evaluation. The mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) is special in that it is built upon close cooperation with the peace-keeping forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in the area. The stakes involved in this joint undertaking are high. We are deeply concerned about the situation as described in the report of the Secretary-General. We deplore the lack of progress in the political process, as well as the standstill regarding the return of refugees. The resolution just adopted by the Council is an appropriate response to this situation. It calls upon both parties to reach substantive progress in the political negotiations. The parties must understand that UNOMIG’s presence is predicated upon a viable political process. In this context, I would like to underline that Germany accepts that the Abkhaz side too has understandable and legitimate concerns. We continue to be willing to listen to the Abkhaz case. At the same time, it must be clear that a political solution must be based on the principles contained in the relevant resolutions of this Council, in particular on With regard to the return of refugees, it is our opinion that the Abkhaz side has to a large extent failed to honour its commitments. The resolution therefore calls upon the Abkhaz side to accelerate this process significantly. We would hope that the authorities in Sukhumi would be able to accept timetables to this effect. We note that in November the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy and the Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation suggested that the Abkhaz side accept the return of 3,000 returnees until the beginning of January — that is, in the space of approximately six weeks. The resolution renews UNOMIG’s mandate for a period of four months. At the same time, it foresees a thorough review of the situation before the mandate expires. We hope that the Secretary-General and his Special Envoy, as well as the Representatives of the Russian Federation, will underline in their contacts with the parties, that progress in all areas must be achieved during the coming months. For the time being, my delegation believes that all possibilities under the existing mandates of UNOMIG and the CIS peace-keeping force should be examined in order to improve the situation on the ground. We attach particular importance to operative paragraph 7 of the resolution. Finally, we note with satisfaction the willingness expressed by the Russian Federation to brief the Council more frequently on the operation of the CIS peace-keeping force in the area. Greater transparency can only be helpful in achieving our common goals.

The Russian Federation was a co-sponsor of the draft resolution just adopted by the Security Council. This resolution we have adopted, along with the further extension of the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), contains weighty political provisions. We consider it important that the Council is confirming its commitment to upholding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Georgia and the right of all refugees and displaced persons to return home, and that it is calling on the parties to refrain from any actions which might hinder or complicate the peace process. In this connection, we view as timely the Council’s call upon the sides to reach substantive progress in the negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations and with the assistance of the Russian Federation as facilitator and with participation of representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and also the Council’s request to the Secretary-General to continue his efforts to contribute to the negotiation process. We hope that the next stage in the Georgian-Abkhaz negotiations will take place in the next few weeks. The Russian Federation for its part is actively working to that end. In this context, we attach the greatest importance to the coordination of our efforts and close collaboration with the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General in Georgia, Ambassador Edouard Brunner. The Russian Federation is seriously concerned at the extremely slow pace of the return of refugees; the Abkhaz side is to blame for this. We hope that the Security Council’s call upon both sides to comply with their commitments with regard to the return of refugees, and upon the Abkhaz side to accelerate the process significantly, will be effective. The Russian representative on the Quadripartite Commission on refugees, along with the representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, is working actively to ensure that the sides fully implement all the provisions of the Quadripartite Agreement of 4 April 1994 on the voluntary return of refugees and displaced persons. We also note the request made by the Council in the resolution to the Secretary-General to examine, in cooperation with the relevant representatives of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) peace-keeping forces the possibility of adopting additional steps to contribute to conditions conducive to the safe return of refugees. The Russian delegation is grateful to the Council for commending the contribution of the CIS peace-keeping forces to the maintenance of the cease-fire and the stabilization of the situation in the conflict zone. The Russian delegation attaches importance to the Council’s decision to undertake, on the basis of a report from the Secretary-General to be submitted by 4 May 1995, a thorough review of the situation in Abkhazia, Republic of Georgia. We expect that in the course of that review substantive consideration will be given to the gradual transformation of the peace-keeping operation now being carried out in the conflict zone into a United Nations operation based, initially, on the already deployed CIS and UNOMIG forces in that area. In conclusion, I would like to draw attention to the new call in the resolution we have just adopted upon Member States to contribute to the voluntary fund established by the Secretary-General pursuant to resolution 937 (1994). Probably few occasions can be found when during a period of nearly half a year not one contribution has been made to a voluntary fund. We believe that an inflow of resources into this fund would contribute to a more effective solution of many problems and, first and foremost, to the creation of conditions for the return of the refugees.

One stark set of facts hangs over the otherwise credible performance of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) and the peace-keeping force of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). We have witnessed the almost total absence of progress towards a political settlement of this conflict or towards the expeditious return of the tens of thousands of refugees and displaced persons to their homes in Abkhazia in safety and in dignity. The Council has asked the Secretary-General to report twice in the short period of four months on the status of the political process and on the return of refugees and displaced persons. When the Council comes to consider the future of UNOMIG in May, we, and I trust other Council members will look closely and The United States delegation hopes that the Secretary- General’s reports will give the Council reason to act favourably in this regard, but we must be realistic. Recent history does not paint an optimistic picture. The Abkhaz party bears a strong burden of responsibility for the absence of progress. By declaring themselves a sovereign nation, Abkhaz leaders have violated their commitment to reaching a mutually acceptable settlement with the Government of Georgia. The Council has rightly expressed its deep concern about this act and indicated that that declaration has no standing. By establishing UNOMIG, the Security Council showed that it was prepared to help those who are helping themselves. Since then the process has reached a stalemate. The message of this renewal resolution is clear: now is the time for the parties to return to the table and to achieve real progress toward a political settlement and the return of refugees and displaced persons in secure and safe conditions.

Italy’s support for the resolution renewing the mandate of the Observer Mission in Georgia has been based on three main considerations: the usefulness of this resolution to a relaunching of the political negotiations, the need to consolidate the mechanism that has enabled the cease-fire to be complied with, and the reaffirmation of the principle of sovereignty, territorial integrity and renunciation of the use of force. We share the opinion of those who maintained on the eve of the expiration of UNOMIG’s mandate that today’s decision could not be limited to something merely technical. In our capacity as Chairman-in-Office of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) until last December, we noted that during the different stages of the negotiations on Abkhazia, both at the political level and in the discussions between experts on constitutional law, the unwillingness to look for a compromise increased rather than diminished. The contrast between the autonomist — better yet, the separatist — aspirations and the principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity assumed a symptomatic importance in the case of Abkhazia, and the unilateral declaration by the Abkhaz authorities on 26 November 1994 constituted the unfortunate epilogue that had been foreshadowed by some of the elements that had already emerged at the negotiating table. The resumption of political negotiations cannot be a long-term objective. There is an immediate need to relaunch the negotiations, for two main, compelling reasons — the downward spiral of the economy; and the internal security situation that could be triggered by the high number of refugees who are not allowed to re-enter their place of origin. But there are other reasons, especially the risk of the Abkhaz crisis’s becoming a deeply rooted and perverse example for other regions of Georgia — Osetia in particular, and other parts of the Caucasus. The humanitarian crisis is of great concern to my country. Since the spring of 1993 my Government has contributed $1.7 million worth of food aid to the Georgian people and has also helped to provide logistical support through a humanitarian flight to Tbilisi with first- aid needs from the Pisa depot. Italy has also contributed through multilateral channels, sending $1.5 million worth of humanitarian relief. This, of course, is in addition to its previous pledge of $1.5 million at the G-7 summit in London. The renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia is an occasion to recognize the validity of the formula identified in Security Council resolution 937 (1994) of last July. In his report, the Secretary-General gave a positive assessment of the degree of cooperation and coordination between the United Nations Mission and the peace-keeping forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States. We noted the specific example of such cooperation mentioned in the report. The seeds of this positive outcome were planted thanks to the commitment of the Secretariat and of the Russian Federation to defining the mandates and responsibilities of the two distinct missions on the ground, which are so closely tied by the common goal of pacification. The Georgian crisis has provided proof of the cooperation that has developed between the United Nations and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe — now the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The Budapest summit last December, in its decision on Georgia, which referred to both Abkhazia and Osetia, recalled the fundamental concept confirmed once again in today’s resolution — On the basis of these shared principles, we remain convinced that a regional organization such as the OSCE can continue to make a significant contribution to the efforts of the United Nations towards a final settlement of the crisis — especially in identifying neo-institutional arrangements.

There are no further speakers. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.