The 21 round of the international discussions on security in Transcaucasia has been held in Geneva October10-11. About its results told the head of the South Ossetian delegation, the RSO Presidential Envoy Murat Dzhioev at a press briefing in Tskhinval.
He has recalled that two groups were discussing security and humanitarian issues.
"On the first day has been held the informational session on the issues of the missing persons; the experts explained the problem and its possible solution in different countries. This time, the key topic of the discussion was the problem of organizing the searching for the missing persons as a result of the conflict between Great Britain and Ireland. The main thing is that the governments of both countries have started to investigate the fate of the missing persons with all responsibility, "- said the envoy.
Dzhioev has said that this issue was the key topic of discussions of the two working groups.
He has said that at present 139 people are considered the missing ones in South Ossetia; 131 of them - since the first aggression of 1989-1992, and 8 people - from August 2008.
"We have stressed that at least five people, considered the missing, were being kept by the law enforcement bodies of Georgia, and then disappeared. We demand that the government of Georgia would be responsible for the actions of the law enforcement agencies, and we would get the information. That time we were told that since Georgia was in a process of changing the government, new people would come and they would not be responsible for the actions of the Georgian police in 2008; perhaps there is a hope that we will be given the information,"- said Dzhioev.
In any case, as reported by the authorized representative, at the next MPRI meeting this issue will be discussed again.
"We have focused on the fact that the Georgian side does not fulfill its obligations to free the citizens of South Ossetia being under detention in the Georgian prisons. These promises were made, but so far, we have been waiting too long, "- he underlined.
Murat Dzhioev has also said that the key issue of the first working group was the discussion of the joint statement on the non-use of force.
"We consider the main objective of the first working group to elaborate and sign the bilateral agreement between South Ossetia and Georgia and between Abkhazia and Georgia. But as Georgia is not ready to work on it, it was suggested that the leaders of these states should make a unilateral declaration as an intermediate step on the way to achieving the main goal, "- stressed Dzhioev.
He has said that such statements were made in November and December 2010 and registered at the UN.
"But, even then we pointed out that this was only the intermediate step, and it was not the safety guarantee for us. For the people of South Ossetia the Saakashvili`s statement is not enough to feel safe from aggression.We had the measure of it in 2008. Therefore, we insist on the signing of the agreement on non-use of force. As soon as this work is progressing very slowly, at the 19 round the Russian side proposed that the participants should reaffirm the commitment to the conception of the non-use of force. We have supported this project because it contains two main components - a commitment to the international law and the principle of non-use of force, "- underlined the envoy.
He said that the Georgian side had proposed a counter-offer, repeated from round to round - as the Russian side should give the guarantee of non-aggression against Georgia. Though, he has stressed, the South Ossetian and the Abkhaz delegations have been constantly trying to prove that Russia has nothing to do with the Russian-Georgian relations, this has never been the subject of the talks.
"Co-chairs are trying to balance our proposals and they have also suggested a project that combines both positions, but at the last round we have again expressed support for the Russian project. We have insisted on harmonization of the text and it has begun at the level of experts. This is a definite progress at the Geneva process ", - said Dzhioev.
As for the work of the second group for resolving the problems of refugees, it was not raised, because, as noted by Dzhioev, the Georgian authorities for four years, bypassing the Geneva process, have been submitting the matter to the General Assembly, and the fourth year the GA under pressure of patrons of Georgia has been adopting these resolutions.
"As neither the Abkhaz nor the South Ossetian delegations have the opportunity to participate in the GA to bring to the UN their position, we have refused to discuss this issue in Geneva. And this time, like the previous one, this matter has not been discussed, "- said Dzhioev.
However, there have been discussed other humanitarian issues; the South Ossetian delegation has focused the attention of the co-chairs on the fact that Georgia is not fulfilling its obligations on resolving some humanitarian issues, including gas and electricity supply in Leningor district of South Ossetia.
"These issues have not been resolved yet for political reasons. We stated that our government had been resolving these problems and their assistance would not be in need any more,"- he stressed.
The Envoy has also said that the Georgian side expressed its appreciation to the delegation of South Ossetia for online problem solving and goodwill in respect of the Georgian policeman detained with weapons in the territory of the Republic on the night of September 29, when the border post had been fired in the village of Karzman in Dzausky district.
