20.08.2003 - Source: BBC News

17 refugee women (from the separatist region of Abkhazia) seized a hostage in Tbilisi for several hours threatening to set themselves on fire; the protest ended when officials promised to help them with their housing situation ("Georgian refugees free hostage") [#15393],  [ID 5010]

Document(s): Open document

08.2001 - Source:

University of Maryland - Minorities at Risk: Risk Assessment ("00.08.2001 - University of Maryland - Minorities at Risk: Risk Assessment") [ID 5012]

"The Abkhaz exhibit many factors that increase the likelihood of conflict in the future, if the dispute over the status of Abhazia remains unresolved: the group has experienced both repression and rebellion in the recent past, it is highly organized both militarily and politically, and it is concentrated in a distinct region. Although there is substantial external pressure on both sides to settle their grievances and negotiations are continuing, Georgia's democracy is not stable, and even if it were the Abkhaz do not participate in it at all. The central government has little to no influence over Abkhazia – the Abkhaz vote in their own regional elections, raise their own armies, and pay taxes to Sukhumi, not to Tbilisi. The Abkhaz demand recognition of their de facto independence, which is something that thus far Georgia has not been willing to give.
Therefore, the ongoing low-level violence that has been occurring in Abkhazia keeps the danger of a return to full-blown civil war fairly high. The relative state of peace today is maintained by peacekeeping troops which are nominally from the Commonwealth of Independent States, but in reality are comprised entirely of Russians. They are joined by a UN observer mission, which has helped oversee some repatriation of ethnic Georgians.
This repatriation is another contentious issue between the Abkhaz and the Georgian government. Over a quarter of a million Georgians left Abkhazia during the war, some by choice and some by force. Since losing control of the region, Shevardnadze's government has consistently pressed claims against Abkhazia for gross human rights violations. A Georgian government commission investigating the question has issued in-depth reports alleging genocide and ethnic cleansing. In addition, Georgian officials have stated that they have sufficient evidence to warrant the convocation of an international war crimes tribunal. Georgian accusations pertain not only to the 1992-1993 period, but also to the treatment of returning Georgian refugees in 1994-1995. Tbilisi has cited the Abkhaz for practicing a form of "apartheid" against Georgians, as well as for allowing separatist militants to plunder, torture and expel civilians. In addition, Georgian judicial officers have accused Abkhaz President Ardzinba of Abkhazia and his close associates with personal complicity in genocide. To date, a few thousand ethnic Georgians have been allowed to return to their homelands. Ominously, however, the Abkhaz have issued "registration cards" to returning Georgians which identify them as being of Mingrelian ethnicity (Mingrelia is the region of western Georgia bordering Abkhazia whose people speak a distinct dialect of Georgian).
The conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia remains largely unresolved. Despite the continuing talks, both sides continue to express virtually irreconcilable positions: Abkhazia demands independence and Georgia is determined to preserve the country's unity. Abkhazia also declined Georgia's offer in September 1998 for "the highest status of political autonomy within an integral Georgian federative state."
The fragile state of peace in Abkhazia seems dependent upon a couple of stabilizing factors: the presence of 3000 Russian peacekeepers, whose mandate has recently been extended through January 2002; and the presence of Shevardnadze, who has been very adept at holding his fractious state together. If the successor to the aging Shevardnadze is not as seasoned and as adroit as the former Soviet foreign minister, centrifugal pressures may bring a bloody end to the unstable "neither peace nor war" situation that exists in Abkhazia today.
Post Script
Today, the 100,000 ethnic Georgians remaining in Abkhazia constitute a "majority at risk." This statement is not meant to obscure the past reality, or future possibility, of persecution of Abkhazians, but instead reflects the complexity of ethnic conflict in post-Soviet Georgia and the Caucasus in general. While religion (Islam versus Christianity) is a motive force in several Caucasian disputes, the Abkhaz conflict springs from competing visions of nationalism and ethnicity. Before the Georgian-Abkhaz war of 1992-1993, Georgians represented approximately 69 percent of the country's population and 46 percent of Abkhazia's (the Abkhaz themselves numbered about 18 percent of their titular republic). Conflict between the two groups runs as a thread through the pre-Tsarist, Tsarist, Soviet, and post-Soviet eras. The recent war and subsequent stalemate must, therefore, be seen as the latest in a series of Georgian-Abkhaz armed and political conflicts that have punctuated their mutual history.
The situation for the Georgians of Abkhazia remains unresolved and extremely dangerous. Abkhaz authorities have announced specific quotas for the return of refugees (in May 1995 set at no more than 200 per week), but their security has been inadequately protected -- or deliberately neglected -- by both the government of Abkhazia and the 3,000 Russian peacekeepers deployed in the region since June 1994. The difficulty of securing the lives and property of refugees is underscored by the fact that thousands (perhaps as many as 40,000) have returned unofficially, and therefore are not registered with any Abkhaz, Georgian, or international governmental agency.
Ultimately, Abkhazia's Georgians will find security only when a comprehensive political settlement is reached between Tbilisi and the separatists. Given the complexity and intensity of Georgian and Abkhazian politics, and the potential spill-over effects of the region's multiple conflicts, lasting tranquility may depend on a larger Caucasian peace process. If so, the ethnic Georgians of Abkhazia will likely remain a majority at risk well into the next century."

Document(s): 00.08.2001 - University of Maryland - Minorities at Risk: Risk Assessment