Georgia Accuses Abkhazia of Ethnic Cleansing

Multiple sources including Messenger and Georgian Times: In a statement that will surely be qualified hypocritical by Georgia’s own ethnic minorities as well as Georgia’s neighboring states, the Georgian Government has accused the Abkhaz authorities of human rights violations including ethnic cleansing.

Georgia has claimed that the Abkhaz government and the Russian “occupation troops” violate the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), that prohibit any kind of restriction on native language instruction.

The statement issued by Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs that I couldn’t locate on the Ministry’s website presumably said, “mass and gross human rights violations continue to take place on Georgia’s occupied territories."

The statement came after some Georgian mass media reported that Abkhaz authorities were forcing school teachers to teach in the Russian language in Abkhazia’s Gali district which is mostly populated by ethnic Georgians.

According to Rustavi 2 Georgian TV channel, Abkhazians have obliged teachers to use new textbooks prepared by the Abkhaz Education Ministry. Rustavi 2 claimed that Geography and History textbooks, in Russian, are written “in the way the separatists want”. Rustavi 2 also said that the Abkhaz Education Minister has promised to increase teachers’ salaries by 40 percent.

Omnipresence of Devil’s Hand

The Georgian Government that typically blames Russia for many of its problems, has spotted Russia’s “hand” in the new school program and has accused Russia of another form of “ethnic cleansing” in the breakaway region.

“Russia’s aim is firstly to do everything in its power to interfere with the functioning of international monitoring missions in the occupied territories and eventually achieve their expulsion, upon creating a kind of “new reality,” and then to engage in mass violations, acts of discrimination, restrictions and prohibitions to force the remaining local population to leave their places of residence, thus bringing to a conclusion the ethnic cleansing process that started way back in the 1990s,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry’s statement presumably reads.

The Abkhaz authorities have expressed their negative opinion on education being conducted in Georgian in the Gali district, saying that they do not wish to continue following Georgian education system/curriculum.

Talking to OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Knut Vollebaek, the Abkhaz Prime Minister said that his government “will not let any international organization interfere in this sphere, as there is a state body, the [Abkhaz] Ministry of Education, responsible for it.”

According to the Abkhazian information agency, this comment was in response to Vollebaek’s claims that Georgians have the right to receive education in their native language, just like Armenians, Russians and the Abkhaz. “Enabling Gali residents to receive education in their native language would contribute to their integration in Abkhaz society,” Vollebaek told the Abkhaz PM.

At the meeting, the PM did not rule out the possibility of considering the OSCE proposal to translate Abkhaz textbooks into Georgian. The PM said. “They are citizens of the Republic and no one deprives them of their right to study in their native language. We will not wish to do what Georgians did in Abkhazia in the 30’s and 40’s or in the last century when Abkhaz schools were closed down.”
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To read the comments by the Deputy Foreign Minister of Abkhazia on this topic, please click here.

For background information on Georgian-Abkhazian relations, please click here to read the UNHCR Refworld online, World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples.
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A New Headache for Georgian Nationalism?

“Azerbaijanis represent the largest ethnic minority in Georgia but they have been overwhelmingly loyal to Tbilisi … unlike other groups such as the Armenians, they do not have any interest in an autonomous region.”

This is a typical example of rhetoric used by Georgia’s Azeri minority – traditionally one of the most docile ethnic groups in Georgia - for the past two decades. The minority’s accommodating posture towards Georgia’s central power has been favored by the Azerbaijani government in accordance with its geopolitical and economic interests.

Due to its conflict with neighboring Armenia, the landlocked country has had to depend on Georgia for much of its international trade, including and above all its oil exports.

It seems, however, the Azeri minority has become more vocal in recent times and its representatives more demanding.

Unsurprisingly, the demands put forward by the Azeris, so far, are very similar, if not identical, to those of the Armenian minority - the recognition of their democratic/human rights in areas of culture and education.

True, Azeris don’t call for autonomy – at least for now. This is a scary word in Georgia as autonomy is seen as prelude to secession. But if they don’t use the word, it is not that they don’t mean it.

Broken Promises

Trend Azerbaijani news agency reports that Azerbaijanis in Georgia complain of their “unresolved problems” which the Georgian government had previously promised to address but has not done so.

“The Georgian Government’s promise on solution of Azerbaijanis’ problems in the country was not fulfilled in 2008. The government has not taken any measures to solve existing problems,” according to Mr. Alibala Asgarov, the Chairman of Geyrat National Movement of Azerbaijanis in Georgia (geyrat means pride in Azeri).

Georgia’s Azeris basically complain of problems connected with:
> the study of the official state language (Georgian)
> restrictions placed on education in their mother tongue (Azerbaijani)
> restrictions on purchasing and ownership of land
> barriers to obtaining high-level positions at public administration in regions and districts where they live

According to Mr. Asgarov, Georgia’s Azeris hope that in 2009 a state body will be established to review and resolve their problems. “None of the official bodies care about resolving the problems of ethnic minorities in Georgia. If such a state body is established, ethnic minorities can hope to resolve their problems at governmental level,” he said.

The issue of such a structure was recently discussed at the Georgian parliament and meetings were held between the minorities and governmental officials.

Mr. Ali Babayev, the Chairman of the Congress of Azerbaijanis in Georgia, a more submissive Azeri organization, declared for its part that 2008 was a “difficult year” for Azeris in Georgia. “Loss of Georgia’s territory, difficult economic situation affected living condition of Azerbaijanis in Georgia as well,” Babayev said. “The Congress of Azerbaijanis in Georgia will continue protecting Azerbaijanis’ rights and assisting in their integration into the Georgian society,” the Chairman of the CAG added.

Georgia’s Azeris mainly live in the region of Kvemo-Kartli (Borchali). The region's official website, however, does not indicate their presence.

Map from Wiki commons.
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