Council of Europe Committee of Ministers urges Russia to withdraw troops from Georgia's occupied territories
Council of Europe urges Russia to withdraw troops
The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has again called on Russia to withdraw its troops from Georgia’s occupied regions and end so-called “borderisation” – the installation of border signs along the dividing lines in the Georgian-Ossetian and Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zones.
According to the Georgian Justice Ministry, at its September meeting the Committee of Ministers discussed the implementation of European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) judgments in the interstate case Georgia v Russia.
● The Committee reaffirmed its support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders and called on the Russian Federation to fulfil its international obligations.
● Among its demands, the Committee called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region and an end to so-called “borderisation”.
● The Committee also called on Russia to ensure the free and safe movement of the local population, access to property and the opportunity to receive education in the Georgian language in the Russian-occupied regions.
● The Committee of Ministers called for the necessary conditions to be created for the safe, voluntary and dignified return of displaced people to their homes and for an end to killings, abductions, torture, unlawful detention and other serious violations.
The Georgian Justice Ministry said the government had secured rulings in several major interstate cases against Russia at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, including cases concerning Russia’s deportation of Georgian citizens, the August 2008 war and Russia’s continuing occupation of Georgian territories.
According to the ministry, the Georgian authorities continue to work to secure the full implementation of the ECHR judgments through legal and diplomatic mechanisms.
