EUMM CALLS FOR IPRM MEETING TO DISCUSS FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT AND DETAINEE ISSUES AFTER LATEST INCIDENT

06.01.2010

On 6 January, the Head of the EU Monitoring Mission, Ambassador Haber called for an Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting early the following week to discuss freedom of movement and detainee issues close to the South Ossetian administrative boundary line. This would involve, as usual, representatives from the OSCE, Georgian Government, and the Russians and de facto South Ossetian authorities.

This follows a number of incidents, the most recent one, involving a South Ossetian resident Mr Genady Pliev, who was detained by the Georgian authorities on 4 January. The EUMM interviewed Mr Pliev yesterday, and discussed his case with the South Ossetian de facto authorities at meetings in Ergneti and then Tskhinvali. EUMM also visited the spot where Tskhinvali representatives alleged the detention took place, talking to his family and neighbours. Ambassador Haber has commented:

“We are trying hard to find out the details of this particular case and see what can be done to resolve the situation in the interests of all concerned. So far, the picture is unclear with conflicting reports of what exactly happened. We will continue to look into this in the coming days. Meanwhile, this case, following recent cases of detentions on both sides of the administrative boundary line, raises wider issues concerning freedom of movement, security, and detainees. Ultimately, with goodwill, detainees on both sides should be able to return to their homes. The right forum to address these issues is the IPRM process. I therefore call on all sides to meet early next week to discuss these issues.”

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