STATEMENT BY ABKHAZ PRESIDENT SERGEI BAGAPSH ON GEORGIA’S ATTEMPTS TO THWART NGO WORK IN THE REPUBLIC OF ABKHAZIA
The Georgia State
Ministry for Reintegration is currently pressuring NGOs working in
Abkhazia not to sign documents with the Republic‘s Government that
would establish a legal framework for them to operate in this country.
This untoward and unauthorized political maneuvering – a clear
interference in our internal affairs – could unnecessarily disrupt NGO
humanitarian services from 12 international organizations to thousands
of innocent civilians.
The Republic of Abkhazia
has been negotiating in good faith with NGOs operating in our country
for a year and a half to establish a legal framework that would enable
them to continue their much-needed work here. Since the dissolution of
the Moscow Agreement of 1994, in the wake of Abkhazia’s 2008
declaration of independence from Georgia and subsequent recognition by
the Russian Federation and three other United Nations Member Countries,
there has been no legal authority to govern NGOs serving Abkhazia.
Every country in the world has formal legal agreements with NGOs
operating within its borders. Those agreements are traditionally
co-signed by NGO executives and appropriate officials of the host
government. The 12 NGOs working in Abkhazia acknowledge that there
needs to be similar legal framework governing their presence here. Each
has been cooperating with us to establish appropriate language and a
legal spirit to establish that capacity.
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Now President Mikheil Saakashvili’s
State Ministry of Reintegration is proposing that NGOs working in
Abkhazia simply agree to a code of conduct that has no legal governing
authority. No government would stand for that, and no NGO would want
its people working under such ill-defined conditions. To make matters
worse, Georgia’s State Ministry of Reintegration is a farcical
ministry, with no legal standing in my country. As we have said many
times, The Republic of Abkhazia is not part of Georgia, and it never
will be. The Republic of Abkhazia is an independent country with its
own laws. It is only reasonable that we and the leaders of the NGOs
working in Abkhazia would insist on a valid legal instrument to govern
how each of the parties conducts themselves. Without rule-of-law
principles, neither party would be wise to continue their relationships.
I call on the international NGO
community to urge the Government of Georgia to cease immediately its
campaign to politicize humanitarian NGO services and to stay out of
Abkhazia’s sovereign internal affairs. We want the current NGOs that
work here to remain and they have assured us that they wish to do so.
The work they are doing here is important. The highly respected
International Crisis Group has affirmed that NGOs working in Abkhazia
make positive contributions to our country. In fact, ICG’s most recent
report recommends that these NGOs remain in Abkhazia. The Georgian
government’s interference in this work is shortsighted, untenable, and
inhumane. If Georgia’s leaders are allowed to succeed in this cynical
political maneuver, the ones who will suffer the most are the innocent
civilians who will be deprived of the assistance they need to build a
better future.
Sergei Bagapsh
President,
The Republic of Abkhazia
March 1, 2010
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