Jun 06, 2007

UNPO Presidency Meets in the Republic of Abkhazia


The Presidency of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), lead by UNPO President Mr. Ledum Mitee, met in the Republic of Abkhazia from 31 May to 3 June 2007. Observing first hand the challenges Abkhazia’s ambiguous status presents, much discussion sought to draw upon the experience of Presidency Members facing similar challenges, including representatives from Taiwan, Zanzibar, and the Ogoni.

Since the end of hostilities in 1993, the people of Abkhazia have been attempting to rebuild their country from a perilous position of political isolation. Their de facto independence is yet to be recognised by any existing state party, whilst the ongoing embargo prohibits the effective provision of healthcare, education, and employment opportunities for its people, as well as the return of refugees displaced during the region’s many conflicts.

The Presidency of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), lead by UNPO President Mr. Ledum Mitee, met in the Republic of Abkhazia from 31 May to 3 June 2007. Observing first hand the challenges Abkhazia’s ambiguous status presents, much discussion sought to draw upon the experience of Presidency Members facing similar challenges, including representatives from Taiwan, Zanzibar, and the Ogoni.

Meetings with H.E. President Sergei Bagapsh and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Sergey Shamba, as well as Abkhaz civil society organisations and academics, confirmed however UNPO’s confidence in the Government of the Republic of Abkhazia’s commitment to move beyond the era of conflict by constructing transparent democratic institutions based on the rule of law. UNPO welcomed in particular Abkhazia’s recent moratorium on the death penalty, along with its determination to join also other international instruments of human rights protection.

All discussions, including those held during a high profile conference on 1 June 2007 in Sukhum, emphasised however that further democratic and economic development requires greater international involvement, premised on a willingness to take a realistic view of the current situation in Abkhazia and to recognise the legitimate claims of the Abkhaz people as expressed within their democratic framework.

The broad range of experiences present within the UNPO Presidency offered a number of new perspectives on prospects for thawing the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, now frozen for over a decade. Above all, participants stressed consistently the necessity of maintaining an atmosphere of trust and stability, requiring first and foremost a firm commitment to nonviolence as the only legitimate basis for conflict resolution.

In addition to discussing the forthcoming work of UNPO, the Presidency consequently debated and adopted a Declaration outlining their position on the current situation in the Republic of Abkhazia. Addressed to members of the international community, including the G8, the UN, the European Commission, the OSCE, and national and European Parliamentarians, the Declaration recommends that the international community takes a leading role in addressing the frozen conflicts of the Caucasus region, not only through increased development assistance directed specifically to the people of Abkhazia, but also by encouraging European Parliamentarians to engage directly with their democratic colleagues in Abkhazia.  

As the international community is on the verge of acknowledging that the Kosova conflict will require innovation and difficult decisions from existing state parties, UNPO Presidency Members noted also that the time was right for this precedent now also be applied to other unresolved conflicts with their roots in the collapse of the USSR.

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For more information or queries, please contact the UNPO Secretariat, Mr. Michael Gibb, by telephone: +31(0)70 3646504 or by email: [email protected]