CoE urges Russia to dismantle barbed wire in Georgia’s occupied regions
By Jamila Babayeva
Russia must immediately dismantle its barbed wire and other artificial barriers installed in Georgia's separatist regions, Council of Europe (CoE) Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland said.
This was stated in CoE Secretary General's ninth consolidated report "Conflict in Georgia", which was discussed at a meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the Georgian foreign ministry reported.
The CE member-states appreciated the document during the debate
on the report.
Only Russia's representative questioned the effectiveness of the
consolidated report of the CE Secretary General.
CE member-states made a decision in which they expressed concern about human rights violations as a result of installing barbed wire at the administrative border with Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region.
Russia installed the barbed wire and other artificial barriers, according to a decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
Georgia broke off relations with Russia in August 2008 when Moscow crushed a Georgian assault to reassert control over two rebel regions -South Ossetia and Abkhazia- and later recognized the regions. Georgia announced the two unrecognized republics as occupied territories in September 2008.