Ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia

Ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia
A visitor at a gallery recognizes her dead son in a photograph on the 12th anniversary of the ethnic cleansing in Abkhazia, 2005.
LocationAbkhazia, Georgia
Date1992–1998
TargetGeorgian population, Oppositions to the new Government of Abkhazia
Attack type
Ethnic cleansing, Massacres, Deportations, others
Deaths5,000–5,738 killed[1]
Victims200,000[2] – 267,345[1] displaced, 400 missing[1]
PerpetratorsAbkhaz separatists
MotiveAnti-Georgian sentiment

The ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia,[3][4][5][6] also known in Georgia as the genocide of Georgians in Abkhazia (Georgian: ქართველთა გენოციდი აფხაზეთში),[7] refers to the ethnic cleansing,[8] massacres,[9] and forced mass expulsion of thousands of ethnic Georgians living in Abkhazia during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict of 1992–1993 and 1998 at the hands of Abkhaz separatists and their allies.[6][10][11][12][13] Armenians, Greeks, Russians, and opposing Abkhazians were also killed.[14]

In 2007, 267,345 Georgian civilians were registered as internally displaced persons (IDPs).[15] The ethnic cleansing and massacres of Georgians have been officially recognized by Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) conventions in 1994, 1996, and again in 1997 during the Budapest, Lisbon, and Istanbul summits, which condemned the "perpetrators of war crimes committed during the conflict."[16]

On 15 May 2008, the United Nations General Assembly adopted (by 14 votes to 11, with 105 abstentions) a resolution A/RES/62/249, which "Emphasizes the importance of preserving the property rights of refugees and internally displaced persons from Abkhazia, Georgia, including victims of reported "ethnic cleansing," and calls upon all the Member States to deter persons under their jurisdiction from obtaining property within the territory of Abkhazia, Georgia in violation of the rights of returnees."[17] The UN Security Council passed a series of resolutions in which it appealed for a cease-fire.[18]

  1. ^ a b c Gamakharia, Jemal (2015). INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY TO BRING A VERDICT ON THE TRAGEDY OF ABKHAZIA/GEORGIA (PDF). Khvicha Kardava. pp. 7, 62, 94. ISBN 978-9941-461-12-5. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  2. ^ Human Rights Watch, GEORGIA/ABKHAZIA: VIOLATIONS OF THE LAWS OF WAR AND RUSSIA'S ROLE IN THE CONFLICT
  3. ^
    • * Budapest Declaration and Geneva Declaration on Ethnic Cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia between 1992 and 1993 adopted by the OSCE and recognized as ethnic cleansing in 1994 and 1999
    • * Anatol Lieven, "Victorious Abkhazian Army Settles Old Scores in An Orgy of Looting, The Times, 4 October 1993
    • * The Human Rights Field Operation: Law, Theory and Practice, Abkhazia Case, Michael O'Flaherty
    • * The Politics of Religion in Russia and the New States of Eurasia, Michael Bourdeaux, p. 237–238
    • * Managing Conflict in the Former Soviet Union: Russian and American Perspectives, Alekseĭ Georgievich Arbatov, p. 388
    • * Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties by Roger Kaplan, p 564
    • * Small Nations and Great Powers: A Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict in the Caucasus, p 174
  4. ^ The Guns of August 2008, Russia's War in Georgia, Svante Cornell & Frederick Starr, p 27
  5. ^ In Georgia, Tales of Atrocities Lee Hockstander, International Herald Tribune, 22 October 1993
  6. ^ a b On Ruins of Empire: Ethnicity and Nationalism in the Former Soviet Union Georgiy I. Mirsky, p. 72
  7. ^ Tamaz Nadareishvili, Conspiracy Against Georgia, Tbilisi, 2002
  8. ^ Human Rights Watch Helsinki, Vol 7, No 7, March 1995, p 230
  9. ^ Crossroads and Conflict: Security and Foreign Policy in the Caucasus and Central Asia, Gary K. Bertsch, Page 161
  10. ^ Cornell Svante. Autonomy and Conflict: Ethnoterritoriality and Separatism in South Caucasus-Cases in Georgia, p 181
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Georgiy Mirsky 1997 p 73 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Goltz Thomas. Georgia Diary: A Chronicle of War and Political Chaos in the Post-Soviet (United States: M.E. Sharpe 2006), p 133
  13. ^ Chervonnaia Svetlana. Conflict in the Caucasus: Georgia, Abkhazia, and the Russian Shadow, p 59
  14. ^ Conflict in the Caucasus: Georgia, Abkhazia, and the Russian Shadow by S. A. Chervonnaia and Svetlana Mikhailovna Chervonnaia, pp 12–13
  15. ^ Abkhazia Today. Archived May 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine The International Crisis Group. Europe Report N°176 – 15 September 2006, page 23. Free registration needed to view full report
  16. ^ Resolution of the OSCE Budapest Summit Archived 2017-10-17 at the Wayback Machine, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, 1994-12-06
  17. ^ A/RES/62/249, A/62/PV.97
  18. ^ Commonwealth and Independence in Post-Soviet Eurasia Commonwealth and Independence in Post-Soviet Eurasia by Bruno Coppieters, Alekseĭ Zverev, Dmitriĭ Trenin, p 61