Ariane Tombet: “Conflict Parties Wish to Support Search of Missing People”

Irina Ardashelia
News Agency “Pirveli”

Although 19 years have passed since 1990s Georgian-Abkhazian conflict, the family members of many victimized people are still missing.  Victims of the armed conflict in August of 2008 also do not know the whereabouts of their missing family members. 

“Pirveli” interviewed head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Delegation in Georgia Ariane Tombet concerning the issue.

-The issue of missing people from the war in Abkhazia is still very urgent because many people still do not have information about their relatives. Your organization has been working on the issue for a long time and what is the position of the Abkhaz side about this problem?

-Our organization has been working in Georgia since 1992. Our mandate originated from the Geneva Convention whose member states grant us mandate to work in the armed conflict zones and in all hot spots where violence is observed. Unfortunately, there are many similar hot spots worldwide. Armed conflicts end up with various sorts of victims: internally displaced people, people with restricted freedom and missing people. These categories are common in every conflict. The reason of disappearance might differ. The family members of missing people from both conflicts (1992-93 and 2008) apply to us for help. They urge us to help them in getting information. However, you know that during military operations, it is very difficult to search a person and as a rule we start the process in the post-conflict period.

Since 1990s, we have been working on the issue and our work continues in the regime of dialogue; however, concrete activities were launched in 2009. Speaking on these activities, I would like to single out two directions: the first is promotion of dialogue [between conflict parties]. Since the 1990s conflict between Georgian and Abkhaz people, the dialogue on missing people shall be conducted between the government of Georgia and de-facto authority of Abkhazia. Concrete results were achieved in December of 2010. With our mediation, high-level meeting was held between the Abkhazian de-facto and Georgian governments. The concrete output was creation of the so-called coordination mechanism which is regularly gathered once in 2-3 months and discusses particular cases.

I would like to note that without the desire of the parties, it would be impossible to start process. Of course, during our activities, we preserve the confidentiality for clear reasons. It is a very fragile process and we should promote enhancement of the dialogue; so the confidentiality is urgently important for our success.

-We speak about the search of missing people and about delivery of their corpse to the Georgian side. How the negotiations are going on and what procedures are implemented?

-Generally, it is very difficult to work on the problem of missing people and it takes a while. Of course, we try to work in a hurry in order to enable the family members to get any information about their missing relatives at least 20 years later. Although much time has passed, people still believe that their relatives are still alive. We want everything to be done in compliance with the international standards. When the location of concrete grave is estimated, we start exhumation, then the corpse is taken and examined; after the identification, it is handed to the family. All these procedures take long time and everything shall be done in accordance to the international standards.

As for the Abkhazian party, currently we are collecting information there. It is pre-death data. More precisely, all information about missing people is collected among family members. Next year, we will start the same procedures here with the support of the volunteers of the Georgian Red Cross Organization. It is difficult to predict, but we hope next year we will be able to start exhumation. However, I hope you understand that everything depends on the clearance of the information.

I do not want to give false promises to people who are waiting for the process. I would like to stress out that there is a wish of the government of Georgia and Abkhazian de-facto authority. Both parties are ready to support the process. We also try to speed up the process.

As for the missing people from 2008 armed conflict, another coordination mechanism was created for the resolution of the problem and representatives of Georgia, de-facto South Ossetia and Russia participate in it. The coordinative mechanism gathers on the administrative border line with the mediation of the Red Cross. Our organization chairs the meetings organized under both mechanisms because we monitor the process. Although the meetings are very sensitive, we have achieved some progress.

When speaking about concrete outcomes, I would like to say that our expert-anthropologist went to Tskhinvali in April. A grave of allegedly missing person was found there; the corpse was exhumated, then it was taken to the Tbilisi National Expertise Center, the corpse was identified and finally was handed to the family members. We hope we will have concrete results in other cases too.

-Where do you get information and how many people are considered missing?

-About 40 people disappeared during the armed conflict in 2008. About 2 000 people disappeared during the conflict in Abkhazia. First of all, we get information from family members who can give us the most accurate information about their family members. We also cooperate with family unions, associations about missing people as well as the government which bears the primary responsibility in the field. The existing mechanism aims to exchange this information. Finally, the collected information is accumulated in our office. After the last conflict, very often people apply to us and state that they remember the locations of the graves which they had personally dug; however, it is difficult to investigate facts that occurred 20 years ago.

I would like to underline that we successfully cooperate with local non-governmental organization who have professional psychologists. They are: GCRT, “Xenon”, “Step Towards Future,” as well as Association for Missing People “Molodini” and Ministry of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Refugees and Accommodation. The government pays the key role in the process because governmental officials receive the initial information. In this case our role is restricted. We assist the government in executing their responsibilities. So, we do not bear the initial responsibility. We are a neutral mediator due to the mandate of the ICRC.

Our activities are not much reported. Sometimes the issues are politicized. Our work has only humanitarian character. We try to maintain humanitarian approach to every issue and protect the process from politization. We aim to provide the family members with useful information, to assist them to receive the corpse of the relative in order to enable them to bury him according to their own tradition and be able to start a new life.

Very often, when we meet family members, they say that entering the church they do not know whether they have to pray for the missing people as dead or alive. I had honor to meet the Patriarch of Georgia and talk on these problems with him. The Patriarch told us he would pray for missing people together with dead and alive people.

-What is the approach of Abkhaz party to the issue?

-They have similar approach as Georgian side does. I mentioned Georgian Family Association and the Abkhaz side also has similar union “Mothers of Abkhazia”; besides that, a local psychologist assists the families of the missing people. Missing people from both parties go into those 2 000 people which I mentioned above.

-There is assumption that part of Georgian missing people are currently in Drandi Prison in Abkhazia. Do you know anything about it and if you do, how many Georgian hostages are there?

-One trend of our activities is to work in detention settings. So, we visit and evaluate the conditions in prisons in accordance to humanitarian standards. Besides, we have a special program which enables family members of the captures on both sides of the administrative border line to cross the line and visit their relatives in custodies and then return home. All our observations, recommendations prepared after our visits in custodies are confidential and shall be assigned to the authority of the relevant party; so it ensures confidentiality.

We cooperate with relevant institutions and family members who apply to us. They ask us to estimate the exact information; then we share the gathered information with them. First of all, when we start investigation, we check the detention settings because the missing people might be there.

-And finally, you personally meet the representatives of both parties; Abkhaz and Ossetian people; what is their position about Georgian side?

-It is difficult to say because those people have gone through the facts that had serious impact on them. Of course, there are some attitudes but it differs according to concrete histories of each person.