The Fourth meeting of IISS facilitated Georgian-Ossetian Dialogue took place on May 19-20, 2006 in Tbilisi (Georgia). The meeting was dedicated to continuing discussions of restitution and compensation process for the victims of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict. More than 80 participants took part in the meeting which included senior Government representatives, members of the Georgian parliament, Georgian NGOs as well as representatives of refugee organisations from North Ossetia and South Ossetia. In addition representatives of UNHCR (from Vladikavkaz and Tbilisi), OSCE, the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, the Delegation of the European Commission in Georgia as well as representatives of British, US and Russian Embassies took part in the meeting. The meeting was funded by the UK Global Conflict Prevention Pool.
The meeting was opened by the State Minister for Conflict resolution Georgi Khaindrava, State Minister for Civil Integration Zinaida Bestaeva and Minister for Refugees and Accommodation Georgi Khelashvili. They have emphasised the importance of adopting the Law on Property Restitution and Compensation for the victims of conflict and expressed hope that this law and the process of restitution could serve as an important confidence-building measure for Georgian-Ossetian relations.
The meeting took place three months after the first IISS facilitated Georgian-Ossetian Dialogue meeting on restitution and compensation took place in Vladikavkaz (North Ossetia). During that meeting representatives of Ossetian refugees from Georgia, who were forced to leave Georgia in the early 1990s and who currently reside in North Ossetia, expressed their comments and criticism about the draft law. Subsequently it was expected that the draft law would be discussed within the framework of the official negotiating process under the ad-hoc committee of refugees (created by the Joint Control Commission). However such discussion, which was authorised by the JCC protocol from March 29, 2006, failed to take place amid the opposition from the South Ossetian side. A week before the second IISS facilitated Dialogue meeting on restitution and compensation in Tbilisi, the Georgian government has approved the draft law and submitted it to the parliament. The latest draft is yet to receive a comprehensive assessment from international organisations such the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and UNHCR. Moreover, all international organisations and potential donors continue to emphasize the importance of continuing Georgian-Ossetian dialogue on the draft law to ensure that it could be implemented in practice, that it meets the needs and expectations of refugees themselves and that it could really serve as a confidence-building instrument, rather than an additional source of tension between all sides of the conflict.
In light of these developments, IISS Senior Fellow Oksana Antonenko, who chaired the Tbilisi meeting of the Georgian-Ossetian Dialogue, outlined its three main objectives. The first objective was to continue informal discussions of the new draft law and to assess what changes were made to the draft following Georgian-Ossetian discussions in Vladikavkaz. The second objective was to promote open and comprehensive discussion within Georgian society, NGOs, the Georgian government and parliament regarding this draft law. Such discussions are important to make sure that the adoption of the law proceeds in a transparent and comprehensive manner. The third objective was to engage international organisations and donors in discussions about the restitution process and to highlight to them the prospects and the obstacles for achieving Georgian-Ossetian co-operation in this process.
The meeting has met all of these objectives. It produced an active and lively exchange of views with different opinions expressed. While the Georgian participants sought to demonstrate political will, practical arrangements and readiness to promote restitution of property and refugee return, the Ossetian refugees continued to insist that the majority of refugees are not prepared to return, citing security concerns and uncertainties about the peace process in South Ossetia, and therefore the majority of refugees would prefer compensation instead over restitution. Special discussions were dedicated to exploring disagreements over the definition of conflict and the title of the draft law. The majority of participants agreed that the conflict should be defined as ethno-political, rather than in geographic terms and that it should clearly concern the entire territory of Georgia, rather than an armed conflict in South Ossetia. It was evident that the title had to address three main objectives: to describe the main essence of the law, to serve as a confidence building measure by not causing strong disagreements from any sides of the conflict and be realistic and acceptable for the international community as well as for the Georgian parliament which has to adopt the law.
Active discussions and interest towards restitution and compensation issues emphasise the need to continue the Georgian-Ossetian dialogue on these maters in the time remaining before the law is adopted. IISS hopes that our Dialogue meetings in Vladikavkaz and Tbilisi could provide a strong foundation for new bi-lateral and multilateral initiatives between Georgian and Ossetian NGOs.
