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War and Peace in the Caucasus

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PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/dfee6c/ WAR AND PEACE IN THE CAUCASUS 100 selected articles from IWPR’s Caucasus Reporting Service 2005 PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/dfee6c/ CONTENTS Introduction ................................................................ 4 2005 .......................................................................... 7 2004 ........................................................................ 65 2003 ...................................................................... 120 2002 ...................................................................... 168 2001 ...................................................................... 209 2000 ...................................................................... 232 1999 ...................................................................... 250 PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/dfee6c/ 4 everyone. tobelong main the of inrule the working Caucasus: haseach his her own or but the truth, facts should hefor remember she perhaps subject CRS, a or timeevery in new undertaking And another. of or side a one her sympathizer blood or is in his forworking IWPR point. to this up "quiet" considered were some been worsening regions a tensionsthe has ininter-ethnic in the of that sharp conflicts moreare dangerous than today werethey seven ago. years there Moreover, of war, thisonly In of peace. unfortunately, but is truth, notcase. the the Some of speak not to reason there wouldbe today, these issues writing on thatin hoped day. this to Chechen rebelsChechnya continues Russianoperation and between federal in forces "anti-terrorist" anOssetia, and North of Prigorodny region the clashed in Ingush addition,Abkhazia. Chechnya, In South and - andplace Ossetians Karabakh, Ossetia four wars took major years,last 10-15 thea where, in journalist region in unbiased events in an objective manner. But in fact it proved to be difficult work to be an region. the of furthest reaches in the takingplace developments of analysis and reports, cross-border joint standards, international to according conducted theseThis events. unique resourcepublished investigations bylocal journalists viewa on worldthe around provided readers Reporting Peace and for War Institute Every week theseduring six years, Caucasusthe Reporting Service (CRS) the of only a saw but beginningof of the new millennium, inregion. new the developments which during - not period 1999-2005 inCaucasus place a the from that have taken W WW WW .. II WW P R . N E TT Here inCaucasus, the is completely noone Every one objective. the of journalists fightingSince inof conflicts, we has allbut CRS had one at these actual ended Our job looks perhaps merely very tooutreasons and the simple: lay the of details basicThe youhave 100articles before the events collection yousummarizes in Introduction WARW AND WARW AND PEACE INPEACE THE IN CA THE UCASUS CA UCASUS A AND R A P AND R P EACE IN EACE CAUCASUS THE IN CAUCASUS THE AR ANDAR PEACE IN THE CAUCASUS PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/dfee6c/ CCaucaucasusauc asus RRRReportingeporting SSSServiceeervice Journalists should remind themselves of this rule as soon as the difficulties begin. For instance, they should remember this when writing the name for every piece of land they deal with - a name which differs from one ethnic group to another, and for which each group would fight to the last man to preserve. Or else, they should remember this rule when trying to combine contradictory information from officials and experts. And in the end they should try not to be the defender of the point of view of one of the conflicting sides - which can be a bit of an unusual position for them. Journalists who have worked and are working for IWPR in the Caucasus have to travel a difficult path. Some have been beaten, like David Paichadze in Tbilisi and Alan Parastaev in South Ossetia. Others have been jailed, like Vagram Agajanian in Stepanakert. Still one, Mark Grigorian in Yerevan, have had grenade thrown at him. And one, Elmar Huseinov of the Azerbaijani magazine, the Monitor, was murdered just this spring. For many of our journalists this professional path well began before they started writing for IWPR. But for others it was the first milestone in their career. It is our hope that in objectively describing facts and presenting different points of view on a subject, our journalism can serve as a means to overcome misunderstandings and find a way towards resolving the region's conflicts. We believe that by breaking information barriers and providing balanced analysis, professional journalism can be the bedrock for understanding and conflict-resolution. And so there we are, striving for objectivity. Of course, the authors of these 100 articles are at the end of the day only people - albeit people with a particularly strong drive for knowledge. But as members of their respective communities, they also represent a particular take on events. Taken together, we at IWPR's Caucasus Reporting Service believe that these dispatches provide an objective picture of the region. 5 PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/dfee6c/ 2005 WARWAAR R AND PPEACE EACE IN THE CAUCASUSCACAUCASUS UCASUS 6 PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/dfee6c/ CCaucaucasusauc asus RRRReportingeporting SSSServiceeervice 20052005 A A A A A I I I I Gas poisoning accident kills I G G G G Georgian prime minister G R R R R R O O O O O Tbilisi, February 2005 E E E E E Freak accident removes key figure of Georgian revolution at a critical stage. G G G G G An accidental gas leak was blamed for the death of Georgia's prime minister, Zurab Zhvania, robbing the inexperienced government that took power in the "Rose Revolution" of its most wily political operator. Officials said that Zhvania, 41, died of carbon monoxide poisoning on the night of February 2 while seeing a friend in the capital Tbilisi, although many ordinary people in this turbulent Caucasus country immediately gave way to conspiracy theories about an assassination. Bodyguards found Zhvania dead in an armchair at the apartment where he had apparently been playing backgammon with the regional deputy governor of Kvemo-Kartli region, Raul Usupov, whose body was discovered in the kitchen. President Mikheil Saakashvili described Zhvania's loss as "a huge blow for our country and personally for me as a president". His voice cracking, he added, "I have lost my closest friend, my most loyal adviser, my biggest ally." Some observers feared that Zhvania's absence will upset the sometimes fragile political balance in government, with the more radical faction, spearheaded by Defence Minister Irakly Okruashvili, gaining an upper hand. There was also a question over the possible effect on conflict resolution efforts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The president called an emergency cabinet session, starting with a moment of silence, as Georgians absorbed the news, coming two days after a car bomb near a separatist province killed three policemen and seriously injured 15. The president has seven days to name a new prime minister. President Vladimir Putin, who has tense relations with western-leaning Georgia, sent a letter of condolences, the Kremlin said. The US ambassador to Georgia, Richard Miles, praised Zhvania as a "courageous and wonderful man". Though never popular, Zhvania was considered the brains of the "Rose Revolution" which overthrew Eduard Shevardnadze in late 2003, as well as a steadying influence over the young radicals who took over, led by Saakashvili, 37. Hours after the news, Shevardnadze called Zhvania Georgia's "greatest state figure, a brilliant person". "It's a tragedy for Georgia at this critical moment," said Archil Gegeshidze of the Georgian 7 PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/dfee6c/ 2005 WARWAAR R AND PPEACE EACE IN THE CAUCASUSCACAUCASUS UCASUS Foundation for Strategic and International Studies. "He played a very unique and important role in the country. He was one of the most experienced statesmen in the country - a kind of brain trust of the government. It will be very hard to find an adequate replacement for him." Since independence from the Soviet Union, Georgians have experienced civil war, two separatist conflicts, the mysterious death of their first president, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, and several assassination attempts against Shevardnadze. Many ordinary Georgians immediately suspected foul play, citing Zhvania's sometimes difficult relations with Saakashvili, his involvement in attempts to resolve the separatist conflict in South Ossetia, and his role in a recent wave of privatisation deals. "I don't think this was an accident," Ketino Aznaurashvili, a Tbilisi doctor, said. "Someone wanted him dead." However, the evidence made public so far points to a poisoning from a faulty gas heater, a not infrequent occurrence in Tbilisi, where few buildings have central heating and gas supplies are sometimes cut. Deputy justice minister Levan Samkharauli said Zhvania's blood contained double the minimum amount of carboxihemoglobin needed to kill. "The body shows no signs of violence, " deputy prosecutor general Giorgi Janashia told journalists. Officials said the heater was an Iranian-made model and that there was insufficient air circulation to prevent the build-up of the fatal gas. The task for Saakashvili now is to rebuild a government in which Zhvania had been a key player. "He ensured there was a balance," said Paata Zakareishvili, analyst at the Centre for Development and Cooperation. Zhvania and Saakashvili "controlled each other". Now that there
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