No Future Violation of Children’s Rights Land in Gali District Contacts E [email protected] W http://truth-hounds.org/en/ https://www.facebook.com/truthhounds E [email protected] W https://www.nofutureland.org/ https://www.facebook.com/Nofutureland/ Contents Executive Summary 4 Introduction 5 Sources of Information and Methodology of Documentation 7 The Rights of Children to Life and Health 8 Right to Education 12 Freedom of Movement 18 Legal Qualifications 23 The Right to Education 24 Freedom of Movement 25 The Right of Children to Life and Health 26 Conclusion and Recommendations 28 Authors of the Report 29 4 Executive Summary This report presents compelling evidence of human rights violations in occupied Abkhazian territories, specifically in Gali district, a predominantly Georgian part close to the boundary line. As for the time of the publication of this report, the people living in Gali are lacking the opportunity to cross the demarcation line without restrictions, they become victims of arbitrary detentions and illegal imprisonment, have limited accessibility to health services and are forced to apply for an “Abkhazian Passports” to get to work, to travel within and out of the region, etc. The right to education of children living in Gali is also violated. Their right and opportunity to education in their native Georgian language are deprived because Georgian was replaced with Russian at all schools of lower and upper zones of Gali in 2015. Children are the victims of “Russification”, ethnic discrimination and suppression of their Georgian identity. The amount of children crossing the boundary line on a daily basis, to study at schools on Tbilisi-controlled territory, is decreasing with every year. The state of children’s rights in the occupied territories is alarming. Introduction 5 This report focuses on the right to education in native language, freedom of movement (detention of minors), right of children to life and health, and socio-economic situation in Gali, the southernmost district of Georgian region of Abkhazia where, predominantly, ethnic Georgians have settled. The facts that this report refers to, occurred after the administrative border closures in 2016-2017. Abkhazia as well as another region Tskhinvali/South Ossetia has been occupied by Russian Federation for 25 years now. People living in occupied territories are facing several human rights violations including arbitrary detentions, restrictions of the freedom of movement, lack of proper protective mechanisms, limited access to services, ethnic discrimination and suppression of Georgian identity. “Russification” policy encompasses the prohibition of studying and communicating in the native language, low quality of education, ethnic discrimination and suppression of Georgian identity, war propaganda, dishonest treatment, problems connected to ofcial do cumentation, lo w qu ality an d li mited ac cessibility an d availability of health services, detention of minors etc. These are the issues children face on a daily basis in Gali district. All the above mentioned factors impose a negative impact on the children’s psyche, free will and mental development. The current human rights situation in the occupied territories of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region have largely been shaped by the conflicts of the 1990s and the ensuing developments. The conflicts h ave a fected ev ery as pect of th e people’s life there. In spite of the fact that armed conflict has ended 25 years ago in Abkhazia and eight years ago in Tskhinvali region, creeping occupation is an ongoing process and human rights issues continue to pose a serious challenges for local communities. Russian occupation forces continue to mark the boundary line with artificial barriers on a daily basis resulting in major implications on the inhabitants’ freedom of movement. Consequently, inhabitants of Gali become deprived of access to qualitative medical and educational facilities situated on the Georgian-controlled territories. Simultaneously, authorities of Abkhazia enforce the regulation that further limits the use of Georgian language at Gali schools and study of Georgian history. Such moves are intended to eliminate the Georgian identity of the residents in Gali. Abkhazia is a self-proclaimed republic, ruled by a Russian-backed government after the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict in 1992–1993. G eorgian authorities lost de facto control over Abkhazia. Though Abkhazia unilaterally declared independence in 1999, no international actor recognized it at that time. Russian Federation recognized the independence of Abkhazia (and South Ossetia) in the wake of the August 2008 war. Other countries namely Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru and in 2018, Syria followed suit. The European Union, together with the United States of America and the rest of the international community are supporting the territorial integrity of Georgia and do not recognize Abkhazia’s claim to independence. Ofcially, Tbilisi lacks the control over Abkhazia due to the unclear legal status and occupation. In addition, international human rights organizations have also limited access there. The ofce of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe High Commissioner for National Minorities (OSCE HCNM) and others could visit the region of Abkhazia without any restrictions prior to 2010. In that year the mission’s mandate was terminated as the result of a veto imposed by the Russian Federation. Issues in Gali district are among the most contentious in the Georgian-Abkhaz 6 context. Over the past two decades, people living in Gali are experiencing significant vulnerabilities. What makes situation in Gali even more sensitive and fragile is the fact that the territory of Gali, specifically the lower zone of the district, runs along the administrative boundary line (ABL). Gali residents face diferent problems connected to documentation, access to education, crossing the administrative boundary line through crossing points, access to health services. One of the resent cases that violated most of the above mentioned rights took place in January 2019 and is still ongoing during the editing period of this report. In the beginning of January, de facto authorities of Abkhazia declared quarantine due to reports H1N1 (Swine Flu), and people living on occupied territories can’t leave Abkhazia unless they are Enguri Hydro-Power Plant employees and persons with medical certificates. Certificates are issued by the Gali central hospital and they need to be confirmed by so-called State Security Service. People are standing in the queues for days to get this certificates, cross ABL and get medical services in Tbilisi-controlled hospitals even if they need emergency services. As Gali residents say: “You can cross the border unofcially if you will pay border guards, but cost is pretty high for people in difcult socio-economic situation”. Victims of this quarantine situation are students, who study in Tbilisi or Zugdidi. They were in Gali for New Year holidays and now can’t cross the ABL back, even though they have exams to pass. Gali residents say, that they don’t know exactly when the crossing points will be opened again.1 It’s not surprising that most of the children from Gali try to find their way to Tbilisi- controlled territories and continue to study and/or work in the capital city or in Zugdidi, but some of them are forced to stay in this “No Future Land”. 1 https://www.radiotavisupleba.ge/a/%E1%83%95%E1%83%98%E1%83%9C-%E1%83%93%E1%83%90- %E1%83%A0%E1%83%9D%E1%83%92%E1%83%9D%E1%83%A0-%E1%83%99%E1%83%95%E1%83%94% E1%83%97%E1%83%A1-%E1%83%94%E1%83%9C%E1%83%92%E1%83%A3%E1%83%A0%E1%83%98%E1 %83%A1-%E1%83%AE%E1%83%98%E1%83%93%E1%83%A1-%E1%83%99%E1%83%90%E1%83%A0%E1% 83%90%E1%83%9C%E1%83%A2%E1%83%98%E1%83%9C%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1-%E1%83%9E%E1%83 %98%E1%83%A0%E1%83%9D%E1%83%91%E1%83%94%E1%83%91%E1%83%A8%E1%83%98/29742026. html?fclid=IwAR3f5AyjmDk6SXE3xxDV0vqmCwHTs8b0GpQYVxKpgXXgtLD35rMKr6ddATo (last access 31.01.2019) Sources of Information and 7 Methodology of Documentation This report is intended to outline the findings of three Truth Hounds’ preliminary Fact-Finding-Missions which took place in Summer and early Autumn of 2018 into the possible violations of children rights. There is no complete data, nor quantitative surveys or statistic available to paint a realistic picture of children’s rights issues in occupied Abkhazia. While preparing the report, we mostly relied on data gathered by the Georgian government and the Ofce of the Public Defender of Georgia, which itself has no direct representation in Abkhazia. We also used the interviews with people living in the aficted area to gain a realistic picture of local trends and needs. Consequently, the report does not fully cover the range of problems and challenges that afect children in Gali. But it highlights important facts about violations, which Truth Hounds has managed to verify. Prior to these missions, desk research revealed the need for concrete evidence into the possible violations of children rights through interviews with directly affected residence of Gali district. An in-depth questionnaire was compiled as a result of the above mentioned desk research. During the fact-finding missions Truth Hounds conducted 56 interviews mostly with the people raised in Gali district who entered universities in Tbilisi and Zugdidi during the last two years. The evidence of violations presented in this report has been empirically documented by Truth Hounds through field missions and interviews, or collected from reliable sources. 8 The Rights of Children to Life and Health A problematic issue, for children living in occupied territories, are the underdeveloped medical services.