Sede Amministrativa: Università degli Studi di Padova Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche Giuridiche e Studi Internazionali ___________________________________________________________________ CORSO DI DOTTORATO DI RICERCA IN:DIRITTO INTERNAZIONALE, PRIVATO E DEL LAVORO CICLO 29º THE RIGHT OF PEOPLES TO SELF-DETERMINATION IN THE POST SOVIET AREA: THE CASE OF ABKHAZIA Coordinatore: Ch.ma Prof. (Manuela Mantovani) Supervisore: Ch.ma Prof. (Alessandra Pietrobon) Dottoranda: (Yugina Mishota ) 2 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS INTRODUCTION I. PERESTROIKA.............................................................................................................. p.12 1. The ‘New Thinking’ in foreign policy ................................................................................... p.13 2. Economic reforms .................................................................................................................. p.15 a. Gradual economic reforms: ‘Uskorenie’ (acceleration) ......................................................... p.16 b. Radical economic reforms ..................................................................................................... p.17 3. Political reforms: ‘Glasnost’ (openness) ................................................................................ p.20 4. Criticism and self-criticism .................................................................................................... p.21 5. Democratisation ..................................................................................................................... p.22 PART ONE GENERAL ASPECTS CHAPTER I THE SECESSIONIST MOVEMENTS AND THE WAR OF LAWS WITHIN THE SOVIET UNION 1. The effects of Perestroika and Glasnost ............................................................................... p.25 2. The requests for greater autonomy within the Soviet Union ................................................. p.26 3. The unilateral declarations of independence by the Baltic Republics ................................... p.27 a. Historical backgrounds .......................................................................................................... p.28 b. Assessment of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the secret Protocol ................................... p.29 CHAPTER II THE LEGAL BASIS FOR SEPARATION AND CREATION OF THE NEW STATES 1. The law on Secession ............................................................................................................. p.32 2. The law “On the delineation of powers between the USSR and the subjects of the federation” ............................................................................................................................. p.36 3. The drafts of the All-Union Agreements ................................................................................ p.38 4. The All Union Referendum .................................................................................................... p.40 5. The declaration of independence of the Secessionist States .................................................. p.42 3 CHAPTER III THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE INDEPENDENT STATES 1. The Revolt of August 1991 .................................................................................................... p.43 2. The Belavezha Accords of 8 December 1991 or Minsk meeting .......................................... p.44 3. The Declaration of five Asian republics ................................................................................ p.45 4. The legal nature of the Minsk and Alma Ata agreements ...................................................... p.46 5. The Russian Federation as successor/continuator to the USSR ............................................. p.48 6. The legal basis of boundary delimitation between the new States ........................................ p.51 a. The right to external self-determination under Soviet legislation ......................................... p.51 b. Territorial Referendum ........................................................................................................... p.52 c. The CIS treaties...................................................................................................................... p.53 CHAPTER IV APPLICABILITY OF THE UTI POSSIDETIS PRINCIPLE TO THE STATES EMERGED FROM THE SOVIET UNION 1. The uti possidetis doctrine and its extension beyond the colonial context ............................ p.55 2. Uti possidetis juris in relation to the USSR secession ........................................................... p.57 3. Following: Uti possidetis juris and effectiveness .................................................................. p.61 4. Application of uti possidetis to all types of boundaries ......................................................... p.62 5. Is the situation of secession (de facto dismemberment) from the USSR similar to other situations where the uti possidetis was applied? .................................................................... p.63 6. Is it possible to affirm that the principle of uti possidetis is a general customary rule? ........ p.65 7. The interpretation of the CIS treaties as involving application of uti possidetis: critiques .. p.66 8. Uti possidetis and self-determination..................................................................................... p.71 9. The value of recognition ........................................................................................................ p.73 10. Concluding remarks .......................................................................................................... p.73 4 PART TWO ANALYSIS OF THE ABKHAZIAN CASE CHAPTER I HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN EARLIER TIMES 1. The birth of Georgia: the Kartli-Kakheti Kingdoms.............................................................. p.74 2. The Georgevsk Agreement of 1783 on the Protectorate ........................................................ p.77 3. The extinction of the Karli-Kakheti Kingdoms and the birth of Georgia ............................ p.80 4. The official transformation of Georgia into a Russian province .......................................... p.80 5. The legal status of Abkhazia under the Russian Empire ........................................................ p.81 CHAPTER II THE DISSOLUTION OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE AND THE ORIGIN OF THE GEORGIAN-ABKHAZIAN CONFLICT 1. The collapse of the Russian Empire and the birth of the Russian Republic ........................ p.83 2. The birth of the Russian Socialist Federative Republic ...................................................... p.84 a. The Russian Soviet Republic ............................................................................................... p.84 b. The Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of 1918 and its consequences ...................... p.84 c. Civil war and foreign military intervention ......................................................................... p.86 3. The status of Georgia in 1917-1918 .................................................................................... p.87 a. The Transcaucasian Republic and the Georgian Democratic Republic .............................. p.87 b. The Brest-Litovsk agreement and the occupation of the Transcaucasian Republic ............ p.88 c. The Georgian Democratic Republic under German-Turkish occupation ............................ p.89 4. The status of Abkhazia in 1917-1918 .................................................................................. p.91 a. The access of Abkhazia to the Union of Mountain Peoples of Caucasus ........................... p.91 b. The Treaty between Abkhazian National Congress and Georgian National Congress ...... p.93 c. The German-Georgian aggression and occupation of Abkhazia ......................................... p.94 5. The relationships between Georgia and Abkhazia under German occupation 1918-1919 .... 95 6. The Georgian-Abkhazian relationship in 1919-1921 .......................................................... p.96 7. The background of the 1920 Agreement of Moscow .......................................................... p.97 8. The Georgian legal evaluation of the Treaty ....................................................................... p.99 9. The Abkhazian legal evaluation of the Treaty ................................................................... p.100 10. The treaty in the light of modern international law and jus cogens ................................. p.101 11. The effects of the Moscow Treaty ..................................................................................... p.102 5 12. The reaction of third States ................................................................................................ p.102 CHAPTER III LEGAL STATUS OF GEORGIA AND ABKHAZIA UNDER SOVIET UNION LEGISLATION 1. The foundation of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.................................................. p.103 2. The liberation of Abkhazia, the creation of the Abkhazian Socialist Soviet Republic ........ p.103 3. The Treaty of 1921 between the Georgian Socialist Soviet Republic and the Abkhazian Socialist Soviet Republic and their access to the Union of Transcaucasian Federative Republics.............................................................................................................................. p.104 4. The foundation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the legal status of the Georgian and Abkhazian Soviet Socialist