09 June 2004, 12:30
South Osetian NGOs protest against actions of Georgian armed forces
South Osetian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have addressed an open letter to Head of the OSCE Mission in Georgia Ambassador Roy Reeve in connection with the bringing of Georgian armed units and military equipment in the zone of the Georgian-Osetian conflict.
The letter reads that in the situation that has arisen, both NGO representatives and South Osetian people expected an appropriate reaction to the provocative actions of the Georgian side and mediatorial efforts for normalization of relations between the sides from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which performs a mediatorial mission in the zone of the conflict.
The NGOs are also dissatisfied with the fact that when the wife of Mikhail Saakashvili, Sandra Roelofs, came to the South Osetian border with the intention to visit Georgian villages on the second day after the bringing of the troops, the Mission made many efforts to persuade South Osetian authorities to let her pass in spite of the active resistance on the part of the population, which rated this visit as a provocation. The Mission suggested receiving Sandra Roelofs in its office in Tskhinval.
The NGOs call the OSCE's position tendentious towards one of the conflict parties. The letter is signed by 12 NGOs, including those that have been cooperating with the OSCE Mission in Georgia for a long time.
As it has become known, NGO representatives boycotted the training for NGOs that was to take place in Tskhinval yesterday under a project of the OSCE Mission. The reason for the boycott is the same as the one stated in the latter.
Author: Inga Kochiyeva, CK correspondent Source: Caucasian Knot
