ALLS Media Monitoring Team, Sukhum, Abkhazia

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US Senate to consider resolution on Russia's occupation of Georgia
May 11 2011, 23:40 http://abhazia.eng.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/17080/

It is good that the US Senate will consider the situation regarding the presence of Russian troops in the territory of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which were deployed there on the basis of Russia's bilateral agreements with these republics.

However, there is no logic in "the US Senate preparing a resolution in support of Georgia”. Prior to the “creation of a substantial basis for a number of actions in the future”, a thorough analysis should be made to discover the reasons and consequences for the “presence of Russian troops” on Abkhazian soil.

It would be nice to refer to the US Senate reaction, if there was any in 1992, to the Georgian invasion of Abkhazia sanctioned by Russian President Eltsin.

Georgia launched a war against Abkhazia after the disintegration of the USSR as a consequence of its refusal to respect the Abkhazians’ desire to preserve their status. Georgia’s belief in a “Georgia for the Georgians” turned to: (a) mass-persecution of Abkhazians during the war; (b) destruction of monuments bearing Abkhazian names; (c) and the deliberate torching of Abkhazia’s two State Archives, where historical manuscripts were kept.

The Hague Conventions of 1907 , specifically its "Laws and Customs of War on Land" (Hague IV) of October 18, 1907: "Section III Military Authority over the territory of the hostile State." states in Article 42:

Territory is considered occupied when it is actually placed under the authority of the hostile army.

The occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established and can be exercised.

Then, in 1995, Georgia was a Russia-orientated country signing the agreement on the deployment in Georgia of four Russian Military Bases.

One can hardly remember any response to this act by either the EU or the US Senate. This is understandable because both sides, Russia and Georgia, considered it mutually beneficial. In similar fashion, Russia and Abkhazia, two independent states that have recognized each other, have signed an agreement that satisfies the interest of both sides.

If Georgia makes political mistakes, these should be appropriately evaluated. Georgia should admit that the pages of history cannot be turned back and stop trying to impose on the whole world a false interpretation of its biased imperial designs. Abkhazia will not return to the “white gloves of Beria’s regime” whatever the US Senate or Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) may think, say or do.

Source: ALLS Media Monitoring Team