On 12 May 2021, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted the 8th decision on the agenda item “Council of Europe and the conflict in Georgia”

The document establishes the responsibility of Russia for grave human rights violations during the period of occupation of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions.

The decision welcomes the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case Georgia v. Russia that established the responsibility of Russia for grave human rights violations during the period of occupation of the Georgian regions, as the State exercising effective control over those regions, including the killing, torture, ill-treatment and arbitrary detention of Georgian civilians and military personnel; the looting and burning of Georgian homes; the inhuman treatment of Georgians targeted as an ethnic group; and deprivation of the right of IDPs and refugees to return to their homes. The Committee called on Russia to execute the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case Georgia v. Russia.

The decision maintains that Russia’s continuing military presence in Georgia impedes the peaceful conflict resolution process and undermines the security and stability in the wider region and violates the international obligations and commitments, including under the EU-mediated 12 August 2008 Ceasefire Agreement.

The document expresses grave concern over the decision to prolong for more than twelve years the illegal detention of Georgian citizen Zaza Gakheladze, who was shot and wounded during his detention and calls for immediately release of Zaza Gakheladze and all other illegal detainees.

The Committee expresses grave concern over impunity concerning the deaths of Georgian IDPs and calls on Russia to remove any obstacles to ending impunity in cases concerning the murder of ethnic Georgians in Georgia’s Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions; the document recalls the “Otkhozaria-Tatunashvili List” adopted by the Parliament of Georgia, and the national restrictive measures decided on by the Georgian Government against those responsible for grave human rights abuses in the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia.