The Coalition for Justice (CFJ) would like to respond to the news of a recent visit of Dr. Dieter Boden—a former Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on the Georgian-Abkhaz Conflict (1999-2001) and Former Head of the OSCE Special Mission in Georgia (1995-1996)—to the Russian-occupied Georgian region of Abkhazia.
Within the framework of the “BRING ME BACK HOME” campaign, Coalition for Justice hosts a series of roundtable meetings with IDPs on the right to return. Meetings aim at learning about IDP perspectives on return in order to inform policy making on these issues. Simultaneously, they serve as an awareness raising tool in informing IDP communities about legal framework of the right to return as well as about international practices on conflict resolution, reconciliation and return.
The 5-day War obliterated entire villages, whereby deliberate destruction and burning of homes was used as tool of ethnic cleansing. Satellite images below tell the story of a concerted effort to prevent the return of the civilian Georgian population to their homes. These satellite photos are taken before and after the 2008 August War.
IN 2011 SURVEY, 86% OF|GEORGIA'S DISPLACED |INDICATED THEIR WISH |TO RETURN HOME|
TODAY, 84% OF PRE-WAR |GEORGIAN POPULATION |OF ABKHAZIA |IS DISPLACED
ETHNIC CLEANSING OF |GEORGIANS CAUSED |THE DISPLACEMENT OF |OVER 400,000 PERSONS
ETHNIC CLEANSING OF |GEORGIANS IN ABKHAZIA |AND TSKINVALI REGION |CLAIMED 20.000 LIVES
