United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia

UNOMIG
operation area	Georgia
German name	United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia
English name	United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia
French name	Mission d'observation des Nations unies en Géorgie
Based on UN resolution	858 (August 24 1993)
Other UN resolutions	892 (December 22, 1993) ; 896 (January 31, 1994) ; 937 (July 21, 1994)
Beginning	August 1993
The End	June 15, 2009
Deaths	11
Location of the operational area

The United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (German observer mission of the United Nations in Georgia , UNOMIG ), a UN observer mission , was decided on August 24, 1993 to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire agreement of May 14, 1994 between Georgia and the Abkhaz government as well as in Abkhazia make CIS - peacekeepers observed. Their seat was Tbilisi and Sukhumi .

Composition and tasks

The mission was directly subordinate to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and had been led since 2008 by his special envoy, the Belgian Johan Verbeke , who replaced the French diplomat Jean Arnault . UNOMIG consisted of 146 uniformed men, including 134 military observers and 12 police officers (as of February 2009) . They are supported by 100 international civil servants, 182 local civil servants and one UN volunteer .

A total of 26 countries provided the troops, with Germany in the lead with 12 units, followed by Pakistan (12) as well as Jordan , South Korea and Switzerland with 8 units each (as of February 2009) . Major General Amwar Hussain ( Bangladesh ) has been in command of the military since 2008 .

Ceasefire violations should be investigated and, if possible, resolved at the request of the parties involved. Various demilitarized security zones were observed through daily patrols in armored vehicles. These included the Gali and Zugdidi regions on the ceasefire line, the Inguri River , and the Kodori Gorge in the Greater Caucasus .

Legal basis

Area of application of UNOMIG

Original legal basis of the work was the resolution of the UN Security Council , which established 858 of 24 August 1993 the mandate of the observer mission on first six months. The UNOMIG, consisting of 88 military observers, was supposed to monitor compliance with the ceasefire that was signed on July 27, 1993 , and investigate possible violations as well as try to mediate between the parties in such cases. Just a few weeks later, on November 4, 1993, due to the disregard of the ceasefire by the Abkhazian forces and the subsequent escalation of the conflict, the Security Council was forced to radically reduce the strength of the mission to below 10 with Resolution 881 and to suspend it the prospect of January 31, 1994 if the peace process does not make significant progress. The following resolution S / RES / 892 of December 22nd had approved a further increase in the number of troops to 50, the mandate was provisionally extended to March 7th, 2004 on January 31st with resolution 896 and thereafter repeatedly. Finally, on July 21, 1994, the Mission was given resolution 937 to monitor the renewed ceasefire of May 14, 1994, and increased to 136 uniformed men.

UN Resolution 937 has been in force since 1994. The UN assumed that Abkhazia was part of Georgia under international law . Through its presence, UNOMIG should therefore contribute to a “safe and orderly return” of the Georgians who were displaced in the 1990s to Abkhazia. On July 30, 2003, a 13-member police unit was assigned to UNOMIG by resolution of the UN Security Council, which was supposed to enable the displaced persons to return.

The six-point plan for the settlement of the Caucasus conflict in 2008 provided for the UNOMIG's mandate to be continued in full. At the beginning of October 2008, the UN Security Council extended the mandate of the observer mission to February 15, 2009 and for the last time on February 13, 2009 to June 15, 2009. On June 15, 2009 Russia vetoed the extension. That ended UNOMIG. The previous observers stayed in the country for the settlement. The last personnel and material of the UNOMIG mission will be withdrawn from Georgia by October 31, 2009 by the United Nations.

The United Nations Refugee Agency ( UNHCR ) and a six-person UN team under the leadership of the previous head of UNOMIG continue to represent the interests of the international community in Georgia. In addition, the EU's observer mission ( EUMM ) with up to 200 people is deployed in Georgia . It consists exclusively of civilians.

Human rights

UNOMIG included an office for the protection and promotion of human rights in Abkhazia, Georgia (HROAG) based in Tbilisi. It was founded on December 10, 1996 and was subordinate to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR). His staff were appointed in equal parts by the High Commissioner and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The office reported regularly to the High Commissioner through the head of UNOMIG.

Activities and Incidents

In addition to observation patrols and help with the return of displaced persons, UNOMIG also took care of the restoration of the infrastructure in the former civil war area. A total of 31 projects such as the repair of roads or the reconstruction of bridges were initiated.

On July 9, 1999, a bomb exploded near UNOMIG's headquarters in Sukhumi . On October 8, 2001, a UNOMIG helicopter was shot down over the Kodori Valley, killing nine people. The perpetrators were never caught despite various requests from the UN Security Council . On June 5, 2003, three UN observers and their Georgian translator were kidnapped in the upper part of the Kodori Gorge for six days. Patrols in the gorge were then suspended. In the lower part of the ravine controlled by CIS troops, they were resumed in May 2004.

In 2002, UNOMIG vigorously opposed the resumption of the rail link between Sukhumi in Abkhazia and Sochi in Russia. At the end of 2003 UNOMIG warned of an increase in kidnappings, murders and robberies in the Gali region. In 2004, ten years after the ceasefire in Abkhazia, UNOMIG took stock of the unstable situation in the affected region.

On August 9, 2008, UNOMIG partially ceased its activities in Abkhazia. It withdrew its observers stationed in the upper Kodori Valley because they expected a military operation by Abkhazia against Georgian-controlled Upper Abkhazia . According to the UN Security Council, UNOMIG's area of responsibility has been "unclear" since that date.

literature

Reinhard Höllinger: hostage-taking at UNOMIG . In: Christian Segur-Cabanac , Wolfgang Etschmann (ed.): 50 years of foreign missions of the Austrian Armed Forces (= writings on the history of the Austrian Armed Forces ). Edited by the General Staff of the Federal Ministry of Defense and Sport and the Museum of Military History , Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-9502653-1-6 , p. 625 ff.

Web links

UNOMIG website (English)
United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG). Chronology of the attacks on UNOMIG up to May 2006. In: periscope1.com. May 2006, archived from the original on October 9, 2007 .; accessed on February 24, 2019

Individual evidence

^ Resolution 1839 - The situation in Georgia. In: unscr.com. October 9, 2008, accessed March 9, 2019 .
^ Resolution 1866 (2009). (PDF; 21 KB) (No longer available online.) In: dag.un.org. United Nations Security Council, February 13, 2009, archived from the original on August 16, 2018 ; accessed on May 2, 2019 .

[1] Resolution 1839 - The situation in Georgia. In: unscr.com. October 9, 2008, accessed March 9, 2019 .

[2] Resolution 1866 (2009). (PDF; 21 KB) (No longer available online.) In: dag.un.org. United Nations Security Council, February 13, 2009, archived from the original on August 16, 2018 ; accessed on May 2, 2019 .