The EUMM believes that the case of the two Georgians, Davit Kapanadze and Demur Chighladze, currently detained in South Ossetia, highlights the need for progress to be made in the implementation of the incident prevention mechanism agreed by all sides in Geneva on 18 February 2009.
The Head of the EU Monitoring Mission, Ambassador Hansjörg Haber has commented:
“The exact details of what occurred with the two Georgians detained in recent days are not yet clear, but the case clearly underscores the need to address the issue of movement across the administrative boundary line in a systematic fashion. It is a legitimate interest of civilians on both sides of this boundary line to be able to cross it without ending up in jail or before a court. There must be transparency as to which rules apply.
Only by regular meetings between all the sides, as recently agreed in Geneva, can such situations be clarified and tensions reduced, for the benefit of everyone involved. I very much hope that progress can be made in sorting out the detailed arrangements for these meetings so that such incidents can be prevented in the future.”
The Head of the EU Monitoring Mission, Ambassador Hansjörg Haber has commented:
“The exact details of what occurred with the two Georgians detained in recent days are not yet clear, but the case clearly underscores the need to address the issue of movement across the administrative boundary line in a systematic fashion. It is a legitimate interest of civilians on both sides of this boundary line to be able to cross it without ending up in jail or before a court. There must be transparency as to which rules apply.
Only by regular meetings between all the sides, as recently agreed in Geneva, can such situations be clarified and tensions reduced, for the benefit of everyone involved. I very much hope that progress can be made in sorting out the detailed arrangements for these meetings so that such incidents can be prevented in the future.”
