The 52nd meeting of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism, (IPRM), chaired by the UN, with participation of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM), was held in Gali on 17 January 2018.
The meeting was conducted in an open and professional manner. All participants agreed that the security situation on the ground had remained relatively stable with no serious incidents since the last IPRM held on the 28th November.
The case of the murder of Mr. Otkhozoria was once again on the agenda. The EUMM underlined that justice had not been properly served, and encouraged participants to consider ways of furthering cooperation, including through technical meetings. The recent release of a number of long term detainees was acknowledged as positive. All parties were encouraged to continue the constructive collaboration on the remaining cases.
Ongoing borderisation at the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) was extensively discussed. The Mission drew attention to the negative impact of borderisation on the population in the vicinity of the ABL, limiting their access to land and freedom of movement and encouraged the participants to apply a humanitarian approach and ensure freedom of movement.
Issues related to the military exercises in the region were discussed. The Mission encouraged participants engaged in the discussion on security developments in the region to actively use the Hotline to give advance notice on military activities in order to enhance transparency and stability.
The next IPRM meeting will take place in Gali on 27 February 2018.
