1 Apr 2011

UN / GEORGIA DISPLACED

Georgia’s Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze said Friday that the situation of the internally displaced in Georgia had not changed and that there was “no safe dignified and voluntary return of refugees” to Abkhazia and South Ossetia. UNTV

Posted at: April 1, 2011 3:23 pm

Duration: 02:37

Available in: SD

DOWNLOAD

Full script

STORY: UN / GEORGIA DISPLACED
TRT: 2.37
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 1 APRIL 2011, NEW YORK CITY

SHOTLIST:

RECENT 2011, UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters

1 APRIL 2011, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, Grigol Vashadze, Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs 
3. Cutaway, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Grigol Vashadze, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Georgia:
"Situation has not changed. No safe dignified and voluntary return of refugees. Ten percent of our population are IDPs and refugees. Twenty percent of territories is occupied by Russia and there is a hysterical campaign of militarization of those occupied territories. Since Georgia's President has undertaken the legal obligation never to recur to force to restore the territorial integrity Russians have introduced incredible dangerous modern S-hold weapons to the occupied territories." 
5. Cutaway, journalist
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Grigol Vashadze, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Georgia:
"Human rights abuse ban on teaching Georgian history, Georgian language in the schools of the occupied territories. That's a normal daily practice. Unlawful seizure of the property and creation of GDR (German Democratic Reppublic) style state border is something we are witnessing right now. So the situation unfortunately is quite very tense and there is nothing to rejoice about."
7. Cutaway, journalist
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Grigol Vashadze, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Georgia:
"Russia and Georgia have been engaged in bilateral and multilateral talks since 1991 when Russia started undeclared war against my country. And to site this reason, absence of bilateral talks, as something ICJ does not want to consider Georgia's case for is something absolutely, totally ridiculous. You know this is a wonderful example, this decision why we are living in a world we are living and Russia being the permanent member of the Security Council, is another good demonstration example why we live in the world we live when they have been selling or granting arms to such –I can't even call him political figure- somebody like Qadhafi and now those weapons are killing civilians in Libya, and now the international community has to take some action."
9. Wide shot, Grigol Vashadze leaves press conference behind

STORYLINE:

Georgia's Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze said that the situation of the internally displaced in Georgia had not changed and that there was "no safe dignified and voluntary return of refugees."

Briefing journalists today at headquarters in New York on the United Nations (UN) role in facilitating the return of the displaced to Abkhazia and South Ossetia, he said that ten percent of the population in his country were IDPs and refugees. 
He also said that 20 percent of territories were occupied by Russia, adding there was a "hysterical campaign of militarization" of those occupied territories. 
Vashadze emphasized that Georgia's president had undertaken the legal obligation never to use force to regain territorial integrity.

On human rights abuses, he said there was a ban on teaching Georgian history and Georgian language in the schools of the occupied territories, adding it was "a normal daily practice." He also said that unlawful seizure of the property was taking place.

Commenting on today's decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to dismiss the Georgia-Russia case due to lack of bilateral talks, Vashadze said that was "absolutely, totally ridiculous."

In 2008 the Georgia government complained to the International Court of Justice that Russian authorities had murdered thousands of ethnic Georgians and displaced some 300,000 people in a two-decade campaign of discrimination in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.