Will the West stop the violence?
By Messenger Staff
Friday, June 19
Many steps being taken by both the Georgian administration and the opposition today are oriented towards Western opinion. It is very important for both sides to obtain a positive evaluation of their conduct from the West, and so both parties behave in a way which satisfies Western standards. However over the last few days the opposition have got rather upset with the assessments Western diplomats have given of the current situation in Georgia. The opposition think that a one-sided evaluation of some recent developments has encouraged the administration to use violence against the opposition. They think that if the representatives of the West do not become more objective there could be more violence from the law enforcement bodies.
On June 12 members of the youth wings of various opposition parties threw stones at MPs. The opposition insist that this was provoked by people in plain clothes, allegedly police or special forces officers, throwing stones at them. But whoever started it throwing stones is a criminal act, and was immediately condemned as such by the diplomatic corps. The Czech Ambassador, French Ambassador, US Ambassador and others immediately reacted by making statements condemning the brutal actions of some opposition members. Peter Semneby condemned acts of violence generally, on either side. Then on June 15 a peaceful protest in front of the police headquarters was brutally dispersed by the authorities. Demonstrators were severely beaten, opposition leader Zurab Abashidze was given a broken nose and concussion and worst of all around ten journalists were assaulted and their cameras taken. No substantial condemnation of this violence has yet been made by the diplomatic corps, which responded very promptly to the events of June 12.
“It is sad but true that the hasty one-sided statements made by the Ambassadors untied the administration’s hands and emboldened it to do what it had not done since November 7 [2007]. The protest was raided and journalists beaten up,” says New Rights member Manana Nachkebia. Police officials apologised to the journalists on the evening of June 15 and returned their video cameras, but some of them were broken thou and the cassettes and chips in all of them had been erased.
“If the West wanted to stop the escalation of violence in Georgia it could do so. As this has not been done we cannot exclude the possibility that the administration will unleash its repression machine at full force,” thinks political analyst Ramaz Sakvarelidze. Georgia stands on the edge of serious civil confrontation. Suggestions of dialogue and cooperation seem to be just a facade as no substantial good will is behind them. It seems Georgia has been left to fight its way out of its problems, with few caring who, if anyone, actually wins such a battle.
The opposition cites the Salome Zourabichvili case as proof that the administration is just pretending to respect the West. Some days ago President Saakashvili said that he was prepared to appoint a radical opposition member to the post of Deputy Interior Minister. Salome Zourabichvili accepted this challenge and said she would turn up to work at the Ministry. It is clear that neither the President nor his party were prepared for this, and predictably her appointment was not confirmed. The episode further increased the evident frustration in the Georgian population as well as the opposition, who saw in it proof that the administration does not want to make concessions, even when it has suggested them itself to begin with.
If the West does not now take adequate and substantive steps to convince both sides to make mutual concessions the present political confrontation is very likely to become a civil confrontation, which would no longer be conducted within constitutional boundaries. The escalation of violence should be stopped and both sides should act more responsibly. The West can, if it wants to, readily facilitate such developments.
On June 12 members of the youth wings of various opposition parties threw stones at MPs. The opposition insist that this was provoked by people in plain clothes, allegedly police or special forces officers, throwing stones at them. But whoever started it throwing stones is a criminal act, and was immediately condemned as such by the diplomatic corps. The Czech Ambassador, French Ambassador, US Ambassador and others immediately reacted by making statements condemning the brutal actions of some opposition members. Peter Semneby condemned acts of violence generally, on either side. Then on June 15 a peaceful protest in front of the police headquarters was brutally dispersed by the authorities. Demonstrators were severely beaten, opposition leader Zurab Abashidze was given a broken nose and concussion and worst of all around ten journalists were assaulted and their cameras taken. No substantial condemnation of this violence has yet been made by the diplomatic corps, which responded very promptly to the events of June 12.
“It is sad but true that the hasty one-sided statements made by the Ambassadors untied the administration’s hands and emboldened it to do what it had not done since November 7 [2007]. The protest was raided and journalists beaten up,” says New Rights member Manana Nachkebia. Police officials apologised to the journalists on the evening of June 15 and returned their video cameras, but some of them were broken thou and the cassettes and chips in all of them had been erased.
“If the West wanted to stop the escalation of violence in Georgia it could do so. As this has not been done we cannot exclude the possibility that the administration will unleash its repression machine at full force,” thinks political analyst Ramaz Sakvarelidze. Georgia stands on the edge of serious civil confrontation. Suggestions of dialogue and cooperation seem to be just a facade as no substantial good will is behind them. It seems Georgia has been left to fight its way out of its problems, with few caring who, if anyone, actually wins such a battle.
The opposition cites the Salome Zourabichvili case as proof that the administration is just pretending to respect the West. Some days ago President Saakashvili said that he was prepared to appoint a radical opposition member to the post of Deputy Interior Minister. Salome Zourabichvili accepted this challenge and said she would turn up to work at the Ministry. It is clear that neither the President nor his party were prepared for this, and predictably her appointment was not confirmed. The episode further increased the evident frustration in the Georgian population as well as the opposition, who saw in it proof that the administration does not want to make concessions, even when it has suggested them itself to begin with.
If the West does not now take adequate and substantive steps to convince both sides to make mutual concessions the present political confrontation is very likely to become a civil confrontation, which would no longer be conducted within constitutional boundaries. The escalation of violence should be stopped and both sides should act more responsibly. The West can, if it wants to, readily facilitate such developments.