Response to Oxford Analytical on mocking Patriarch video

Thanks for passing this on this article (attached below).

Honestly, I can't say I'm an insider or an expert on this stuff. My own impression and opinion is that the Georgian Church is quite disorganized, and while it is possible that there are various factions within the Church that are somehow "pro-Russia" as in "pro-Orthodox," these represent only a small minority and don't speak for the Church as a whole. Radical Christian Orthodoxy tends to be paranoid about the non-Orthodox world, which is ruled by a consortium of Free Masons, Jews, Atheists, and Devil-Worshippers. I don't really know how much of that stuff is going on in Georgia, it seems to be mostly coming out of Russia.

Anyway, nothing I've witnessed makes the Georgian Church pro-Russian. It is not the "most-Russophile" element of Georgian society at all. In fact, the Georgian Church has suffered a terrible history of oppression from the Russian Church. The Georgian Church perceives itself as independent, that is the most important thing. Right now, I think the Patriarch has pros/cons. His pros are that his "political" statements rely on spiritual values (stop the war because killing is bad), so he doesn't get caught up in day to day political rhetoric about whether one person is better than another, or whether such and such was wrong, etc. Also, he is a spiritual leader, and he spends a lot of time in services, and praying, which says a lot. His cons, if one could even see them that way, are that he is not a good administrator, and doesn't have the youthful energy to manage his top-ranked "team" effectively, etc. so his organization is kind of ad-hoc. For example, the manager of the Patriarchate is this dictator lady that no one can stand working with, but the Patriarch doesn't dismiss her because he sees her higher spiritual side and knows that she is working towards becoming a better person... in other words, he is forgiving, at the forfeit of running an effective management team. Georgians at the Patriarchate tend to see this simpleness from him as a sign of spirituality, and blame the lady in charge for not being a better organizer.

In any case, my take is that the media has really taken this video business to the point it's at now, allowing the pundits to write up articles expressing their own preconceptions and prejudices. I agree Saakashvili has to move more towards populism, but in fact, he has been there from the beginning of his term. To my knowledge, he hasn't gone against the Church at all while in office, so it's not as if he is making a big shift all of a sudden.

Another point of disagreement: that Church members became anti-Saakashvili because his police put the radical, de-frocked, Jehovah's Witness hating priest in jail. Most Orthodox I know were relieved. I don't think that anyone can claim that political lines follow religious lines in Georgia. With 80% claiming to be Orthodox, that encompasses the whole political spectrum already. Of the anti-Saakashvili folks in Georgia (most people it seems), I would guess that very few base their opinions on some slight to the Church. Most are pissed because he put their buddies in jail, shut down liberal media outlets, sent out riot police on Nov. 7th, and taxes everyone. I think very few people dislike Saakashvili for poor decision making in terms of the August 8th, 2008 war with Russia, given that most Georgians that I know think that South Ossetia and Abkhazia are being held hostage by a Russian supported corrupt elite who do whatever Russia tells them to do. So most people agree that it was good to have a status change in terms of world recognition that Russia was falsely supporting secessionist regions created largely by Tsarist and Stalinist policies. Most Georgians that I know just wish that Georgia could have regained the territories and established a peaceful, whole country again. There is a bit of idealism going on here that has to do with long, long memories. People regularly talk about the Georgian borders of 1000 years ago, or the migrations of Ossetians 400 years ago as if it was yesterday.

I bet the Patriarch would have had a sense of humor about the video. But Georgians are political, and so some anti-Saakashvili folks decided it was time to take a few punches at the administration under the guise of Church outrage. I think it's a good thing the video has received so much press, so that it brings up important questions of identity, etc. as the article mentions, but also so that it doesn't happen again and again.

Enough of a rant.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GEORGIA: Church row points to post-war soul-searching

Thursday, November 12 2009

Oxford Analytica

SUBJECT: The row over a video mocking the head of the Orthodox Church.

SIGNIFICANCE: The controversy has sparked a passionate discussion on freedoms of debate and religion, tolerance and identity. It exposes the political and social fissures in post-war Georgia, with a reformist administration turning more traditionalist, and the liberal intelligentsia regaining its political voice.

ANALYSIS: Scandal broke out in mid-October, after Tea Tutberidze, a former activist of the Liberty Institute non-governmental organisation (NGO) known to be close to President Mikheil Saakashvili, posted an anonymous video on her Facebook account. In the video, an animated photograph of the leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II, is represented as using crude language to abuse Saakashvili. The video triggered a wave of indignation from religious groups, which alleged an orchestrated assault by the state on the authority of the Orthodox Church. Some went so far as to issue death and rape threats against Tutberidze, on the internet and in the press.

The presidential administration condemned the video in an official statement, while the police and prosecution service announced an investigation into the case. However, despite a request from Ombudsman Giorgi Tughushi, the prosecution was unable to cite any legal grounds for the investigation. The police questioned a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old university student suspected of making the video. Both denied involvement; no formal charges have been brought. The police action appears to have been a political nod towards the Patriarchy and pro-Orthodox voters; no further action is expected.

Ideological conflict. The heat of the debate recalls the early days of the Saakashvili administration. Backed by a liberal team of NGO activists and riding a wave of popular support, the president's National Movement championed a 'liberal cultural revolution'. It also stood for the protection of religious minorities against radical Orthodox assault. This drive reached its peak in 2004, when the police raided a church run by the leader of the most radical wing, a defrocked priest, and detained him on charges of stoking religious hatred. Since then, traditionalist voters have demonised Saakashvili and his supporters as 'church-busters'.

As Saakashvili grew weaker, these voices grew stronger and were also heard from the Patriarchy. In recent years, in his traditional Easter epistle, the patriarch has consistently advanced an ideological platform opposed to the liberal and pro-European rhetoric of the Saakashvili administration, speaking of the demoralising influence of television, the internet and globalisation, and calling for reclaiming traditional Georgian values of agriculture, the family and religion.

Pro-Russian Church. After the 2008 war over South Ossetia, the Georgian Orthodox Church maintained a conciliatory line towards Russia. To the chagrin of the government, some more radical Orthodox figures preached about God's 'holy punishment', through the agency of the Russian army, for Georgia's European (and so, un-Orthodox) ambitions. However, Ilia II played a crucial role in recovering the bodies of Georgian soldiers from South Ossetia. He also headed the first delegation to visit Russia after the war and met senior Russian officials. At the time, Saakashvili hinted that the visit had been coordinated with the government. At a meeting in Baku last week, Ilia and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, described by an official of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations as "old friends", agreed to make every effort to restore "warm brotherly relations" between their two peoples and states.

There are strong suspicions within Georgia's liberal elite that the Church is dominated by bishops and priests educated in Russia. Critics also claim that the Church was a traditional area of influence for the Soviet KGB. Although there is no substantiation for such talk, the Orthodox Church remains one of the most Russophile elements in Georgian society.

Political conflict. Trusted by no less than 95% of Georgians (according to polls), with about 80% describing themselves as Orthodox Christians, the Church is a formidable political force. Saakashvili is badly wounded politically after the Russo-Georgian war, and cannot afford to alienate the Church. Hence, liberals fear a steady populist trend, which appeases the Church's least tolerant followers and suppresses free speech and diversity.

Ilia II has, so far, articulated his ideological opposition to the government's line, but skilfully avoided being manipulated during the stand-off between Saakashvili and the irreconcilable opposition in mid-2009. As he is ageing and frail, there are fears that after his departure, the reins could fall into the hands of a less neutral figure. Therefore, all sides in Georgian politics are staking a claim to religious credibility. Symptomatically, Sozar Subari, the former ombudsman, an ardent critic of the Saakashvili government and currently a member of the liberal opposition Alliance for Georgia, has chosen to view the latest conflict from the viewpoint of 'defamation of religion' rather than the right to free speech of the video's producers.

Defamation of religion is a relatively new concept, arising from the notorious cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper. Usually, freedom of speech is absolute and only restricted as regards defamation of an individual, not a group. Defamation of religion is more restrictive of freedom of speech, at least as that right has traditionally been understood.

Rule of law undermined. The scandal further undermined the credibility of the police and prosecution service, which are seen as doing the government's political bidding, rather than applying the law. An interview emerged with one of the youths questioned, who claimed police investigators had asked him about his religious beliefs and practices. Such allegations remain unaddressed by the political leadership and the police. Failure to state publicly the grounds for an investigation is illegal, while failure to address the death threats and hate speech against Tutberidze creates the impression that law enforcement bodies are afraid to go against the dominant public opinion, even if it is against the law.

Lifting of taboos. Despite its strong political undertones, the current debate revives an earlier one which touches on ambiguities about fundamental freedoms, the constitutional principle of a secular republic and, above all, the relation between Georgians' ethnic identity and the identity of the Georgian state (see GEORGIA: Minorities are set for increased role - January 12, 2009). The quality of debate is low, it is limited to a few intellectuals and passions run high. Yet, through this discussion, Georgia's small group of intellectuals are reclaiming their role as a driving force in the political debate from the Saakashvili administration, which largely co-opted them in 2004-07. During 2007-09, the debate simmered within a small group on such forums as Facebook, YouTube, the blogosphere and the internet. As the soul-searching widens, it is seeping into the mainstream media and is being received aggressively by the majority.

Outlook. Indications that people can be prosecuted for expressing opinions, and the political emergence of religious fundamentalism against the background of a weak government are sources of concern. However, if the debate continues, Georgia could make significant strides in bringing fundamental questions of belief and identity within the democratic process of the clash of ideas. The Russo-Georgian war has removed from the immediate political agenda Abkhazia and South Ossetia, formerly an ideologically safe rallying-point for Georgia's body politic. The resulting confusion could become a fertile ground for a more genuine democratic consensus on Georgia's identity, past and -- crucially -- future.

CONCLUSION: An important social debate is simmering in Georgia, seeking an outlet. Under pressure at home and abroad, Saakashvili is moving towards the populist middle ground. The liberal political project is alive, but is under threaten from an emerging political traditionalism, with Russophile undertones.

Opposition -do they have a platform?

Amidst continuing demands for Saakashvili's resignation, there seem to be no real reasons put forward why the general population should vote for any of the 'opposition' leaders. Day in and out, the message is simply, "discontent with anything? Come out and protest!"

Here, Edward Raupp gives some basic suggestions for platform agenda items. Whether viable or not, at least this is where the dialogue should start to move:

Posted by: "Edward Raupp" edraupp@gmail.com edraupp2005

Thu Apr 23, 2009 12:58 am (PDT)

From one perspective, this entire episode seems a colossal example of the
triumph of form over substance.

Can someone explain the platform of the opposition? Might it consist of
these kinds of objectives?

A 50% reduction over the next 5 years in the numbers of Georgians living
under conditions of poverty?

Doubling of the pensioner's pay over the next 2 years?

Doubling of the pay of public school teachers over the next 2 years?

Broadband Internet access in every Georgian school?

Unemployment rate of 5 percent by 2012?

Sustained growth in Real GDP of 5-8 percent over the next decade?

Tripling of hard currency receipts through tourism in the next decade?

Universal health coverage for all persons living in Georgia?

Balance of merchandise trade by 2014?

Investment of a billion Euros over the next 5 years in technological
research and development?

I don't know. Maybe if some of the opposition's leaders would give a little
thought to these kinds of objectives, and others not listed, their efforts
might be of some value.

Respecting Georgians

To me, it seems like there will be endless protest in Georgia, from now on. Because opposition politicians have nowhere to go. There are no university posts, think tanks, book deals, or wherever else politicians in their off years go to meditate on their next moves. There is only one city, and only a few paying jobs. You're either in it, or you're not.

And Georgians love protest. Because they have plenty to protest about, and because they are an emotional people who demand basic standards of living, and even more importantly, basic standards of respect. There is a long history of class structures in Georgia, and beginning in the late 19th century, a history of class struggle (see Stephen Jones, "Socialism in Georgian Colors").

Unfortunately, a culture of disrespecting working classes seems to have been the norm in the late Communist period in Georgia, and is an absolute intolerance for this type of disrespect that in my opinion is at the root of many people's discontent. Yes, for some it's a lack of jobs, poor economy, etc. but actually, that's nothing new in Georgia, and people know how to get by. What is unacceptable, and perhaps ultimately unforgivable, is the promise of radical change followed by the perception of the same old disrespect.

I think this is most clearly evident in the judiciary, which seems to be an institution formed not for defending people's rights, but for prosecuting those people that the government thinks are stealing from them. In the case of Saakashvili's paranoid leadership, people that are considered to be stealing from the government includes just about everyone. And so people live in fear of prosecution, again. It's the State vs. the people, again. And fundamentally, it's a respect issue.

Christian Democratic Party proposal

It seems to me that the opposition leaders has backed themselves into a somewhat preposterous corner. When the Christian Democratic Party, a leading party in the Georgian political system, put forward a list of demands as a 'precondition for dialogue,' even this list (see below) was rejected by other opposition leaders.

Salome Zourabichvili, leader of the Georgia’s Way Party, said: "We are standing here not for a dialogue but for achieving Saakashvili’s resignation.”

Eka Beselia of the Movement for United Georgia Party said: “If the government undertakes those steps [put forth by CDM] that will be good, but it won’t remove our demand on Saakashvili’s resignation.”

List put forward by the Christian Democratic Party (CDM): citation here

• Resignation of Chairman of Supreme Court, Kote Kublashvili;
• Resignation of Chairman of the Central Election Commission, Levan Tarkhnishvili;
• Rerun of Imedi TV to its legal owners – family of late tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili;
• Granting a license to Tbilisi-based pro-opposition Maestro TV allowing the station to broadcast through satellite;
• Replacement of the current board of the public broadcaster;
• Setting up of a five-member monitoring team through an agreement between the key political parties, which will monitor balanced and unbiased coverage of the developments;
• Setting up of a monitoring team through an agreement between the key political parties, which will consider complaints filed against the police over violations related with right of expression and free movement.

Where can you go from here? Saakashvili isn't going to resign, and what are you going to do about it? Violence? Shutting down the capital city?

Stop thinking about five minutes ago, and start thinking about five years from now! I just wish that one of these political parties would actually use some brain power to think about the actual problems of the country, and present alternative solutions to the general population. If the opposition parties treated Georgians as intelligent people themselves, by giving them a choice between leadership and policy models, this would become a dangerous opposition. But instead, these political parties, 13, 15, 17, however many there are, simply use Georgians as numbers on the picket line.

With stupid rhetoric like, "the President must go," with the logic that, "if we have x number of protesters it means we're right" opposition leaders are disrespecting the political intelligence of Georgians, and they will never get the numbers they could if they actually appealed to common sense.

The Geometry of a Dead End

A very interesting analysis of the opposition's assumptions and blunders this week:


http://www.apsny.ge/analytics/1239587363.php

The Geometry of a Dead End

April 12, 2009

Gela Besadze

Today, on the holiday celebrating Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, one can already made certain preliminary conclusions to the spring civil confrontation. There can be no doubt this is in fact a civil confrontation. Tens of thousands of people came to the demonstration in front of the parliament on April 9. It’s not important if there were twenty-five thousand as the government claims or two hundred thousand as the opposition states. By my count there were from sixty to eighty thousand, although I say again, it’s not the essential thing. In any country a demonstration of more than ten thousand people is considered significantly large. But now on to the essential thing.

The opposition in reality drove itself into a corner with its categorical demand for the president’s resignation. It is entirely obvious that the majority in Georgia today are dissatisfied with the government. The situation has been deepened by the economic crisis, which has resulted in job losses for many people, and many of those who work in the private sector have not received their salaries for months. Of course, this is a significantly volatile mass, and when these people hear from their televisions that supposedly the crisis has affected Russia, the US, Iceland and everybody else except Georgia, their annoyance swells. Yes, they are unhappy with the government. But there exists no clear demand from society for the immediate departure of Mikheil Saakashvili. To the contrary, the majority of Georgia’s citizens want stability as the essential condition for stabilizing the economic situation in the country, which depends entirely on foreign investment. The population has a clear desire for change, more oversight over the government’s actions, and the creation of an electoral system in which the possibilities for falsification are reduced to a minimum. There is a demand for an independent judiciary, the inviolability of private property, and in general all of those attributes of normal democracy that are so essential for the further development of the country.

But the opposition decided to go for broke and lost, and it lost regardless of the outcome of the civil confrontation. They lost because in the eyes of the electorate they came off looking like a gang of grasping, envious people thirsting for power, and even the respectable people among the ranks of the opposition leaders, and there are indeed such people, came off looking no better than the others. With no little surprise I discovered in the opposition certain individuals who not so long ago served the National Movement with the same enthusiasm, pretending to be more Catholic than the Pope, or more properly, more National than Mikheil Saakashvili. This category of people always fishes in richest waters, being professional intriguers and time-servers who say one thing in public while carrying out intrigues in the corridors of power until their new bosses get tired of them. But, may God help them.

Besides the radicalism of their demands, the opposition also made a series of technical errors. One of these was holding the demonstration on April 9, a date that for the majority of Georgians is a day of remembrance and unity and not at all a day for confrontation. The next mistake was that the formula “April 9 will be the final day of Mikheil Saakashvili’s rule” was not only advertised beforehand, but repeated ad infinitum like a Buddhist mantra. Part of the protest electorate simply got burned out, and many people got tired of waiting for Day X. Another serious mistake was holding the demonstrations during Lent. The years of hardship have returned many residents of Georgia to the fold of the Church, and if ten or fifteen years ago fasting and praying were only theoretical concepts to most Georgians, today a large part of the population of Georgia observes the fast, which in itself is a very good thing. Holding a political confrontation in the days preceding Passion Week was a very serious risk, although apparently there no genuinely religious people among the opposition leaders (I’m not speaking of religiosity for show) who could warn them of this obvious oversight. A no less serious problem for the opposition is the problem of communication with the masses. Essentially they have access only to residents of Tbilisi and to internet users. The opposition TV channels Maestro and Kavkasia only broadcast in the capital. Thus they were not able to create a real feeling of the inevitability of change in the regions. There were no convoys of cars and busses streaming in with supporters that would have given the impression of a remix of November 2003. Without this visible stream of headlights in the Tbilisi night sky it was impossible to give the feeling of a coming change of power for the average person. Back then the feeling of a change in power was a forceful and convincing motive to come to the demonstrations, not to receive any particular gain, but only from a feeling of taking part in an historical moment.

The problem of communication involved not only technical capabilities. More important is that the opposition did not present to the people a unified plan of action for removing Saakashvili from power. Instead, the opposition leaders puffed up their cheeks importantly and promised that they would deliver this plan to the people on April 9. But then on April 9 the opposition had nothing to offer except the standard choice of actions that the population of Georgia has already long become accustomed to over the course of the past twenty years.

The hopes of a large part of the protest electorate that Saakashvili would get a call from Washington and resign also went unfulfilled. This was perhaps the biggest disappointment for the oppositionally oriented citizenship, and precisely the reason why the number of demonstrators began to decline exponentially. By Saturday it became clear that only a huge act of stupidity on the part of the government could alter the alignment of forces in the opposition’s favor. Recalling the events of a year-and-a-half ago, one could easily imagine that the critical moment would take place not when Rustaveli is packed with people, but when the hard core of the frustrated opposition finds itself eyeball to eyeball with the state. There were no more than fifty people at the parliament building on the morning of November 7. What fright could possibly have caused the government to decide to violently disburse them on live television remains a mystery. But this was the step that turned out to be critical, leading to the breaking up of the demonstration that had already come to resemble a brawl, the closing of Imedi and the announcement of the emergency situation – this was nothing other than the consequences of one mindless step, the logic behind which is impossible to comprehend.

What happened on Saturday night is also hard to understand. Either a frustrated opposition decided to arrange a provocation, or someone from the government team decided to “teach the uppity oppositionists a lesson,” it is hard to say. Fortunately, in keeping with the rules of the genre, history has repeated itself as farce; although that does not mean that we should be indifferent to who actually did it.

Incidentally, it should be the government that is most interested in properly investigating the incident, and not only in an investigation, but in publicly punishing the guilty parties, whoever they should turn out to be. The issue of the government in Georgia in this case is the topic of a separate conversation. If somebody in the corridors of power really hopes that the failure of a largely marginalized Georgian opposition is a victory for the government and gives it carte-blanch to continue the same policies, then they are sadly mistaken. Over these past days the opposition has lost many of its supporters, but this does not at all mean that that the relationship of the people to the government has changed for the better. If today the governing elite of Georgia do not make energetic efforts to overcome the systemic crisis in the country, this would be a disaster, most of all for the government itself. One need not enumerate the things that the government should do. Everybody in Georgia knows these things, or almost everybody. Passion Week is coming up, and may God preserve us.

Saakashvili wiser than his opponents

I think this speech indicates Saakashvili's increasing political maturity, though his tenure has been marked with a high level of rhetoric from the beginning. He knows how to inspire people, and he also knows how to piss people off. Historians won't call Saakashvili a diplomat with words.

In any case, as I wrote previously, I think ignoring the protests does little to help the current government, and it's encouraging to hear that Saakashvili is responding at least with a modicum of respect (citation):

“I want to tell those, who were rallying yesterday; opinion of each citizen is important for me; I take to heart the hardship of each of them, as well as their expectations,” Saakashvili said.

“Because of hardship and pessimism many of our citizens are angry and I want to tell you that I am also very angry, because of the economic and security problems that our country faces.”

Playing with Emotions

I think that opposition leaders Alasania, Burjanidze, and Gachechiladze made an error today, and revealed their assumption that the crowds gathered in front of Parliament would support them in any of their demands. The truth is quite different however, as demonstrated when crowds booed a comment from Alasania that he was ready to dialogue with the authorities on issues.

From Civil.ge

“Today is a decisive moment when we make decisions to achieve those common goals which we have set together,” he said. "On behalf of the leaders of all political parties represented here I want to announce: after our joint demand [on the President’s resignation], today Mikheil Saakashvili stated that he is ready to meet with the opposition leaders We want to say one thing: in accordance with the people’s will, in accordance with this fair demand, we want to make our demand an issue of national judgment and we will meet him only openly, only publicly in presence of those representatives, who enjoy public trust.”

As he made these remarks he was immediately booed by the protesters with some of them chanting: “No, No.”

Alasania is a diplomat, not a crowd pleaser. He spent the last few years in ambassador posts and most recently as the Georgian representative to the UN. His intention has been to dialogue with government authorities over issues of contention, but that isn't the reason the crowd is there. They've been promised political blood and gore, namely the overthrow of the government with a symbolic resignation by the overbearing president. Nothing less will do.

I say this somewhat tongue in cheek, because the possibility of Saakashvili actually resigning seems fairly slim. But actually, it's disappointing that the opposition leaders don't seem to have any articulated policy differences with Saakashvili. Most of what we hear is complaining about past wrongs. To be taken seriously, a candidate has to have a credible background, with legitimate talking points, or so one would hope.

The fact that crowds booed Alasania's point about seeking dialogue indicates to me that the hype surrounding this whole event has been misplaced. By going for the most radical aim -the complete resignation of the President- protesters don't want to settle for anything less. After all, why should their presence be used by the opposition leaders as a bargaining tool for their own political careers? Who is to say that Alasania and the rest of them don't cut some backroom deal with Saakashvili that doesn't benefit the people protesting in the slightest? It wouldn't be the first time this has happened.

So no, we don't want your dialogue with the President. We want blood and gore, as promised!

If the opposition politicians hope to keep faith with their constituencies, they better have a more consistent approach, and choose their rhetoric more carefully. If the rhetoric is to be political upheaval, then keep it that way. If it is to be dialogue, then name specific, key goals, and put those forward.

My Opinion: April 9th

As protesters fill the streets of Tbilisi, their discontent is clear. But the message that opposition politicians are trying to galvanize supporters with seems misdirected. Cries of "Misha tsadi!" (Misha Saakashvili, Go!) are meant to refresh recent calls of "Shevy tsadi!" (Eduard Shevarnadze, Go!) in the 2003 protests that led to the last President's resignation.

For more established democracies, calling for a President to resign because you disagree with some aspect of their policy seems far-fetched. The problem is that Georgia has never seen a peaceful turnover of government by 'fair' election, and so the model of democracy in Georgia is one in which, if you get enough people together to protest the guy you don't like, he will resign; ie. Shevarnadze in 2003. The other model is, unfortunately, civil war and exile and/or assassination of elected leaders; ie. Noe Jordania 1921, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, 1991 respectively.
So we're seeing an attempt to get enough people out in the street to call for Saakashvili's resignation.

Saakashvili, for his part, has hopefully learned one lesson from Nov. 7th, 2003, when he allowed masked thugs (ostensibly State employees) to wantonly beat and
hospitalize up to 600 protestors. A similar reaction now would play right into opposition politicians hands, at the expense of a few beaten heads. The emotional outrage at such a reaction would lead to civil disorder and either a major crackdown, or Saakashvili's resignation.

But, with all the international attention, Saakashvili is not likely to resort to this tactic again, as he said explicitly in an interview yesterday: “We hope that we won't be seeing violence like in London and Athens and that there is consensus that every protest should be peaceful. The main thing we expect is to show the world that Georgia is a democracy and not susceptible to any destabilisation..." (ie. harsh government reaction).

As much as the Georgian opposition needs to pick their battles, and their focus, Saakashvili has to learn how to legitimize presidency and his government by making up for his series of mistakes and authoritarian actions (such as the Girgvliani murder case, shutting down the opposition television station in Nov. 2007, accounting for his own mistakes in the August war with Russia, etc.). Concrete steps in these directions, which seem to be the real sources for public outrage, would enhance his credibility. But turning a blind eye towards protesters resignation demands, ludicrous as these demands may seem from his position of power, only enhances the perception of government complicity and fault with the ongoing cases just mentioned. In this situation, a non-reaction is better than a violent suppression ala November 2007, but doesn't increase the government's public credibility.

In interviews yesterday and today, (Interior Minister) Merabishvili stated: “There will be no direct confrontation between police and protesters,” in an interview on April 8 with the French news agency (reported here). In a separate, AFP, Merabishvili said the authorities would show “maximum tolerance” for the protesters.“It [the protest] cannot last forever. The participants also have their own limits,” he said. “If there is no threat to the lives of the citizens, our tactic will be to not intervene or impede members of the protest in expressing their will freely.”

But 'non-reaction,' which seems to be the message being conveyed by representatives of Saakashvili's governing team, will not make the government position stronger. I think the government has to learn how to engage with the public on the issues that matter to them through actions that symbolize a basic level of respect for society, and Saakashvili should at least intimate a healthy recognition that his power depends on public support. Once again, he is gambling. This time the gamble is that as long as he doesn't make any major blunders of over-reaction ala November 2007, the larger societal problems of 'occupation, economy, NATO membership,' etc. will temper protesters indignation.

I think its a big gamble, and unless he really pays attention to what Georgians care about, as a people, and not just what he, as president, has to think about as an international actor, these protests will only get bigger and bigger in the next couple of months.

Georgian Gov on Twitter!

Apparently, as part of its ongoing high tech publicity campaign, the Georgian government has set up a Twitter account to relay their version of story as the April 9th protests begin. So far, accounts seem to be fairly balanced.

Link here:

GEORGIA: OPPOSITION PROTEST MARKS 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF SOVIET CRACKDOWN

As Georgians prepare for April 9 opposition demonstrations meant to force President Mikheil Saakashvili’s resignation, memories are also returning to an earlier April 9 protest 20 years ago -- one that resulted in the deaths of 20 people and marked the launch of a full-throttle campaign for independence from the Soviet Union.

Full article from eurasianet.org here:


... back on April 9th, 1989...

Sixty-year-old pharmacist Lali Bezhanishvili recalls that she never imagined that "a massacre" would take place. Around daybreak on April 9, she went to search for her 15-year-old daughter among the demonstrators in central Tbilisi. Bezhanishvili said she knew that there were soldiers and armored machines stationed nearby, but did not worry.

"I thought they were there just to scare the protesters, nothing more," recalled Bezhanishvili. "I vaguely remember I found Eka among the crowd and took her by her hand . . . Then I saw approaching soldiers. That’s the last thing I remember."

Bezhanishvili’s daughter Eka, her neck reportedly broken by a truncheon, was among the 16 people who died on April 9 when soldiers moved in. Bezhanishvili herself suffered a broken shoulder blade, and had all her front teeth knocked out, and experienced gas poisoning. She spent 60 days hospitalized and lost her memory for some six months.

Overall, 20 civilians, mostly women, died from wounds received during the crackdown, according to then Healthcare Minister Irakli Menagarishvili. More than 200 were injured or gas-poisoned.

Head of Georgian Church Calls for Restraint

Ilia II, the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, called on the opposition, the government and the Georgian army not to resort to force.

“I address entire Georgia, I address our authorities, opposition, I address the Georgian army not to use force in any case. A person, a soldier, who raises his hand against his brother, can no longer properly defend his motherland,” Ilia II said in the Holy Trinity Cathedral on April 8.

Russia Plans to Construct Airport in S.Ossetia

Experts from Russia’s Design Institute have studied South Ossetia’s landscape to select an area for construction of an airport, the breakaway region’s envoy to Moscow, Dmitry Medoev, told Russia’s online news agency, Regnum.

He said that an exact location of the planned airport has yet to be decided.

Regnum, however, reported, quoting its “sources” that a military airfield, not a civilian airport was planned to construct in the area of Achabeti and Kekhvi, two villages which were populated mainly by the ethnic Georgians and controlled by the Georgian authorities before the August war.

former UK Ambassador Addresses Saakashvili

April 9th, just around the corner. It's the day in 1989 when Soviet troops gassed and beat to death more than a dozen Georgian protesters on the steps of Parliament, Rustaveli Avenue, in downtown Tbilisi. Many of the victims were women in their 20s. Brutally murdered. As such, it has become a rallying cry for any protest against the perceived State, the Authorities, the Ruling Party.... and right now, that means Saakashvili and his majority National Movement government.

Here is a thoughtful letter to the President from former Ambassador McLaren, a man who plays a mean game of chess, regularly wears a kilt to holiday parties, and also plays the bagpipes (my kind of an ambassador!)


"President, the opposition are on the march again", former UK Ambassador Addresses Saakashvili

The FINANCIAL (finchannel.com) -- In his open letter addressed to Georgian President Michael Saakashvili , Donald MacLaren, former UK ambassador to Georgia (2004-2007) speaks about options Georgia and its president have. Letter first apeared on MessengerOnline

“There are three classes of intellect: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehend; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by what others have to demonstrate. The first is the most excellent; the second is good; the third is useless”. What Machiavelli has to say here about intellect could as well be applied to the governance of Georgia.

President, the opposition are on the march again. What to do about it?

Forgive me for writing like this. I am not a Georgian. I would be proud to be one. I am certainly proud to have a stake in the country through my daughter and grand-daughter. And I am among millions of people who are watching events in Georgia, the great majority of whom want the country to succeed. They want it to succeed as a society where the relationship between those governing and those governed is based on trust and truthfulness. Without those two things security, stability and prosperity are likely only to be short-lived.

My intervention may be seen as unhelpful – or, worse, ignorant – but I hope it will not be rejected on the grounds of “outside interference”. That was a classic phrase from the time of the Soviet Union. When I knew you in the early years of the Rose Revolution you struck me as a leader who wanted to be judged on how you and your style of government were different from everything Soviet: fear of dissent; perversion of justice through control of the courts; pretence, propaganda, lying and intimidation as essential tools to retain power. To reinforce this very point, at the end of a speech you once made in London you said: “However I come to be judged, by my country and by history, I will never be judged as a hypocrite”.

I remember the powerful impression you made exactly five years ago when you told the BBC that you did not expect to hold on to your popularity; that all democratic leaders had to move aside in due course; but that when it was your time to go you would leave your country in such a position that your successors would have a strong platform to build on.

Those who are now preparing to be your successors do not seem impressed with “the platform”. If, contrary to the demands of some opposition leaders, it is not yet time for you to go, then it seems that there are two clear options.

The first option is to gamble that you can dismiss your opponents, what they stand for and the many people they represent. This option, I think, Machiavelli would describe as useless. You have not previously chosen to hold back on your views. At the polite end of the scale, members of the opposition have been dismissed as incompetent, insignificant and not serious. At the other end: irresponsible, criminal, corrupt, mad, pro-Russian. These epithets have not been applied to all of them all of the time. But I wonder what effect it has had on their various supporters to have these labels applied, by extension, to them.

I once argued with you and your close advisors that a healthy way to build democracy and self-confidence in Georgian society was to show respect to others’ views, indeed to encourage them as “democratic oxygen”: rather than to use a bulldozer against opponents as if – by dissenting with the “Party”, the National Movement – they were enemies of the state. (That phrase brings back chilling historical memories.)

The advice was, then, largely ignored. Whether or not this is a co-incidence you are now facing an opposition that is not only frustrated but also considerably bigger and angrier that at any time since you became President.

The option remains to dismiss them as, at least, still not serious. It is interesting, though, that in addition to the established, experienced, parliamentary opposition there are now also those who stood shoulder to shoulder with you from the start and/or were hand-picked by you for high office. These include a former Speaker, Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, State Minister, Special Envoy, as well as Ambassadors. Quite a roll call of, presumably, serious people. Of course they can be ignored, or told to shut up or even beaten up (as one of them was in November, 2007). But experience suggests that that approach will not make them and their supporters smaller in number, less angry in mood and less determined to have you voted out of office.

The second option, then, is to listen to them. And not just to have “dialogue” for its own sake. There are several common points on the agenda, theirs and yours from the time of the Revolution: transparency and accountability of government; judicial independence; removal of state editorial control over any branch of the media; and a corruption-free economic environment in which businessmen need not fear unfair pressure, let alone expropriation, and both investment opportunities are offered and tenders held fairly.

You can claim that you are delivering these things. You can even claim that you have already delivered. But wouldn’t it be something else if the country believed you?

You are in charge. You have the initiative. You can go down the road of positive, consistent implementation unilaterally: in which case you take the wind out of your opponents’ sails. Or you can do it as part of a collaborative venture, receiving their support – conditional on monitoring – in which case you still retain the initiative. Moreover it will be you, not anyone else, who will then be forcing the pace with the EU agenda. Capture Brussels’s attention with the serious resumption of serious reform and you capture support.

“But these reforms take time. We have achieved much. We have had setbacks. But we really are doing our best. Things are going better now. Just a bit more time” runs the script. Sorry, that script is threadbare. And there is no more time – unless you can rapidly add to it something very substantial and convincing. I suggest as examples: restored respect to the person and office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman; re-invigoration of and proper funding for the Chamber of Control; establishment of an Electoral Commission that is beyond reproach on any charge of conflict of interest. And a full, independent judicial review of the Girgvliani murder case.

On that, some questions. Why did you authorise the premature release of the men convicted in the Girgvliani case? Which came first: your recommendation or that of the Pardons Commission? If the latter, how does that stack up with the statement by some of its members that they did not recommend release? Does your decision, and indeed the handling of the whole case from the beginning, have absolutely nothing to do with your relationship -- some critics would say, your reliance -- on the Ministry of Interior?

President, you were last elected with 53% of the vote, according to the results announced by the Electoral Commission. Do you think that more or less than 53% of the country would now believe the answers you give to the questions above?

You have power. But do you have as much credibility as you have power? Dictators have credibility in the sense that people believe that they will act dictatorially. But your credibility is built on something entirely different: it is built on your claim from when you first came into power that you were a just, reforming democrat.

If you are persuaded that you cannot ignore the opposition, and that they will not quietly go away; and if you are determined that the remainder of your Presidency will shape your legacy – as a leader winning respect on merit – then you will handle the 9 April demonstrations and the underlying messages with respect for your opponents. You will then in your governance “appreciate what others already comprehend” (Machiavelli’s “good”); or you yourself can act, without delay and without swerving, to implement the goals of political and social justice on which you were first swept to power (Machiavelli’s “most excellent”).

There is, I suppose, a third option. That is not to learn the lessons from 7 November, 2007. More tear gas, more arrests, more detachments of “police” brave enough to beat demonstrators but not brave enough to show their faces. And what then? What about the next demonstration? And the one after that?

Mussolini was once asked: “How do you find it possible to put up with the multitude of faces you have to look at here day after day?” He replied: “I merely see in them what they say to me. I do not let them come into contact with my inmost being. I am no more moved by them than by this table and these papers. I preserve my loneliness untouched.” Two years before that, the same leader declared: “We have buried the putrid corpse of liberty.”

In 2004, most of the country shared not just your vision of liberty but trusted you to implement it: judicial independence, media freedom, accountability, no dark corners. Now, nearly half of them have lost that trust. This is not the simple loss of popularity you predicted at the outset. It is fundamental.

Mend trust. Or break more heads. Your call".


Donald MacLaren of MacLaren, former UK ambassador to Georgia in 2004-2007

Op-Ed in the NYTimes

from Civil.ge

Opposition Politician Focuses on Imedi TV in NY Times Op-Ed

Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 3 Apr.'09 / 19:07

Salome Zourabichvili, a former foreign minister and a leader of opposition Georgia’s Way party, wrote in her opinion piece published by the New York Times on April 3, that the U.S. and EU should “push Georgia… back on the path toward democracy.”

She wrote that “an ideal starting point” would be the case of Imedi TV station.

“Demanding that the Georgian leadership returns Imedi to its rightful owners, thus restoring its independence and permitting a voice of balanced journalism to again be heard, would be a clear signal that U.S. policy in Georgia will insist on development of the basic democratic institutions we so fervently seek,” Zourabichvili says.

Zourabichvili’s party is among the group of opposition parties, which are planning to launch street protest rallies from April 9 to demand President Saakashvili’s resignation. The group has just recently rejected the authorities’ proposal to engage in a dialogue on economic, national security and democratic reforms. The opposition politicians from that group were saying that the authorities should make a first step to show that the call for a dialogue was not a mere PR campaign; some of them even suggested that giving up control of Imedi TV by the authorities could have been such first step.

In the article Zourabichvili also says that under President Saakashvili Georgia had become “an authoritarian state” with “restrictions on media freedom, political interference in the judiciary and the erosion of private property rights.”

“Georgia is now a country where everything — from business to sports to culture — falls under government control,” she wrote.

“The Bush administration must bear some responsibility for giving priority to stability and turning a blind eye to the Saakashvili government’s increasingly authoritarian tendencies,” she continued. “We hope the Obama administration will take a stand that reflects America’s principles in aiding the development of truly democratic institutions in Georgia rather than simply supporting individual leaders.”

“I have called for new elections in Georgia that would be free and fair so that the people can begin to rebuild a truly democratic society. What we need, however, is uncompromising international commitment to the basic institutions of democracy, not simply foreign support for individual leaders. Democracy must have a fresh start in Georgia — and a fresh stance from our genuine friends abroad.”

intimidating votes in S. Ossetia

http://www.day.az/news/georgia/149682.html

9 March 2009

Eduard Kokoity Intimidating Population in Controlled Territories

The separatist regime of South Ossetia is blackmailing and intimidating the local population, according to Georgian Parliamentary Deputy and “We Ourselves” party leader Paata Davitaia.

Commenting on the arrests by separatists of Akhalgori Middle School No. 3 teacher Tamara Charoeva and regional administration council chairman Givi Chigoev, Davitaia stated that “Kokoity’s authorities are using the support of the Russian occupation troops and blackmailing the local population.”

“The Russian occupation troops are standing behing them, and because of this Kokoity’s criminal authorities are trying to intimidate what remains of the Georgian population on that territory,” Davitaia stated.

As is known, Charoeva and Chigoev were arrested by Kokoity’s paramilitary bands and accused of treason. Both of the detainees are currently being held in a prison in Tskhinvali. The Tskhinvali regime has sentenced them to two months of preliminary detention for participating in elections for the provisional administration of the Tskhinvali region.

According to known information, Charoeva is in very poor health as she suffers from chronic asthma. The militants arrested her in the middle of a lesson in front of her pupils.

The Kokoity regime is continuing to carry out repressions against all the ethnic Ossetians who took part in the alternative elections in the region in 2006.

Russian "arms sanctions"

“Russia threatens with sanctions to the international community for the cooperation with a sovereign, democratic state in the field of security, while Russia itself has been providing for decades arms to all those odious regimes, which endanger international security and stability in various regions of the world,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that Russia has been arming for years the separatist regimes in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Full article here:

Gori woman recovering

Revisiting a woman famously photographed during the bombing in Gori this past August. Read her full story here (pictured below at the height of the conflict).

The amazing transformation of the humble woman whose
plight during Russia’s brutal bombing of Gori touched the world

By Barbara Jones

Giuli, in turns smiling then weepy, knows it is essential for her to regain her strength and return to her role as the family’s main breadwinner.

She recalled the four long months of her recovery since we last saw her, saying: ‘The doctors were so very kind and caring. Once they had stabilised my physical problems by operating on my shoulder and elbow, they insisted on a regular course of physiotherapy.

‘There is shrapnel still embedded in my arms and thighs, and the most troublesome is the large chunk in my elbow joint.

‘I still have a lot of pain with that and the doctors may have to operate again. They let me leave hospital a month ago but I had to stay in Tbilisi in a rented flat so that Levan could take me daily to the physiotherapist.

‘I also had to see a neurologist to learn to speak again. My brain had blocked out all the dreadful noise and pain of the bomb attack and I had to be taught patiently how to form words again.

damaging testimony on war, former ambassador

Wow. I don't know exactly how credible former ambassador to Russia, Erosi Kitsmarishvili really is, especially as he is no longer the ambassador and the political climate seems to be turning away from Saakashvili following the events of the August war, but this testimony seriously undermines the credibility of the current administration.

Starting in 2004, Kitsmarishvili traces a series of events and meetings that suggested that a peaceful solution or 'deal' with Russia over South Ossetia, however undesirable, was routinely rejected or avoided by the Georgian side. Further, he accuses former defense minister Okruashvili and Saakashvili of plotting war as early as August 2004, closely averted by then Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania (found dead of mysterious circumstances in February, 2005, see this blog entry).

It will be interesting to see if labeling this testimony as 'pro-Russian rhetoric by a disgruntled former minister' by the investigating "Commission" will sufficiently discredit this testimony. Otherwise I'm interested to see what happens next. Here's a Kitsmarishvili quote from the public interview, which is found in a full article here:


"On June 19 Iakobashvili said in my presence and also in presence of other Georgian participants of the meeting that was held in Moscow [referring to a meeting co-organized by Institute of Contemporary Development], including Zurab Abashidze, former Georgian ambassador to Russia and Davit Aprasidze [chairman of the Tbilisi-based think-tank Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development], that the Georgian side was capable of taking over Tskhinvali in three hours; when I told him that Russia would respond, Iakobashvili said: ‘Russians will not even move their fingers about it.’"

Article with good local quotes

A couple good articles taking in different perspectives have come out. Here are a couple of quotes from one I recommend (full article here):

"The war with Russia last August did not come near the capital, but this part of Tbilisi looks bombed out all the same. What happened? It's just decay, they say. Much worse than during the Soviet era. "Just look at the state of the buildings," says Alexander. "It was never like that before. No one has work."

The Americans gave $22m during the war in August and promised another $1bn in September. That came on top of $1.6bn in outside investment in 2007, much of it from the US, a 40 per cent increase on the previous year. The foreigners are to blame for this whole mess, Alexander asserts, because they prop up dodgy regimes.

"Our government is more corrupt than any other in the world. And the US and the UK support them in their corruption."

The American money has not benefited the likes of Alexander. To reach the capital's Armenian quarter from the international airport there is only one route: straight down President George W Bush Street, the only pothole-free highway in town, festooned with pictures of a waving Bush. But Alexander can't afford to travel abroad and doesn't expect to be able to find the money any time soon, so he has never driven along the route.

****
If the situation with Russia is not resolved quickly, says Darjani, his business could dissolve:

"Russia spits on the world and on any- one who gets in the way of their great empire. The current government has ruined years of friendship between Georgia and Russia. I don't blame ordinary Russians, though. I have a lot of friends living in Moscow and Leningrad. But the people of South Ossetia and Abkhazia are Georgians. Their nationalities have been artificially created by the Russians - they give them passports and money and promise them autonomy. So then of course they want to be Russian. But what about the fact that it is our territory and there are Georgians living there?"

Many of these South Ossetians and Abkha zians have sought refuge in Tbilisi, living in hospitals and schools. Their numbers are estimated at anything between 20,000 and 60,000.

singers in a refugee camp

Of the many tidbits of news I receive from Georgia, this vignette stuck out:


"Yesterday I was invited to a small concert. My host once made his living as a professional singer. He's been unemployed for some time now. With 4 other (unemployed) professional singers they formed a small ensemble. They're currently singing in a restaurant, making about $30/week -- which goes nowhere here. The building where they rehearse is an arts school, with a small stage and various classrooms and rehearsal rooms. Since this conflict/war, about 100 refugees from the Tskhinvali region were moved into the arts school. Now everyone's making do with a less than ideal situation.

As the singers began to sing, refugee children and adults crowded around the door, finally about a dozen of them coming in and enjoying the concert. What a picture of modern day Georgia - for all too many people! Very powerful moments.

I hope you will prayerfully consider supporting the work of the American Friends of Georgia.
May God bless you and yours!"

Mat. Jan

Help Gori area students

Here is one good initiative that I've learned of in the conflict affected area: two former Peace Corps volunteers, whose program was suspended due to the war this summer, have started a non-profit to help students get back to school. They're looking for donations, here is the blurb:

Gori Regional Education Fund

Posted by: "jeremy_bauman" baumanjeremy@hotmail.com jeremy_bauman

Tue Nov 11, 2008 10:57 pm (PST)

I'm a former US Peace Corps volunteer who lived and worked in Gori.
My sitemate and I had our service interrupted because of the war, and
when Peace Corps decided to suspend our program, we chose to return
to help in any way the wonderful community that had supported us and
that we had grown to love.

We sought to help address a need that no other organization or group
was meeting. After consulting with colleagues, friends and community
leaders, including the Rector of Gori University, we learned that
over half of the students at Gori University could not pay their
tuition because of the effects of the war.

Therefore, we started the "Gori Regional Education Fund," a legally-
registered NGO in Georgia that provides scholarships for Gori
University students. We have announced our first round of
scholarships, to be issued December 8th. Students must complete an
application and interview, and will be selected by a committee that
is not affiliated with the University. Scholarships are awarded based
on academic performance, need and merit.

For more information, or to make a donation, please visit our website
www.gorifund.org (still some glitches, but functioning) or email us
at info@gorifund.org.

Many thanks,
Jeremy

Jeremy Bauman
Assistant Director
Gori Regional Education Fund

Ossetian Perspective: witness account

A witness account of Georgian aggression in Tskhinvali, August 7th. Light on the direct facts and figures, it is nontheless a heart-wrenching personal account from an Ossetian civilian in the middle of the conflict, a voice that has been underrepresented in the English speaking media.



The following op-ed is online and will be published in the Oct. 8th edition of the Christian Science Monitor.

OPINION
I survived the Georgian war. Here's what I saw.
Lira Tskhovrebova
872 words
8 October 2008
The Christian Science Monitor
ALL
9
English
© 2008 Christian Science Monitor. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All Rights Reserved.

In a speech before the United Nations last month, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili implored world leaders to set up an international investigation to find out the truth about the war in South Ossetia.

I couldn't agree more. But I think the results of an honest investigation would reveal a very different "truth" than what President Saakashvili claims.

I know this because I was in Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, on Aug. 7 when Georgian troops marched into the city and killed my friends and neighbors. I huddled with my family in terror for three nights while Saakashvili's tanks and rockets destroyed hundreds of our homes, desecrated cemeteries, gutted schools and hospitals.

I also have good reason not to trust what Saakashvili says. For three days before the attack I had been getting calls from many Georgian friends warning me to get out. They said Saakashvili was planning an attack. Most of the Georgians living in South Ossetia left because they knew what was coming.

On the night of Aug. 7, Saakashvili went on television and assured the frightened civilian population of South Ossetia that he would not attack us. This was long after the time Saakashvili now claims Russians had begun "invading" Georgia.

Ossetians went to bed relieved and thankful for a peaceful night.

Less than two hours later, according to credible international accounts, his artillery, bombers, and three brigades of ground troops unleashed what I can only describe as a fierce hell on our city. In the moment, we knew only our fear as we hid. Afterward I spoke with hundreds of Ossetians to find out what was done to us.

My friend's elderly father tried to douse the flames set by Georgian fire on the home he had built with his hands. His leg was severed by shrapnel from Georgian weapons. He bled to death while his disabled wife crawled from their burning home.

Ossetians saw Georgian tanks firing into basements where women and children hid for safety They saw fleeing families shot down by Georgian snipers. We learned that the Georgian military had used Grad rocket systems and cluster bombs against Tskhinvali.

Yes, I would very much like to see an international commission investigate the truth of what happened.

When I came out from hiding, thanking God that the Russians had saved our lives, I was dismayed by the reaction of the international media to what had happened. There was nothing about Ossetian deaths and the unprovoked horrors inflicted by Saakashvili's military. It made my heart sick.

The truth has been crushed by Georgia's powerful public relations machine as mercilessly as Georgian tanks rolled over the defenseless civilians of Tskhinvali.

I know that Americans are a generous and fair people. But Americans haven't been told the truth about what happened to us. Americans don't understand that Ossetians are an independent, Christian Orthodox people with a deep history in our land. The world talks only about Georgian freedom. What of freedom for my people? Does our suffering, do our voices, mean nothing?

I don't blame the Georgian people for what happened to us. The vast number of Ossetians and Georgians want to live in peace. I blame Georgia's leaders.

Saakashvili has persuaded the world that he is a "beacon" of democracy and openness. But he won't even tell his own people the truth. My Georgian friends weren't allowed to see any Russian news sites during the conflict because all of those sites were blocked by Saakashvili's government.

I know we are a small people, and I make no claim to understanding the experts in geopolitics with their theories and pronouncements about the great powers. But I have fought for women's rights in Ossetia for 12 years and I believe in the truth.

In a recent article, Saakashvili cynically dismissed Ossetian suffering and deaths because, he said, Russia had "lied" about how many of my people were killed by the Georgian military.

It breaks my heart to even engage in this discussion. No one - including Saakashvili - knows how many Ossetians were killed by his Army. I have friends who buried loved ones in their backyards because there were no alternatives. Many people are still missing.

Does Saakashvili believe his vicious attack on a civilian city was justified if he only killed a few hundred rather than a few thousand? Do Americans realize that a military trained and equipped by the US government attacked a civilian population as they slept in their beds? Can they justify sending another billion dollars to Georgia and nothing for those Georgia attacked?

I have made an urgent appeal to the world for humanitarian relief for our people at the website helpossetianow.org. I beg the United States and the world to find out the truth. Please hear our voices.

* Lira Tskhovrebova is the founder of the Association of South Ossetian Women for Democracy and Human Rights and has worked for more than a decade to improve relations between people of Georgian and Ossetian descent in the Caucasus.(c) Copyright 2008. The Christian Science Monitor

Russia increases army, starts rebuilding bases

Take a look at this sober report on Russia's intentions in Abkhazia and South Ossetia... and the ongoing Georgian Parliamentary investigation into the causes of the war.


The Jamestown Foundation
Eurasia Daily Monitor

October 30, 2008 — Volume 5, Issue 208
GEORGIAN OFFICIALS ADMIT THEY MISREAD RUSSIAN INTENTIONS

The State Duma unanimously ratified treaties with the Georgian breakaway regions
of South Ossetia and Abkhazia that will formalize military, diplomatic, and
economic ties and allow Moscow to deploy thousands of troops there. Russian
officials say that Abkhazia and South Ossetia may soon join the Union State of
Russia and Belarus, while Russian military bases in the separatist regions will
become an integral part of Russian defense organization (Interfax, October 29).

During the ratification procedures in the Duma, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory
Karasin announced that Russia would deploy two army brigades "of approximately
3,800 men each" in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. According to Karasin, the
situation in the region continues to be tense, "with Georgian special forces
deploying close to Abkhazia and South Ossetia" (RIA-Novosti, October 29).
Abkhaz “foreign minister” Sergei Shamba has stated that the number of Russian
solders may in fact be bigger—"as much as is needed." Shamba confirmed that
Russian border guards would be stationed on the separation line with Georgia
and that the Abkhaz military would be integrated with the Russian armed forces.
Russia would provide training, weapons, and commanding officers (Nezavisimaya
Gazeta, October 30).

Additional Air Force and Naval units will be permanently stationed in Abkhazia
and South Ossetia. The Russian border guards, while being an armed force with
its own air force and navy, belong to the FSB security service; and their
deployment will be in excess of the announced 7,600-strong Russian army
contingent. The overall strength of Russian troops and Russian-lead local
separatist forces in Abkhazia and South Ossetia is estimated at over 30,000,
with hundreds of tanks and other armor, heavy guns, ships, and military
aircraft. Massive reinforcements may be sent in anytime from the north by
Moscow. These forces grossly outnumber and outgun the Georgian regular
military, but precise figures are unavailable, because of the typical Russian
obsession with secrecy and because foreign observers are not allowed unimpeded
access to inspect Abkhazia or South Ossetia.

While Russia is consolidating its control, a parliamentary commission in Tbilisi
began investigating the war with Russia in August. Georgian ministers and
military and security officials have testified, with part of the hearings
public and others behind closed doors for security reasons. There are no plans
to have any hearings in the Russian parliament or any other official public
investigation there of the events that led to war with Georgia in August.

The secretary of Georgia's National Security Council, Alexander Lomaia,
testified that Russia had used about a third of its combat-capable land forces
in the operation against Georgia, and "neither we nor any foreign intelligence
service had any information about Russia's expected full-scale invasion and
occupation of a large part of our territory; it was a shock and a surprise."
According to Lomaia, it was known that several thousand Russian troops were on
the border of South Ossetia during the Kavkaz-2008 military exercises and had
apparently begun moving in on August 7; but the Georgian leaders believed they
had enough troops to deal with such a force (Civil Georgia, October 28).
Apparently, the Georgians did not notice a statement by General Yuri Netkachev
that the number of troops involved in Kavkaz-2008 exercises (8,000) "was
officially underestimated" (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, July 18).

Georgian foreign intelligence service chief Gela Bezhuashvili testified, "We
were expecting that Russia would escalate tension in September, October, or in
November 2008." There was no information that Russia was planning an attack out
of Abkhazia to occupy Western Georgia (Civil Georgia, October 25). Apparently,
the Georgians did not take a statement by Shamba seriously—"It will take us two
days to go on the offensive into Western Georgia and create a security buffer
zone" (Kommersant, May 5).

Minister for Reintegration Temur Iakobashvili testified that on August 7 in
Tskhinvali the commander of the Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia General
Marat Kulakhmetov had told him that they could not control the Ossetian forces;
they had deployed guns near his headquarters (Kommersant, October 28). Indeed
Kulakhmetov told Russian journalists that he needed more troops to control the
situation (RIA-Novosti, August 7). For the Russians this was a signal to begin
the invasion, while the Georgians may have considered this a tacit endorsement
of a limited operation against the "uncontrollable Ossetians."

The chief of staff of the Georgian armed forces Zaza Gogava testified that on
August 7 he was ordered by President Mikheil Saakashvili "to stop all types of
military forces coming into Georgia from Russia" and to suppress the firing
positions of the Ossetian separatists (Civil Georgia, October 28). The Georgian
forces moved in and only by August 10 understood the scope of the Russian
invasion. An overall retreat was ordered.

The massive invasion indeed caught the Georgians off guard and unprepared.
Russia, lead by former KGB spy Vladimir Putin, managed to cover its
preparations and intentions not only from the Georgians, but also from Western
governments and intelligence services.

—Pavel Felgenhauer

The Eurasia Daily Monitor is a publication of the Jamestown Foundation. The
opinions expressed in it are those of the individual authors and do not
necessarily represent those of the Jamestown Foundation. If you have any
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Burjanadze the Hammer!

In an open letter to the Georgian government and people, former Parliamentary speaker and twice interim president, Nino Burjanadze, has brought down the hammer.

Here she is on the freedom of media crisis (full article here):

"The situation, in which the Georgian TV stations are today, is unacceptable for the Georgian society; such situation indicates that the authorities are politically incapable and are scared of the truth. It is a shame that we have to speak about freedom of media on the fifth anniversary of the Rose Revolution and by that you have betrayed the hundreds of thousands of people, who stood beside you in November [2003] to protect that very same value.

Control of media outlets should be over unconditionally!

It needs a concrete decision rather than your words!"

Civil.ge "40,000 IDPs Can Return Home"

Georgian IDPs returning home... article here:

Around 40,000 people can return to their homes in the areas adjacent to breakaway South Ossetia following the Russian withdrawal, a senior Georgian official in charge of issues related with internally displaced persons, said on October 9.

MP Koba Subeliani from the ruling party, who is a former state minister for refugees and accommodation, said “only a few percent of houses are totally destroyed.”

“There are many houses that need repair and we will do that; it is not a very difficult task,” he told Tbilisi-based radio station Ucnobi FM by phone from the region.

“The damage [to houses] is less than we expected; we expected much more damage,” MP Subeliani added.

He also said that Georgian police were now responsible for security in the area, adding that it was now safe to return.

Meanwhile, the Ministry for Refugees and Accommodation released a list of 52 villages where it said it was possible to return at this stage. It also said that the Tbilisi municipality had provided buses to ferry displaced persons to those villages.

People forced to flee Georgian villages inside the breakaway region will be provided with houses, which are currently under construction mainly in the Shida Kartli region sometime in December, MP Subeliani said.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said last month that about 22,000 internally displaced people from the Georgian villages inside South Ossetia and about 1,000 people who fled from upper Kodori Gorge in breakaway Abkhazia would be unable to return to their homes in “the foreseeable future.”

Scathing Remarks from the Public Defender

For a strong critique of the Saakashvili government from the Georgian Public Defender, Sozar Subari, take a look at this article.

Here is the beginning:

Actual Situation

As a result of Russian barbarian aggression, the situation in Georgia today has become extremely difficult. Many civilians and soldiers have been killed during the war in August and thousands of our fellow citizens have become victims of ethnic cleansing and have been forced to flee their homes, their property has been destroyed.

Notwithstanding optimistic statements made by the government, the severe reality is, that nobody knows, when they will be able to return to their homes. The population of nearby villages of the conflict zone is unprotected and is under constant threat to be killed, robbed and their homes burned down – numerous evidences of this are in place. Russian occupants have set up control posts in Abkhazia, Shida Kartli, Imereti and Samegrelo, where Georgian citizens are stopped and are restricted to travel, their documents are being checked, they are being searched and humiliated.

Notwithstanding the promise of Georgia’s President, that he would dedicate his presidency to the unification of Georgia, Ksani gorge – Akhalgori district, Kodori gorge – so called Zemo Apkhazeti, Didi and Patara Liakhvi gorges and Prone gorge have now been added to the list of already lost territories – in total around 100 Georgian villages.

The Georgian population of Akhalgori is forced to either accept South Ossetian or Russian citizenship or leave their homes. Cities have been bombed, people have been killed and the population has received terrible psychological trauma.

Speaking out the truth has become extremely important and vital especially today, when significant part of Georgian territory is occupied by Russia, as facing the truth can be the only solution for overcoming the crisis

Georgia’s defeat has been stipulated by the authoritarian rule in the country;

Internet down

I've been away from the blog for some time now. I don't have internet in Sighnaghi, not to mention gas, water, or electricity half of the time, so life is increased to the wonderful essentials of work, sustenance, study, and friendship without technological dependence. But I do miss my email, I must confess.

Meanwhile, blogger has been down here in Tbilisi anyway, today is the first day I've been able to log on since being back here for almost a week.

The Fourth Polyphony Symposium is around the corner, and despite the war this summer, quite a number of foreign scholars and several foreign choirs who specialize in Georgian music are coming to Tbilisi. My own choirs sadly won't make it this year, but apparently they are organizing to perform in New York city at a Georgian photography exhibit. Good luck guys!

I am, as usual, being extremely last minute about my presentation on the mysteries of memorial archiving of chant in the oral tradition... because honestly, who actually knows how these people memorized up to 4000 chants? I'm not about to pretend that I know, but still, one has to come up with a fancy way of saying what no scholar really wants to say... "We don't know."

Anyway, there are plenty of analogues from Western music history and Byzantine chant studies, and the trick is to somehow suggest that these models have relevance for the Georgian tradition which is actually quite different.

Very disturbing clip on hate crimes in Russia

Short documentary on the rise of neo-Nazism in Russia, well worth taking a look at.
Find video here: http://current.com/items/84906361_from_russia_with_hate

Recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia: Pandora's box?

In addition to this article from the New York Times, here is some interesting discussion on the separatist issue from a good blog on the area (I don't agree, or don't know enough to agree with the Kosovo statements, but the Russia-Georgia reasoning is good).

Quote from Tataristan in reference to official recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia: “The seeds of self-destruction are built into the authoritarian system,” Mr. Akhmetov said. “It’s Moscow’s mistake.” (NYTimes article cited above)

Human Chain

All across Georgia, people gathered at 3pm to form a human chain. Apparently a real human chain stretched through all three of the Baltic countries during the independence protests in the early 1990s, and it has become a symbol of solidarity against Russian aggression in the former USSR countries.














I've never seen so many people at one time in Sighnaghi, it was pretty powerful. Even though threatening to rain, there must have been more than 5000 people on the streets that are normally occupied by no more than 50-100.

So we lined up, and kept lining up... and there were too many people, so we gradually inched our way out of town and extended our train nearly to Bodbe Convent a couple kilometers outside of the city. The two Nino's and I located ourselves amongst Tamuna's boys choir, all in red chokhas, and sang songs of protest, and songs of unity. Teuna and Sopo from Sighnaghi's St. George's Church were there, and they surprised me by singing an unpublished chant they had apparently memorized from a transcription I made and gave to Shergil five years ago.



















In terms of the protest, I found it amusingly very un-Georgian. The idea of a long chain of people demands sophisticated organization to move people to designated spots and get them to stay there.... also to form lines.... is this starting to sound funny to anyone else who has been to Eastern Europe? On top of that, Georgians like to be around other people, and think that those who say, go off on walks by themselves, are deranged, lonely, or just odd. Why not take company? So standing in a solitary line, with only your immediate neighbor to talk to, was somewhat non-characteristic, and it showed in our inability to actually form a coherent chain. Nontheless the event was gratifying, and we cheered every time the teenager with the beat-up car, stereo blasting, careened around the corner horns blasting and waving a flag out the window.