Georgian PM, Gov’t members pay tribute to victims of Abkhazia war after transfer of remains
The PM, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili and Government officials joined a service at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in the city and expressed their condolences to the families of the victims, the Government Administration said. Photo: Government Administration
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Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and Government members on Thursday paid tribute to 12 individuals who went missing during the 1992-1993 armed conflict in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region, after their remains were transferred to the country’s capital of Tbilisi.
The remains belong to five combatants and seven civilians, who had been missing since the conflict, and were transferred in the latest phase of the joint efforts of the State Ministry for Reconciliation and Civic Equality and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The PM, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili and Government officials joined a service at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in the city and expressed their condolences to the families of the victims, the Government Administration said.
The combatants will be buried at the Dighomi Cemetery of Brothers, while the civilian victims will be laid to rest in family graveyards.
The remains of 12 individuals who went missing during the 1992-1993 armed conflict in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region have been identified and returned to their families in the latest phase of the long-running efforts, the International Committee of the Red Cross Georgia said on Wednesday.
The remains of 23 individuals who had been missing since the 1992-1993 armed conflict in Georgia’s now Russian-occupied Abkhazia region were handed over to their families on Wednesday, in the latest stage of the process involving the Government and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Georgia’s capital Tbilisi and four other regions of the country on Wednesday marked the International Day of the Disappeared, celebrated annually in order to honour messing individuals and to increase public awareness of the issue.
The Georgian State Ministry for Reconciliation and Civic Equality on Friday said a meeting involving Georgian and Abkhaz participants for finding and determining the fate of missing individuals from the 1992-1993 armed conflict in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region was hosted in İstanbul.