Georgia/South Ossetia: Tenth meeting held to seek ways forward on issue of missing persons from conflicts of 1990s and 2008

The tenth meeting of the coordination mechanism for clarifying the fate and whereabouts of people who have been missing since the conflicts of the 1990s and August 2008 and their aftermath took place under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on 15 December 2016 in Versoix, Switzerland.

Georgian, South Ossetian and Russian participants gathered at the meeting, chaired by the ICRC in its capacity as neutral intermediary, to discuss future steps to be taken to provide the families of the missing with answers about what happened to their loved ones.

According to the ICRC, 126 people remain missing as a result of the armed conflict that took place in the 1990s, and 42 as a result of the 2008 armed conflict.

"It is very encouraging to see the progress that has been made since the mechanism's work resumed in February," said Séverine Chappaz from the ICRC, who chairs the coordination mechanism. "This has enabled the participants to make plans today to excavate some potential gravesites in 2017," she continued, highlighting that the meeting took place in a very constructive atmosphere.

For further information, please contact:
Maia Kardava, ICRC Tbilisi, +995 5 99 55 88 18
Marina Tedeti, ICRC Tskhinvali +7 929 807 93 64
Victoria Zotikova, ICRC Moscow + 7 903 545 35 34
Jenny Tobias, ICRC Geneva, +41 (0)79 536 92 48