Russia is instituting procedures in areas of Georgia under its control that indicate Russian troops will not be withdrawing in accordance with a six-point stabilization blueprint. Human Rights Watch is also raising an alarm about conditions in the conflict zone, asserting that Russia’s use of cluster bombs has created an ongoing hazard to the civilian population.

Russia has taken steps to tighten its control over areas occupied by Russian troops, in particular the strategic hub of Gori. The Georgian government announced that the Russian Embassy in Tbilisi has notified it that “to arrange civilized movement throughout Gori,” information about “delegation members, travel objectives and duration, transport vehicles and itinerary” must now first be submitted to the Russian mission in Tbilisi. The note appears to refer to both diplomats and non-diplomats, including humanitarian aid workers. The information will be relayed to the Russian defense ministry, the note continues, “in order to give respective instructions to the peacekeeping command, which will further ensure unhindered movement.”

The embassy was not available for immediate comment or elaboration. The Georgian government, however, has termed the requirements a violation of international law based “on Soviet-imperialist traditions.”

For the past few days, a move towards tighter travel restrictions has appeared to be in the works. French Ambassador Eric Fournier was reportedly stopped on the morning of August 21 near Gori for three hours as he tried to return to Tbilisi from a village further west. Matyas Eorsi, an envoy from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, was initially refused entry to Gori on August 20, before the decision was reversed. In a blow to local sensitivities, the governor of Shida Kartli, Lasha Vardzelashvili, was detained for two hours by Russian forces after trying to secure a humanitarian aid convoy’s passage through a Russian checkpoint.

Entrance for journalists has also become problematic, with varying rules on what checkpoint allows entrance and increasing delays required for travel into the city. Two American journalists were arrested in the past day, although they were subsequently released. The reasons for their detention were not immediately clear.

At the same time, Russian forces demonstrate no inclination to withdraw from the positions in Georgia that they currently hold. Gori residents told EurasiaNet that they watched Russian troops scrap checkpoints in the city on August 20 only to witness them reinstalled later in the day. The residents said, however, that Russian forces appear to be thinning out inside the city. Georgian police officers have so far not been permitted to reenter the city to reestablish a security presence.

A resident in the village of Kvakhevi, eight kilometers outside of Gori and within Russian-occupied territory, told EurasiaNet that Russian troops were still holding the heights around the city. “From here, I can see some 10 armored vehicles,” said Saba Tsitsikashvili of the Human Rights Information and Documentation Center. “Nothing here suggests that a withdrawal is underway.”

That evaluation echoes earlier statements by PACE envoy Eorsi, who told reporters on August 19 that he had witnessed no evidence of a withdrawal.

http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav082108.shtml