Abkhazia. A Lawless Independence Aspirant
A Nation In Waiting Or A Wasteground Ripe For Crooks?
Dec 3, 2008
The de facto Abkhaz authorities, backed by Russia, have conducted a bloody campaign for independence since 1992. The region is home to approximately 200,000 people but not all of whom are ethnic Abkhaz.
The relatively densely populated area around the border town of Gali is primarily Mingrelian in descent and, therefore consider themselves to be Georgian, rather than Abkhaz. It could easily be argued that the current ceasefire line, which is now just one of the focal points for extortion by the local militia is actually 20 km too far south and that the moving of this "border" would solve many of the political issues faced by the people on the ground.
However, the question must be asked as to whether Abkhazia, as a independent republic, would present itself as a viable entity. Currently, it is an entirely lawless wasteground where the local militia make a living from extorting the local population in the Mingrelian areas.
The most common form of extortion is kidnapping and ransom, which is most prevalent in the late autumn and winter due to the fact that it is the only time of year when the families who are subject to this form of extortion are likely to have cash following the sale of hazelnut crop.
The most recent series of extortions have taken place in the village of Marchkaponi where a local man was captured after selling some of his meagre cattle herd. The family was contacted two days later and a ransom of $6,000 was paid for his release.
The man was eventually found roaming the nearby woods where he was found to have suffered a severe beating by his captors. The man is now in hospital in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi where he is expected to make a full recovery in a few days.
However, the same militia personnel are also suspected of a particularly brutal attack on an elderly woman who had travelled to the village from Tbilisi to tend her late husband's grave. Given that she had a sizeable hazelnut crop this year, she was kidnapped, but died during the beating that she was given by the militia. Her body was found on the nearby riverbank in the early morning of 2 December 2008. Her post mortem confirmed that she had died from a combination of severe blows to the head and a badly broken rib-cage.
With the local "authorities" acting in such a manner, it is entirely inconceivable that the de facto Republic can ever be afforded independent status. The infrastructure, completely ruined by the Abkaz forces, in the period of ethnic cleansing after the 1992 war simply will not support any industry required to sustain the fledgling republic. Moreover, it is unlikely that Russia will continue to have any interest in the area once the buffer zone has been established between its Black Sea border and Georgia, its neighbourly NATO aspirant.
