Although a year has passed since the organization of a large-scale police operation in the Pankisi Gorge, the state still has not taken appropriate steps to build trust and democratic dialogue and to actually respond to the people’s worries and concerns in the community.

Earlier this year, The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) met with residents of four major villages in the Pankisi Gorge - Duisi, Jokolo, Birkiani, and Omalo - to explore the situation, attitudes and developments in the area. Interviews with locals show that their dissatisfaction was related to the fact that the policy in Pankisi Gorge is heavily based upon security and control, with all its severe legal and social consequences,[1] as well as to the acute social challenges at the local level, including employment, the availability of safe drinking water, public transport, roads, healthcare and social infrastructure and political issues.

According to the local community, the level of their participation in local political events is considerably low. The government uses somewhat inconsistently the democratic mechanisms provided in the Self-Government Code, and thus their involvement is more imaginary than real. The level of involvement of members of the community in the Civil Council of Akhmeta Municipality is nominal. Locals are worried that their problems have not been resolved for several years, which leads to a general frustration with the participatory process. Even more undemocratic and vague is the policy of the central government regarding the Gorge, as well as the logic of the decisions taken, and the rhetoric adopted by the government throughout the recent years.

Locals are complaining about the daily and excessive police control over them. They say that their movements are strictly controlled not only in the Gorge, but also in other regions of Georgia and at the border. Locals point out that law enforcement agents often stop tourists and ask them to show their passports, which discourages the development of tourism in the area. Police surveillance in its most obvious and severe forms has been linked to the construction of a series of hydropower plants planned in the Gorge, while even before the events of April 21^st, campaigners protesting against the construction of hydropower plants were persistently summoned by the police, and their proper communication with political agencies was severed. Many questions arose among the locals after the events of April 21^st 2019 regarding the construction of a police building in the village of Birkiani, over which the Ministry of Internal Affairs never had any appropriate public consultation with the locals.

According to locals, all important social and infrastructural projects planned for 2019 have been suspended in the Gorge, which they believe is related to the events of April 21^st, 2019 and served as a kind of ‘punishment’ for the community. It is noteworthy that only in the spring of 2020, several social infrastructural projects (school, road segment construction / renovation) were promised, which is worth appreciating. It is noteworthy that the positions of the locals interviewed by us regarding the construction of the series of hydropower plants[2] in the Gorge are still negative, and they even refuse to resume discussions over the issue. These attitudes were fortified later after the confrontation between the families in the fall of 2019, which they  was supposedly linked to the ongoing conflict over the construction of hydropower plants.[3]

The grievous social situation, the employment problem and the general context of social nihilism encourage migration among locals, which poses an enormous challenge for the local population. According to the survey, a large proportion of young people have left the Pankisi Gorge because they cannot see the potential for development and social sustainability there. One of the most important factors in this social frustration was the assassination of Temirlan Machalikashvili[4] and the subsequent, ineffective police investigation, as well as the government's dismissive rhetoric in this regard.[5]  

Besides the above-mentioned systemic political challenges, the locals listed the following social policy issues as their most important problems:

1. The problem of pollution and the shortage of drinking water in almost every village in the valley;
2. The lack of fire and emergency medical staff in the Gorge, and related health and safety risks;
3. Unsustainable social support policies at the municipal level, including the lack of sustainable and proactive social services focused on the needs of the community;
4. The fragmentary and inconsistent nature of local cultural policy and the lack of consistent and effective multicultural approaches and inter-ethnic / religious / cultural dialogue platforms;
5. Lack of any tourism development strategy and action plan created by democratic consultations in the Gorge;
6. The very poor condition of internal roads in villages and the lack of infrastructure necessary for road safety;
7. Safety of power lines and problems related to power outages;
8. The absence of public transport and the additional social burden put upon the population;
9. Most of the villages do not have gyms and sports facilities, or other public places;
10. The problem of sanitation and the problem of the disorganization of waste bins and waste management;

Absence of additional social support for students enrolled in universities (housing and transportation costs), which hinders the process of obtaining higher education for economically vulnerable families.

According to the residents, it is necessary to mention the problem of the cultural heritage policy of the municipality, which is less focused on the protection and development of the cultural heritage of the minorities, and lacks sufficient encouragement of multiculturalism. Locals recall that in July 2019, the municipality established a holiday of Khadoroba, to which no Kists were invited, and residents only learned about it after the holiday.[6] However, it has been the second year in a row, that Pankisoba has not been celebrated as decided initially by the population due to the tragedy in the Machalikashvili family. However, the following year not celebrating this holiday was decided without democratic consultation with the population.

Considering the large-scale police operation carried out on April 21 in the Pankisi Gorge and its grave social consequences, EMC believes it is essential for the state to develop a democratic experience based on the consideration of the historical experience of the Pankisi Gorge community and their real needs and concerns. It is essential that these policies are based on the ideas of democracy, peace, equality and social justice, and respect. At the same time, it is essential that the state understands the priority and importance of inclusive, human rights and justice-based policies for security purposes, and applies its own security policies and strategies to these principles and approaches.

To this end, EMC first shared the document with the relevant state agencies and called on them to pursue a dialogue-based policy with the community. Our organization hopes that the discussion on these issues will resume after the pandemic and the difficulties associated with it. Some of the important recommendations, including the social difficulties created by the pandemic, will be shared by the state in a timely manner.

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