А meeting dedicated to the problem of domestic violence in Abkhazia was held
15 May 2024
On May 15, 2024 on the initiative of Commissioner Anas Kishmaria, a meeting on the problems of domestic violence in Abkhazia was held at the office of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Abkhazia.
The meeting was attended by the Chairman of the RA Parliamentary Committee on Social Policy, Labor, Health Care, Demography and Affairs of War Veterans and Disabled Persons Rashida Aiba, the Chairman of the RA Parliamentary Committee on State and Legal Policy Daut Khutaba, Member of the Parliament, Member of the Committee on Social Policy, Labor, Health Care, demography and Affairs of War Veterans Narsou Salakaya, Minister of Internal Affairs Robert Kiut, the head of the civil judicial department of the General Prosecutor's Office Elena Chitanava, as well as representatives of the public organization "Association of Women of Abkhazia" (AWA) – the head of the Association Marieta Topchyan, the lawyer Madina Khagush and the psychologist Anna Torgasheva.
Opening the meeting Anas Kishmaria noted that the protection of human rights and freedoms is a priority of the national legislation of Abkhazia. “We intend to continue to gather in this format, to discuss the most pressing topics and issues with citizens and organizations involved in this topic, in order to protect the rights and freedom of citizens. This platform is politically neutral, non-partisan and will operate exclusively for the purposes stated in the Law “On the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Abkhazia,” emphasized Anas Kishmaria.
Within the meeting, the Commissioner noted that the main objective of the event was to establish contacts between relevant organizations, law enforcement agencies and legislators to develop not only a formal but an effective approach to solving the problem of domestic violence. “Such a representative meeting on this issue suggests that both the state and society are ready to find solutions to this problem,” the Commissioner continued.
The head of the Association of Women of Abkhazia Marieta Topchyan noted that in recent years the trend of denying the existence of the problem of domestic violence has decreased but this topic has not become controversial in our society and presented to the audience the statistics of appeals on domestic violence for 2023. “Over 11 months the consultation centers received 755 requests, of which 238 were initial requests and new cases; among them are 209 women, 10 men and 19 minors,” said Marieta Tapchyan. However, the number of requests could have been higher - from practice it is clear that victims of domestic violence often hide and prefer not to contact with the law enforcement agencies or report a problem, which emphasizes the importance of information education not only for citizens but also for law enforcement officers in the field of protection against domestic violence.
In turn, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Robert Kiut thanked the Commissioner for the invitation, noting the relevance and importance of the meeting in such a format. The minister told the audience about the approach of the law enforcement agencies of Abkhazia to the identified facts of domestic violence, pointed out that punishment in this area needs to be toughened, work on regulations, but it is important to take into account the specifics of the relations that they regulate. Robert Kiut supported the initiative to inform citizens about the problem in our society and noted the importance of discussing the topic of domestic violence from adolescence.
The chairmen of the parliamentary committees, Rashida Aiba, Daut Khutaba and deputy Narsou Salakaya, expressed their readiness to assist in solving problems related to domestic violence and to cooperate with lawyers from the Office of the Commissioner in improving laws in the field of domestic violence.
The Head of the Civil Judicial Department of the General Prosecutor's Office Elena Chitanava presented the position of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Abkhazia and confirmed its readiness to provide the necessary assistance in solving the problems of family and domestic violence, also emphasized the importance of an open discussion on this topic and the intention of further participation of the General Prosecutor's Office in the development of relevant amendments to the normative - legal acts.
At the end of the meeting Anas Kishmaria thanked everyone for their interest, active participation and involvement in the problem. “It should be noted how representatives of the legislative and executive authorities respond to our proposals to hold discussions on topical issues - this allows me to speak about the seriousness of the intentions of the discussion participants in solving the identified problems. We are in constant contact, we interact, I have repeatedly noted the level of trust that has developed between us, the speed of interaction on operational issues. Friendly speaking, there is something to value here and I really value it as only in such conditions and in such a working atmosphere we can effectively fulfill the main function of our state - to protect the rights and freedoms of citizens,” concluded the Commissioner.
The discussion participants decided to support information support of the presented topics, each using their own information and administrative capabilities. The participants also decided to instruct and develop appropriate amendments to the current legislation regulating this area, so that in the course of further work, substantively discuss both measures and approaches to this problem on the part of law enforcement officers and legislators as well as measures of civil response.
The meeting was attended by the Chairman of the RA Parliamentary Committee on Social Policy, Labor, Health Care, Demography and Affairs of War Veterans and Disabled Persons Rashida Aiba, the Chairman of the RA Parliamentary Committee on State and Legal Policy Daut Khutaba, Member of the Parliament, Member of the Committee on Social Policy, Labor, Health Care, demography and Affairs of War Veterans Narsou Salakaya, Minister of Internal Affairs Robert Kiut, the head of the civil judicial department of the General Prosecutor's Office Elena Chitanava, as well as representatives of the public organization "Association of Women of Abkhazia" (AWA) – the head of the Association Marieta Topchyan, the lawyer Madina Khagush and the psychologist Anna Torgasheva.
Opening the meeting Anas Kishmaria noted that the protection of human rights and freedoms is a priority of the national legislation of Abkhazia. “We intend to continue to gather in this format, to discuss the most pressing topics and issues with citizens and organizations involved in this topic, in order to protect the rights and freedom of citizens. This platform is politically neutral, non-partisan and will operate exclusively for the purposes stated in the Law “On the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Abkhazia,” emphasized Anas Kishmaria.
Within the meeting, the Commissioner noted that the main objective of the event was to establish contacts between relevant organizations, law enforcement agencies and legislators to develop not only a formal but an effective approach to solving the problem of domestic violence. “Such a representative meeting on this issue suggests that both the state and society are ready to find solutions to this problem,” the Commissioner continued.
The head of the Association of Women of Abkhazia Marieta Topchyan noted that in recent years the trend of denying the existence of the problem of domestic violence has decreased but this topic has not become controversial in our society and presented to the audience the statistics of appeals on domestic violence for 2023. “Over 11 months the consultation centers received 755 requests, of which 238 were initial requests and new cases; among them are 209 women, 10 men and 19 minors,” said Marieta Tapchyan. However, the number of requests could have been higher - from practice it is clear that victims of domestic violence often hide and prefer not to contact with the law enforcement agencies or report a problem, which emphasizes the importance of information education not only for citizens but also for law enforcement officers in the field of protection against domestic violence.
In turn, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Robert Kiut thanked the Commissioner for the invitation, noting the relevance and importance of the meeting in such a format. The minister told the audience about the approach of the law enforcement agencies of Abkhazia to the identified facts of domestic violence, pointed out that punishment in this area needs to be toughened, work on regulations, but it is important to take into account the specifics of the relations that they regulate. Robert Kiut supported the initiative to inform citizens about the problem in our society and noted the importance of discussing the topic of domestic violence from adolescence.
The chairmen of the parliamentary committees, Rashida Aiba, Daut Khutaba and deputy Narsou Salakaya, expressed their readiness to assist in solving problems related to domestic violence and to cooperate with lawyers from the Office of the Commissioner in improving laws in the field of domestic violence.
The Head of the Civil Judicial Department of the General Prosecutor's Office Elena Chitanava presented the position of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Abkhazia and confirmed its readiness to provide the necessary assistance in solving the problems of family and domestic violence, also emphasized the importance of an open discussion on this topic and the intention of further participation of the General Prosecutor's Office in the development of relevant amendments to the normative - legal acts.
At the end of the meeting Anas Kishmaria thanked everyone for their interest, active participation and involvement in the problem. “It should be noted how representatives of the legislative and executive authorities respond to our proposals to hold discussions on topical issues - this allows me to speak about the seriousness of the intentions of the discussion participants in solving the identified problems. We are in constant contact, we interact, I have repeatedly noted the level of trust that has developed between us, the speed of interaction on operational issues. Friendly speaking, there is something to value here and I really value it as only in such conditions and in such a working atmosphere we can effectively fulfill the main function of our state - to protect the rights and freedoms of citizens,” concluded the Commissioner.
The discussion participants decided to support information support of the presented topics, each using their own information and administrative capabilities. The participants also decided to instruct and develop appropriate amendments to the current legislation regulating this area, so that in the course of further work, substantively discuss both measures and approaches to this problem on the part of law enforcement officers and legislators as well as measures of civil response.