A meeting was held in Gagra administration with the leadership of Gagra district administration.
21 May 2024
On Monday, May 20, in the administration of the city of Gagra, on the initiative of the Commissioner for Human Rights Anas Kishmaria, a meeting was held with the leadership of the administration of the Gagra district in the person of the deputy heads Adamur Tsishba and Hanna Gunba, the prosecutor of the Gagra district Beslan Pkin, and the deputy head of the Gagra district police department Yunusba Astamur.
This is the first meeting within the framework of the Commissioner’s working trips to the regions of Abkhazia. At the meeting, the history of interaction between the administration and structures of the district with HRC apparatus was discussed, namely: establishing a communication channel between the apparatus, the administration and structures of the district; the most pressing issues arising in the area that require the participation of the HRC; organizing communication with tourists on acute issues of violations or infringements of their rights in the region; informing tourists about the possibility of appealing to the HRC; work of district social services; exchange of statistics with the HRC; statistics of district law enforcement officers on cases of domestic violence (measures and results), proposals from the district to solve the problem; cooperation with the administration; participation in joint training programs; trips to the Russian Federation to improve the qualifications of responsible employees of the district administration on this topic; information support.
Opening the meeting, Deputy Head of Gagra Adamur Tsishba greeted the staff of the HRC office: “We are glad that you’ve visited us. You have done a lot of work. We are open to cooperation, interaction with the office of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Abkhaazia and ready to provide assistance on our part in the field of protecting the rights of citizens.”
Anas Kishmaria noted that many requests come from residents of Gagra. Recently, there have been frequent reports of domestic violence. Most recently, on May 15, a meeting was held at the Commissioner’s office with members of parliament, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, an authorized representative of the RA Prosecutor General’s Office and employees of the Women association on the topic of the bill on domestic violence. Unfortunately, people are often afraid to report this problem and cannot speak up about it openly. The Office of the Commissioner is ready to provide assistance to people who find themselves in this situation, as well as to the relevant authorities, in order to find ways to resolve this problem.
Adamur Tsishba noted: “We are ready to interact fruitfully. All structures of Gagra have close contact with each other, it is necessary to discuss problems together and solve them.”
Also within the meeting Anas Kishmaria was interested in readiness for the start of the tourist season, how informed tourists are and what measures are being taken to protect them.
Administration representatives noted that they are carrying out all activities to prepare for the tourist season, patrolling public places, and installing CCTV cameras in places where it is necessary. They expressed their readiness to provide assistance to every tourist, both in writing and verbally.
The Commissioner for Human Rights informed representatives of the Gagra district that staff members plan to monitor temporary detention facilities in all regions of Abkhazia.
Deputy Chief of Police for the Gagra District Astamur Yunusba stated his readiness to provide the Commissioner and the staff of the Ombudsman’s Office with access to the territory of the temporary detention center in Gagra at any time: “We are ready to do this now. There are no major problems in the detention center; prisoners are fed daily and there is a centralized canteen. Most recently we have done the work to change the ventilation. However, there is a huge problem with drug addiction. There are migrants involved in drug distribution and appropriate decisions must be made regarding such migrants - they cannot simply be kept in temporary detention centers and pre-trial detention centers of the country.”
At the end, the meeting participants discussed the appeals received in recent years from citizens of the Republic of Abkhazia and foreign citizens.
This is the first meeting within the framework of the Commissioner’s working trips to the regions of Abkhazia. At the meeting, the history of interaction between the administration and structures of the district with HRC apparatus was discussed, namely: establishing a communication channel between the apparatus, the administration and structures of the district; the most pressing issues arising in the area that require the participation of the HRC; organizing communication with tourists on acute issues of violations or infringements of their rights in the region; informing tourists about the possibility of appealing to the HRC; work of district social services; exchange of statistics with the HRC; statistics of district law enforcement officers on cases of domestic violence (measures and results), proposals from the district to solve the problem; cooperation with the administration; participation in joint training programs; trips to the Russian Federation to improve the qualifications of responsible employees of the district administration on this topic; information support.
Opening the meeting, Deputy Head of Gagra Adamur Tsishba greeted the staff of the HRC office: “We are glad that you’ve visited us. You have done a lot of work. We are open to cooperation, interaction with the office of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Abkhaazia and ready to provide assistance on our part in the field of protecting the rights of citizens.”
Anas Kishmaria noted that many requests come from residents of Gagra. Recently, there have been frequent reports of domestic violence. Most recently, on May 15, a meeting was held at the Commissioner’s office with members of parliament, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, an authorized representative of the RA Prosecutor General’s Office and employees of the Women association on the topic of the bill on domestic violence. Unfortunately, people are often afraid to report this problem and cannot speak up about it openly. The Office of the Commissioner is ready to provide assistance to people who find themselves in this situation, as well as to the relevant authorities, in order to find ways to resolve this problem.
Adamur Tsishba noted: “We are ready to interact fruitfully. All structures of Gagra have close contact with each other, it is necessary to discuss problems together and solve them.”
Also within the meeting Anas Kishmaria was interested in readiness for the start of the tourist season, how informed tourists are and what measures are being taken to protect them.
Administration representatives noted that they are carrying out all activities to prepare for the tourist season, patrolling public places, and installing CCTV cameras in places where it is necessary. They expressed their readiness to provide assistance to every tourist, both in writing and verbally.
The Commissioner for Human Rights informed representatives of the Gagra district that staff members plan to monitor temporary detention facilities in all regions of Abkhazia.
Deputy Chief of Police for the Gagra District Astamur Yunusba stated his readiness to provide the Commissioner and the staff of the Ombudsman’s Office with access to the territory of the temporary detention center in Gagra at any time: “We are ready to do this now. There are no major problems in the detention center; prisoners are fed daily and there is a centralized canteen. Most recently we have done the work to change the ventilation. However, there is a huge problem with drug addiction. There are migrants involved in drug distribution and appropriate decisions must be made regarding such migrants - they cannot simply be kept in temporary detention centers and pre-trial detention centers of the country.”
At the end, the meeting participants discussed the appeals received in recent years from citizens of the Republic of Abkhazia and foreign citizens.