Law enforcement in Abkhazia is now de jure the responsibility of the

International Police The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

as the

international organization An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states a ...

s such as

( 32 Security Council Resolutions), EC,

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...

(OSCE),

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and ...

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...

, and most

sovereign state A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined te ...

s do not recognize Abkhazia as an independent state. As a result, Abkhazia is ''de facto'' independent but remains a ''de jure'' part of Georgia, with internal security somewhat precarious. It has its own law enforcement organizations such as ''militia'' (police) that is subject to the Ministry of the Internal Affairs of the de facto government.

International role in security

The UN has played various roles during the conflict and peace process: a military role through its observer mission (

UNOMIG The United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 858 in August 1993 to verify compliance with a 27 July 1993 ceasefire agreement between the Republic of Georgia and forces in A ...

); dual diplomatic roles through the Security Council and the appointment of a Special Envoy, succeeded by a Special Representative to the Secretary-General; a humanitarian role (

UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrat ...

and

UNOCHA The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is a United Nations (UN) body established in December 1991 by the General Assembly to strengthen the international response to complex emergencies and natural disaste ...

); a development role (

UNDP The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

); a human rights role (

UNCHR The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a subsidiary body of t ...

); and a low-key capacity and confidence-building role ( UNV). The UN’s position has been that there will be no forcible change in international borders. Any settlement must be freely negotiated and based on autonomy for Abkhazia legitimized by referendum under international observation once the multi-ethnic population has returned. OSCE expressed concern and condemnation over ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia during the 1994

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Summit Decision and later at the Lisbon Summit Declaration in 1996. The OSCE] has increasingly engaged in dialogue with officials and civil society representatives in Abkhazia, especially from

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

s and the media, regarding human dimension standards and is considering a presence in Gali.

Existing government organizations

Abkhazian militia also enforce Abkhaz law.

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

regards the Abkhaz militia as an unlawful formation. Agencies attempts to enforce security or law on behalf of the Abkhazian government is met with opposition, sometimes force, from Georgian forces. Such was the case on July 26, 2006 when Georgian police announced that they had engaged "criminal gangs", Abkhazian militia, on the de facto border.

Crime

On 20 June 2014, acting Minister of Internal Affairs

Raul Lolua Raul Lolua (russian: Рауль Валериевич Лолуа) is a former Minister for Internal Affairs of Abkhazia. Following the May 2014 Revolution, Lolua, previously Head of the State Security Service's Special Forces Centre, was appoint ...

reported that Abkhazia had ten

thieves in law A “thief in law” (Russian: вор в зако́не, Georgian: კანონიერი ქურდი), in the Soviet Union, the post-Soviet states, and respective diasporas abroad is a specifically granted formal and special status of ...

, nine of which ethnic Abkhaz and one Georgian, and that the police had recently thwarted the initiation of one more.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Law Enforcement In Abkhazia Abkhazia Culture of Abkhazia Law of Abkhazia

International role in security

Existing government organizations

Crime

See also

Notes