Casualties

Casualties Overview

In 2011, the Monitor identified one explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualty in Georgia. This represented a significant decrease from the 11 mine/ERW casualties identified in 2010.[1]

The ICRC and the Georgian Red Cross Society (GRCS) collected data on 760 casualties as of the end of 2011.[2] The ICBL Georgian Committee (ICBL-GC) collected information on 864 mine/ERW casualties as of the end of 2011.[3] No other details, such as the numbers of people killed and injured, were available. The Monitor identified 409 casualties (109 killed; 284 injured; 16 unknown) between 2001 and the end of 2010.[4]

Cluster munition casualties

In Georgia, there have been at least 70 casualties due to cluster munitions; all were reported in 2008, including 61 casualties during strikes and nine due to unexploded submunitions.[5]

Victim Assistance

Georgia is responsible for landmine survivors, cluster munition victims and survivors of other types of ERW. Georgia has made a commitment to victim assistance through the Convention on Conventional Weapons.[6]

The total number of survivors in Georgia is unknown, though there are estimated to have been more than 700 since the late 1980s.[7]

No significant changes in the quality of victim assistance services were reported for Georgia in 2011.

Assessing victim assistance needs

ICRC/GRCS data collection on mine/ERW survivors and their needs assessment continued in 2011. Some 760 survivors had been visited by the volunteers of the GRCS since needs assessment survey began in 2010. The data collected was entered into an Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database managed by the ICRC.[8] Data collection continued in 2012.

Victim assistance coordination

There is no victim assistance coordination mechanism in Georgia. The Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs coordinates disability issues, including those related to the mine/ERW survivors who have official disability status.[9]

In 2009, the Georgian government approved the Action Plan on Social Integration of People with Disabilities 2010-2012. In the same year, the parliament created a State Coordinating Council focusing on disability issues. Annual reporting by the Georgian Public Defender’s Office (Ombudsperson) demonstrated that concrete steps had not been taken to implement the plan during 2011.[10] The first meeting of State Coordinating Council on the issues of persons with disabilities took place on 1 December 2011.[11]

As in past years, no inclusion of survivors or their organizations in planning, coordination, or the implementation of services was reported in 2011.

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[12]

There was an increase in prostheses delivered to mine survivors in 2011. The Georgian Foundation for Prosthetic Orthopedic Rehabilitation (GEFPOR) reported providing 99 prostheses in 2011, compared to 151 in 2010, representing an ongoing decrease overall. However, of these, 54 prostheses were for mine/ERW survivors compared to just four prostheses for survivors in 2010.[13] In 2011, GEFPOR conducted a clinical evaluation and further improved physical rehabilitation treatment of mine/ERW victims, with the financial support of the ICRC, including covering the cost of orthopedic and assistive devices and housing, food and transport during the time of treatment.[14] After 17 years of involvement in the physical rehabilitation sector in Georgia, the ICRC reported having successfully completed its gradual transfer of managerial, technical and financial responsibilities to GEFPOR. The ICRC believed that GEFPOR had all the necessary means to provide effective physical rehabilitation services itself.[15] In early 2012, GEFPOR was forced relocate its premises due to a disagreement with the new management of the Gudushauri National Medical Center where the GEFPOR had built its facilities with ICRC support.[16]

The ICRC increasingly assisted survivors through micro-economic initiatives in Georgia. In 2011, ICRC supported families affected by mines/ERW in pursuing small businesses and agricultural activities in western Georgia and Shida Kartli and provided business skills training.[17] These activities were ongoing in 2012.

The International Organization for Migration and the International Trust Fund Enhancing Human Security[18], which operated an economic inclusion project for mine/ERW survivors, hosted a regional conference on socio-economic assistance for mine survivors in Tbilisi in late 2011. Representatives from Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan discussed social and economic reintegration initiatives in the Caucasus region.[19]

There was a continuing lack of psychological support and social reintegration activities in Georgia.

The law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities; however, discrimination in employment, education, access to health care, and in the provision of other state services continued. Legislation required access to buildings for persons with disabilities and stipulated fines for noncompliance. However, very few public facilities or buildings were accessible.[20]

In 2011, the Ombudsperson said that buildings, public transport, and streets were still not adapted for people with disabilities in towns in country areas of Georgia. The Ombudsperson requested greater efforts from local authorities to improve accessibility.[21]

Georgia signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 10 July 2009.