40 Graves to Be Excavated to Identify Victims of Abkhaz War
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is to begin another round of excavations in search of the remains of people who went missing as a consequence of the 1992-93 armed conflict in Abkhazia.
ICRC forensic experts plan to concentrate their efforts, from June 19 to September, on more than 40 potential gravesites.
The decision to proceed with excavations was taken within the framework of the coordination mechanism established in 2010 under the aegis of the ICRC in its capacity as neutral intermediary. This mechanism is made up of Abkhaz and Georgian participants and works on strictly humanitarian grounds to provide answers for the families of missing people. Its sole purpose is to ascertain the fate and whereabouts of those who remain unaccounted for, years after the end of the conflict.
Local specialists, archeologists and anthropologists, will for the 3rd consecutive year participate in the process of excavation and exhumation as part of their on-the-job training.
Since 2010, some 430 sets of human remains have been recovered. Of these, 163 were identified by drawing on ICRC forensic expertise, and were handed over to the families concerned. The process of identifying the other recovered mortal remains is ongoing.
For additional information, please contact:
Maia Kardava, ICRC Tbilisi, + 995 5 99 55 88 18
Boris Kazanba, ICRC Sukhum/i +79409215373