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PP RUEHAST RUEHFL RUEHLA RUEHMRE RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHVEN #0228/01 2701432
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 261432Z SEP 08
FM USMISSION USOSCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5935
INFO RUCNOSC/ORG FOR SECURITY CO OP IN EUR COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0592
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA 1147
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RHMFISS/CDRUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHDLCNE/CINCUSNAVEUR LONDON UK
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RUEASWA/DTRA ALEX WASHINGTON DC
RUESDT/DTRA-OSES DARMSTADT GE
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEKJCS/JCS WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1087

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 USOSCE 000228 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR VCI/CCA, VCI/NRRC, EUR/RPM, EUR/PRA, EUR/CARC, 
SCA/CEN, SCA/RA, PM/WRA 
JCS FOR J-5 
OSD FOR ISA (PERENYI) 
NSC FOR HAYES 
USUN FOR LEGAL, POL 
EUCOM FOR J-5 
CENTCOM FOR J-5 
UNVIE FOR AC 
GENEVA FOR CD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PARM PREL KCFE OSCE RS XG
SUBJECT: FSC SEPTEMBER 24: GEORGIA-RUSSIA DUSTUP CONTINUES 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Georgia gave a lengthy description in the 
OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation today of Russian 
transgressions, dating back to the breakup of the Soviet 
Union and culminating in its continued occupation of Georgian 
territories.  Russia's relatively brief response blamed the 
"criminal aggression" of the "Saakashvili regime" for all the 
death and suffering resulting from the August war.  The U.S. 
repeated its call for Russia to comply with the ceasefire 
agreement and meanwhile protect the human rights of all 
living under its occupying forces in Georgia.  Both sides are 
expected to return to the debate in future FSC meetings. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Dr. Ronald Dreyer of the Swiss Mission to the UN in 
Geneva described ongoing efforts to implement the 2006 Geneva 
Declaration on Armed Violence and Development, a political 
commitment by 94 states to take integrated action to curtail 
armed violence and so enhance economic development.  He noted 
the U.S., while not a signatory, has taken "concrete actions" 
to reduce armed violence. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In the working group the revised Estonian-Lithuanian 
cyber security paper now recommends a workshop occur before 
summer 2009 in cooperation with the Permanent Council. 
Finland, the FSC chair, announced a series of speakers who 
will address next steps in implementing the UN Program of 
Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons through OSCE 
activities.  End summary. 
 
Georgia Takes the Long View 
--------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Georgia (Giorgadze) followed through on its promise 
at the September 17 FSC to make a broad-ranging presentation 
in response to Russia's assertions that Tbilisi alone was to 
blame for the August conflict.  Giorgadze outlined the long 
history of Georgia-Russia tensions, finding the core of the 
current conflict was the Russian belief that Georgia was 
partly to blame for the collapse of the Soviet Union and 
Russia's refusal to recognize Georgia's right to make itself 
into an independent, democratic, and pluralistic state. 
 
Separatists are Russian Inventions 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Giorgadze asserted there was no real difference 
between the separatists and the Russian leadership.  The 
separatist movements were merely a means for Russia to exert 
pressure on a sovereign neighboring state.  The August war 
was the culmination of a long-term Russian plan to dismember 
Georgia by provoking it to take military steps against the 
separatists that Russia used as a pretext for a massive 
military invasion of Georgia. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Major features of the Russian plan included its 
rejection of Georgian and international peace proposals; the 
seconding of Russian military and civil officials to the 
separatists governments and the increasing economic and legal 
integration of the separatists region into Russia, including 
the issuance of Russian passports to most of the residents; 
deliberate freezing of, or withdrawal from negotiations; 
increase in Russian military presence in the separatist 
regions and adjacent areas of Russia; an escalation of 
Russian militant rhetoric against Georgia, including a threat 
to take military and "other measures" against Georgia if it 
 
USOSCE 00000228  002 OF 006 
 
 
joined NATO; and continuous armed provocations against 
Georgian villages, peacekeepers, civil government, and 
military forces. 
 
Russia Triggers August War 
-------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Turning to the events of the August conflict, 
Giorgadze outlined separatist attacks on Georgian villages 
with heavy artillery, prohibited by then-extant peace 
agreements beginning July 28.  Giorgadze played an audio 
recording of what he said was the voice of the South Ossetian 
"interior minister" ordering the elimination of the Georgian 
village of Dvani. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The separatist authorities evacuated civilians from 
Tskhinvali and the surrounding areas beginning on August 3. 
Giorgadze said all these events indicated Russia was already 
preparing for military action against Georgia.  Giorgadze 
said Georgian officials called for negotiations several times 
between August 5 and 7 but were rebuffed by separatist and 
Russian officials. 
 
Russian Offensive Begins August 7 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Massive Russian forces, according to Giorgadze, 
entered Georgia through the Roki tunnel on the morning of 
August 7.  Giorgadze played audio recordings of what he 
described as Georgian intelligence intercepts of mobile 
telephone conversations between separatist border guards 
concerning Russian military convoys moving through the tunnel 
at this time.  Giorgadze spent some time rebutting the 
Russian explanation that these forces were part of a regular 
rotation of peacekeeping units.  He said there should have 
been prior notice by Russia but the movement was never 
announced; the movement should have occurred during daylight; 
and the units involved were not those likely to be part of 
the peacekeeping forces.  He also quoted from an interview in 
a Russian military newspaper ("Krasnaya Zvezda") with a 
Russian officer who said his unit was ordered to Tskhinvali 
on August 7. 
 
Georgian "Counterattack" on Tskhinvali 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Giorgadze claimed military necessity, including 
terrain and the location of Russian units, required Georgia 
to attack Tskhinvali as part of its August 8 "counterattack" 
on advancing Russian forces. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Giorgadze showed the same overhead imagery of 
Tskhinvali displayed by Russia at the September 17 FSC, and 
added satellite images of surrounding villages in the Didi 
Liakhvi valley, noting that damage to the Georgian villages 
was greater than in Tskhinvali.  He hoped the Russians would 
not claim, as they did last year, that the Georgians 
deliberately shelled their own villages.  Most of the damage 
in Tskhinvali, he said, was actually caused by the Russian 
air force. 
Russian Attacks on Civilian Targets 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) Giorgadze reprised some of his comments in response 
 
USOSCE 00000228  003 OF 006 
 
 
to Russia's presentation at the September 17 FSC.  Russia, he 
said, has grossly exaggerated its own military casualties and 
the civilian death toll.  Russia left its peacekeepers in 
exposed positions to mask the movements of its invading 
force.  Russia used its July exercises in the North Caucasus 
to prepare for the invasion.  Russia used Georgian ceasefires 
to reinforce its positions deep in Georgia.  Russia used 
disproportionately destructive weapons that caused excessive 
collateral damage to civilian facilities and population. 
Russian forces and separatist militias have deliberately 
targeted civilian infrastructure including housing, 
hospitals, and schools.  Russian forces have attacked and 
killed Georgian civilian police.  Russian military forces 
continue to deny access to South Ossetia and Abkhazia to 
humanitarian relief agencies and to OSCE military monitors. 
 
Russian Ethnic Cleansing 
------------------------ 
 
¶13. (SBU) Giorgadze said Russian soldiers and separatist 
militias are engaged in ethnic cleansing of the territories 
they now occupy.  This forced displacement of ethnic 
Georgians has been accompanied by assaults, robberies, and 
murders of innocent civilians, citing reports compiled by 
Human Rights Watch.  Russia is failing to abide by basic 
humanitarian legal principles that require occupying military 
forces to uphold the human rights of all living under their 
control.  Giorgadze concluded by calling for an international 
investigation of the conflict. 
 
¶14. (SBU) Giorgadze's presentation was accompanied by 
numerous film clips and power point slides graphically 
portraying the nature and extent of the destruction in the 
conflict zone.  Some of this and much of his narrative was 
distributed in paper copy to delegations at the meeting 
(FSC.DEL/150/08). 
 
Russia:  "It's All Propaganda" 
------------------------------ 
 
¶15. (SBU) Russia (Geyvandov) replied that Giorgadze's 
presentation was "propaganda" that attempted to whitewash 
Georgia's criminal actions.  Recalling that Georgian 
President Saakashvili had promised never to start a war 
because of the suffering it would cause the innocent, 
Geyvandov laid the blame for all the civilian deaths on 
Tbilisi.  Russia's response to Georgia's attack, he said, was 
measured and proportionate, considering that the Georgian 
"invasion" was "large-scale and gory."  Commenting on the 
satellite photos Georgia had shown, Geyvandov said Russia 
attacked only military and "military-industrial targets."  He 
asserted there were few Georgian civilian casualties as a 
result of Russian military action because the Georgian forces 
had mostly fled the battlefield without a fight. 
¶16. (SBU) Geyvandov said there were inconsistencies among the 
different documents circulated by Georgia at the OSCE, 
including that accompanying the latest presentation in the 
FSC.  He cast doubts on the provenance of the cell phone 
intercepts played by Georgia during its presentation, asking 
why it had taken Georgia so long to release them.  Geyvandov 
said Russia also welcomed an international investigation 
 
U.S. Takes Russia to Task 
------------------------- 
 
USOSCE 00000228  004 OF 006 
 
 
 
¶17. (SBU) The U.S. (Neighbour) said both sides to the 
conflict had made mistakes but Russia greatly exacerbated the 
situation by launching a massive military invasion across a 
neighboring state's international border.  Neighbour said 
thousands of innocent civilians were displaced by the Russian 
military occupation that still stretches deep into Georgia. 
He deplored Russia's failure to allow humanitarian groups and 
international observers into occupied areas.  Neighbour 
charged Russia to uphold international humanitarian standards 
and respect the human rights of all persons under its control 
in the occupied territories. 
 
¶18. (SBU) Neighbour acknowledged Georgia "took the Russian 
bait," but Russia then launched an attack that had been 
prepared months earlier by giving equipment and weapons to 
South Ossetian separatists and issuing Russian passports to 
much of the population of South Ossetia.  He called on Russia 
to abide with all parts of the ceasefire agreement and 
amplifying documents and said Russia' recognition of South 
Ossetia and Abkhazia is unacceptable. 
 
Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶19. (SBU) Dr. Ronald Dreyer of the Swiss Mission to the UN in 
Geneva described ongoing implementation of the 2006 Geneva 
Declaration on Armed Violence and Development, which has been 
adopted by 94 countries.  The U.S. is not a signatory.  The 
declaration promotes "sustainable security and a culture of 
peace" through concrete actions to reduce armed violence and 
"its negative impact on socio-economic and human 
development."  Switzerland leads a core group of states in 
implementing these objectives into concrete measures, which 
fall into broad areas: advocacy, measurability, and 
programming.  Work in the initial six focus countries 
includes establishing best practices for cooperation among 
governments, civil society, and international donors. 
 
¶20. (SBU) Dreyer encouraged participating States to adopt the 
declaration--to date 26 have done so--and continue their work 
as donors and sources of technical expertise for the OSCE 
projects that further the objectives of the declaration.  He 
announced a regional meeting to support the declaration in 
Sarajevo on November 13-14 for countries of Southeastern 
Europe and the Caucasus. 
 
U.S. Praised for "Concrete Actions" 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶21. (SBU) Switzerland, Germany, and Austria offered support 
for the declaration and noted the relevance to it of the 
OSCE's SALW and ammunition projects.  France (Simonet) 
expressed some skepticism that a single instrument like the 
declaration could address the wide range of problems 
encompassed by the subjects of violence and development.  The 
U.S. (Neighbour) supported the goal of reducing armed 
violence while noting its skepticism of the need for 
additional legally binding international instruments.  Dreyer 
thanked the U.S. for its "concrete actions on the ground" to 
address the problem of armed violence. 
 
OSCE Communication Group 
------------------------ 
 
USOSCE 00000228  005 OF 006 
 
 
 
¶22. (SBU) The chair of the OSCE Communications Group, Glen 
Sibbett (Canada) reported the results of the group's meeting 
September 16, including the adoption of new software for the 
Communications Network, version number 3, to be installed by 
October 20, that includes formats supporting the Dayton Peace 
Accords.  A new version, number 6.5, of the automated data 
software for the Annual Exchange of Military Information 
(AEMI) was also released and should be used for the December 
exchange.  Sibbett announced the dates for the AEMI and 
Vienna Document automated data exchange workshops as 11-15 
December, with the Vienna Document exchange on December 12 if 
the FSC concurred, and the AEMI on December 15 per the CFE 
Treaty.  There was no objection to the December 12 date for 
the Vienna Document exchange. 
 
AIAM Dates Proposed 
------------------- 
 
¶23. (SBU) The chair announced its draft decision to hold the 
next Annual Implementation Assessment Meeting on March 3 and 
4, 2009 in Vienna (FSC.DD/11/08). 
 
SALW: Finnish Chair Beats UNPOA Drum 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶24. (SBU) The chair, Finland (Kangaste), announced it 
intended to use the FSC to advance the UN Program of Action 
on Small Arms and Light Weapons (UNPOA).  Citing the 
disappointing results of the third Biennial Meeting of States 
(BMS) on the UNPOA in July, Kangaste has invited the Small 
Arms Survey, Safer World, and the Information Research Group 
on Peace and Security (GRIP) to discuss the BMS and how the 
OSCE could "bring added value."  Kangaste has also invited 
the chair of the third BMS, Dalius Cekuolis, to address the 
FSC on November 5 on how the OSCE could help improve 
implementation of the UNPOA.  Kangaste said Finland, also the 
2008 CiO, wants the ministerial council at Helsinki in 
November to call on the OSCE to continue its work on SALW and 
stockpiles of conventional ammunition (SCA).  Kangaste said 
it was time to assess all normative issues connected with 
SALW/SCA.  (FSC.DEL/149/08) 
 
Cyber Security 
-------------- 
 
¶25. (SBU) Estonia (Tiigimae), in the working group, announced 
a revision (FSC.DEL/125/08/Rev.2) of its proposal for a cyber 
security workshop, which now would occur before the 2009 
summer recess and be organized "together with the PC." 
Tiigimae said a subsequent paper would detail the agenda and 
modalities.  Estonia will soon share its national cyber 
security strategy to participating States.  Switzerland, 
Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, and Canada gave general support 
to the paper, although there were some quibbles that it 
needed further detail about the agenda. 
 
Landmines and Explosive Remnants of War 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶26. (SBU) There were no comments on the Food-for-Thought 
paper on a "more active role for the OSCE in addressing the 
landmine and ERW problem" (FSC.DEL/126/08).  Germany 
(Schweizer) then announced it will begin drafting a draft 
 
USOSCE 00000228  006 OF 006 
 
 
decision that would detail specific OSCE actions. 
Separately, the U.S. (Silberberg) reminded Schweizer again of 
opposition to references to the Ottawa Convention and concern 
over duplication of work done by other international 
organizations.  Schweizer said these concerns "would be taken 
into consideration." 
 
Draft Decision on Finland's Melange Guide 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶27. (SBU) Finland (Kangaste) announced a draft decision to 
welcome the publication of its Guide to melange (rocket fuel 
oxidizer) elimination (FSC.DEL/148/08).  The decision refers 
to the late 2007 draft of the guide (FSC.DEL/443/07/Rev.1). 
 
Next Meeting 
------------ 
 
¶28. (SBU) The next meeting of the FSC will be on October 1 
and will include in the Security Dialogue a Russian 
presentation on arms transfers to Georgia as well as the 
presentations on the UNPOA on SALW mentioned above in para 24. 
FINLEY