| UN Security Council Resolution 1124 | |
|---|---|
 Abkhazia | |
| Date | 31 July 1997 |
| Meeting no. | 3,807 |
| Code | S/RES/1124 (Document) |
| Subject | The situation in Georgia |
Voting summary | 15 voted for None voted against None abstained |
| Result | Adopted |
| Security Council composition | |
Permanent members | |
Non-permanent members | |
United Nations Security Council resolution 1124, adopted unanimously on 31 July 1997, after reaffirming all resolutions on Georgia, particularly Resolution 1096 (1997), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) until 31 January 1998. [1]
A United Nations Security Council resolution is a UN resolution adopted by the fifteen members of the Security Council; the UN body charged with "primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security".
Georgia, known until 1995 as the Republic of Georgia, is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital and largest city is Tbilisi. Georgia covers a territory of 69,700 square kilometres (26,911 sq mi), and its 2017 population is about 3.718 million. Georgia is a unitary parliamentary republic, with the government elected through a representative democracy.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1096, adopted unanimously on 30 January 1997, after reaffirming all resolutions on Georgia, particularly Resolution 1065 (1996), the Council addressed the current situation extended the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) until 31 July 1997.
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The Security Council noted that UNOMIG observers and the peacekeeping force from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) had stabilised the conflict zone in Georgia. However, the Gali region had been destabilised by armed groups, crime and the laying of land mines. Both Georgia and Abkhazia were reminded that assistance from the international community depended on their willingness to resolve the issue peacefully.
Peacekeeping comprises activities intended to create conditions that favour lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths and reduces the risk of renewed warfare.
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization of originally ten post-Soviet republics in Eurasia formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It has an area of 20,368,759 km² and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. The CIS encourages cooperation in economic, political and military affairs and has certain powers to coordinate trade, finance, lawmaking and security. It has also promoted cooperation on cross-border crime prevention.
Gali District is one of the districts of Abkhazia. Its capital is Gali, the town by the same name. The district is smaller than the eponymous one in the de jure subdivision of Georgia, as some of its former territory is now part of Tkvarcheli District, formed by de facto Abkhaz authorities in 1995.
There was concern that was still a deadlock in negotiations between the two parties. The Council supported the plans of the Secretary-General Kofi Annan to play a more active role in the peace process; there was a meeting scheduled to be held in Geneva to determine areas in which concrete progress could be made. All ethnic killings and violence were condemned, in addition to the Abkhaz side linking the return of refugees and displaced persons to its political status. In this regard, Abkhazia was asked to accelerate the voluntary return of those displaced, under a timetable proposed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in accordance with international law. [2]
Kofi Atta Annan was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1997 to December 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder and chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation, as well as chairman of The Elders, an international organization founded by Nelson Mandela.
Geneva is the second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situated where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic and Canton of Geneva.
A refugee, generally speaking, is a displaced person who has been forced to cross national boundaries and who cannot return home safely. Such a person may be called an asylum seeker until granted refugee status by the contracting state or the UNHCR if they formally make a claim for asylum. The lead international agency coordinating refugee protection is the United Nations Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The United Nations have a second Office for refugees, the UNRWA, which is solely responsible for supporting the large majority of Palestinian refugees.
The mandate of the UNOMIG mission was extended until 31 January 1998 but was dependent on developments relating to the CIS peacekeeping force. The Secretary-General to report on the situation in Abkhazia and Georgia three months after adoption of the current resolution. The resolution concluded with the Security Council announcing its intention to undertake a review of the UNOMIG mandate and its presence in Georgia.
