MONITORING MISSIONS OF THE UNPO (UNREPRESENTED NATIONS AND PEOPLE ORGANIZATION) IN ABKHAZIA IN 1992-1993S

The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) began to take shape in the late 1980s. Among its founding members were individuals persecuted by communist regimes, such as the leader of the Estonian Congress and sinologist Linnart Mäll, the Uyghur representative Erkin Alptekin, and Lodi Gyari from Tibet. The organization was led by Dutch law professor Michael van Walt van Praag, who also served as an advisor to the 14th Dalai Lama. The UNPO was officially established in February 1991 at the Peace Palace in The Hague. Among its founding members was the Republic of Georgia, which held full membership status from 11 February 1991 until 31 July 1992, when it became a member of the United Nations—accession to which is the main reason for the termination of Georgia's UNPO membership. Nevertheless, for a certain period, Georgia maintained the status of a “supporting member.” In 1992, the Abkhaz side also joined the organization, which subsequently prepared three biased and anti-Georgian reports concerning the Abkhazian War. This paper will examine each of these reports in detail.