'Remarkable collaboration': UNOMIG extended, enlarged.

In what the Secretary-General called "encouraging progress towards lasting peace in the area", a Memorandum of Understanding between the Georgian and the Abkhaz sides was signed on 1 December in Geneva, in the presence of representatives of the UN, the Russian Federation and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE).

The Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Georgia, Edouard Brunner, said on 2 December that the accord resulted from a "remarkable collaborative laborative effort" between the UN and the Russian Federation.

Encompassing three vital areas - political, humanitarian and war damage issues - the Memorandum included major commitments by the parties towards the peaceful resolution of the conflict: not to use force or the threat of force against each other for the period of continuing negotiations; to exchange prisoners of war and assist in finding those missing before 20 December; and to create conditions for the return of hundreds of thousands of refugees, as well as to return occupied homes and properties.

The parties also appealed to the international community to assist in promoting humanitarian assistance and economic recovery, and to increase the number of international observers and the use of peacekeeping forces in the conflict zone.

The Security Council on 22 December authorized the phased deployment of up to 50 additional UN military observers to the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), established under Council resolution 858 (1993) of 24 August.

In unanimously adopting resolution 892 (1993), the Council also noted the plan for a further expansion of UNOMIG if the situation so warranted.

On 4 November, the council had approved UNOMIG's "continued presence" until 31 January 1994. By unanimously adopting resolution 881 (1993), it also ruled that UNOMIG, comprising five military observers plus a minimal support staff, would maintain contact with both parties and military contingents of the Russian Federation, and would monitor and report on developments relevant to UN efforts for a comprehensive political settlement.

The situation in and around the Black Sea region of Abkhazia significantly worsened when the Abkhaz side began a new offensive on 16 September. By the end of the month, it had regained control over the region's capital of Sukhumi and all other areas held by Georgian government forces.

Stability threatened

The Security Council on 19 October demanded that all parties to the conflict must "refrain from the use of force and from any violations of international humanitarian law".

In unanimously adopting resolution 876 (1993), it also stated that continuation of the conflict in Abkhazia threatened the "peace and stability in the region", and called on all States to "prevent the provision from their territories or by persons under their jurisdiction of all assistance, other than humanitarian assistance, to the Abkhaz side", particularly the supply of any weapons and munitions.

Numerous and serious human rights violations had been committed in Abkhazia since the outbreak of the armed conflict on 14 August 1992, the Secretary-General reported (S/26795) on 17 November.

The mission, which visited the area from 22 to 30 October, was "deeply concerned at the degree of violence unleashed by this conflict and the resulting devastation", he stated.

In order to restore human rights in Abkhazia, the Secretary-General recommended, among other things, that the following should be done:

* carrying out investigations into all human rights abuses, with those responsible "prosecuted and sanctioned";

* granting compensation to the victims or their families;

* ensuring that security forces fully respect human rights; and

* ensuring law and order by those in control of the territory, with property rights, as well as the right of displaced persons to return to Abkhazia, fully guaranteed.

Although UNOMIG's mandate had been "invalidated by the military developments of 16-27 September", there were "benefits to be drawn" from its continued presence in the area, the Secretary-General reported (S/26646) on 27 October. The Mission was "visible evidence to the population of international concern".

An appeal for emergency humanitarian assistance to Georgia, "where the continuing disorder has led to mass suffering" and threatened to worsen the humanitarian situation in the neighbouring States of Azerbaijan and Armenia, was made by the Security Council on 8 November (S/26706).

On 3 December, a UN inter-agency consolidated appeal was launched to meet the emergency needs of 2 50,000 persons, including those displaced and returnees.