Georgia: South Ossetians cling to arms
| Publisher | EurasiaNet |
| Publication Date | 3 September 2009 |
| Cite as | EurasiaNet, Georgia: South Ossetians cling to arms, 3 September 2009, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4ac62c3423.html [accessed 24 October 2022] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
A EurasiaNet photo essay by Karen Mirzoyan: 9/03/09
Guns have been a fixture of life in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia for almost 20 years, needed by citizen-soldiers in the fight for their sovereignty. But now with Russian troops protecting the territory, the South Ossetian leadership is trying to disarm the population. As this EurasiaNet photo essay by Karen Mirzoyan shows, many Ossetians are unwilling to part with their guns.
In late summer, the government asked residents to voluntarily give up their weapons to police, while opening numerous cases against citizens accused of illegal arms possession. Authorities also said they would soon implement a program under which participating citizens would receive a payment of up to $400 in return for handing over their weapons. In the weeks since the official appeal to hand over arms, police have received or taken 100 machine guns and 110 pounds of explosives.
There are plenty of citizens who aren't interested in taking up any government offers of cash for guns. These holdouts come from a wide variety of backgrounds: they include family men with basement arsenals, a journalism professor ready to mobilize his sons, and a painter who hides his Kalashnikov from the grandmother he cares for.
All these gun owners are united by a common sentiment: they do not completely trust Russian troops to defend their interests, so they must retain the ability to fight their own potential battles.
