We publishing a collective letter of the residents of Abasha, Western Georgia:
"Since his appointment as the head of Abasha, Mr. Soso Tchanturia has been roughly violating of human rights of the residents of the region. He voluntarily fired people for vague reasons; some are yet to receive an explanation for their dismissal. Among the victims there are teachers, lawyers, sportsman, and refugees.
In September 1996, the residents of Abasha applied to the Chairman of Parliament Mr.Zurab Zhvania requesting a parliamentary investigation of the situation in Abasha. The inspection was carried out; the investigators documented the cases of rough violations of human rights, as well as violations during distribution of humanitarian aid among the refugees.
Below we are providing some facts of human rights violations:
Mr. Zurab Rusia was dismissed from his office without any reason in June 1996 (with the exception that his brother Ruslan Rusia works in Sakartvelos Respublica, which published an article "Disobedient Governor and Oppressed People").
Mr. Akaki Magnaradze, the director of a farm, was dismissed without any reason too. The deputy procurator general Shushanashvili considered the dismissal illegal .
In March 1994 Tordia, Bersulaia, Kuchukhidze, Kharbedia, Djolokhava and others brought an action against Mr. Tchanturia, but the trial was never held.
Mr. Guliver Totochia, an inhabitant of Etsera village, was detained by Abasha police when he was cultivating the plot of 15 ha. He was physically insulted and detained for 15 days for "verbally insulting the present administration of Abasha." His wife, who came to the police station to inquire about the incident, was also physically insulted. As it appeared lately, the violation against Mr. Totochia were not documented; nobody tried to apologise to him. During his detention, according to the governor's order, tractors were brought in Mr. Trotochia's plot to destroy the maize sown there.
On June 29, 1996, according to the governor's order, other maize fields were destroyed by tractors and 21 families were
left without food. The governor of Sudjuni village Mr.Gela Labartkava tried "to calm down" the inhabitants of the village with the
following words: "You would not be get nervous, you knew well, that while there is "Kinton" (he meant President Clinton) there will be Yeltsin; while there is Yeltsin there will be Shevardnadze; while there is Shevardnadze there will be Tchanturia; while there is Tchanturia I shall remain on my post. We are wolves, and wolves always eat sheep".
The true reasons for Mr. Chanturia's action are political and they conflict the Labour Legislation of Georgia. The head of Abasha does not hide that he persecutes citizens for political believes. In an extract from his interview, published in Tbilisi-Abasha, he openly declares: "I have dismissed these people because of their political views. I considered that they were involved in anti-state activity."
Although the parliamentary commission confirmed the above-mentioned allegations on the spot, the Soso Tchanturia still governs in Abasha quite mindful and sure, that nobody will hurt him. We shall not comment on Mr. Tchanturia's vocabulary, which is abundant with bad words. Mr. Tchanturia is a criminal and such a governor is an insult to each citizen of Abasha.