"The Russian Federation continues to grossly violate human rights, including the rights of children, in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region, thus trying to destroy our cultural heritage”, - Nikoloz Samkharadze, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and Head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Delegation, stated at an online meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly dedicated to human rights in the conflict zones and humanitarian protection by the community.

The meeting, attended by the parliamentary delegations of the OSCE member states, covered the situation in Ukraine and Karabakh.

In his speech, N. Samkharadze spoke about the grave situation in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region. Special attention was paid to the violation of the rights of children who are not given the opportunity to receive education in their native Georgian language.

The Chair of the Committee also focused on Russia’s attempts to erase Georgian traces in both the Tskhinvali region and Abkhazia, including the burning of Georgian homes and the reconstruction of Georgian churches, and the attempt to remove and whitewash Georgian frescoes.

"I called on the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to pay special attention to these heinous crimes and to somehow create a mechanism to force the Russian Federation to stop such gross human rights violations in the occupied territories", - N. Samkharadze stated.