Reflections of a reality: Civil society, terrorism, democracy, concrete actions

Round Table in Caucasus House, 26th October 2004

In her presentation (in English), Edith closely related her experiences with the Alliance’s initiative and the Charter’s development in different countries. Her talk was very well received.

The discussion with the audience was shorter because the Georgian translation took a lot of time. But we were able to continue it in the Caucasus House’s cafeteria where everyone was invited to have something to eat and drink.

These are the main questions that came up during the discussion:

 What is understood by “civil society” in the West?

A key question that was a chance to talk about our experience of democracy, what it could sometimes be and go over encouraging experiences we had had in our networks…There wasn’t enough time. But Edith stirred the audience’s interest.

 Why does terrorism exist? How can one fight against terrorism?

What is the relation between this question and the Charter? It is a question that haunts everyone and comes up at any opportunity. The Georgians were shaken up by the Beslan tragedy, a town that many people are familiar with. Shévardnadze and later Saakashvili agreed to send soldiers to Iraq and it is feared that Tbilisi will not be spared from vengeance. We had to be careful in how we approached problematic perceptions of terrorism and “preventive war”. Little Georgia has protected itself against the Russians, who are currently very aggressive in South Ossetia, by appealing to the other major power, the United States, who wished to benefit from the situation. We should quote here the principle that “Lasting peace cannot be established without a justice which is respectful of human dignity and of human rights.”

I represent the NGO Djvari, which we set up in the west of Georgia. We are trying to do something to help protect our natural and cultural environment. In the big national park in Kolchetia, there is an untouched marsh ecosystem with a rich abundance of plants and animals. There are plans for the Poti port to be expanded and this unique area to be destroyed. Yet under the international Ramsar convention, Georgia is supposed to conserve these precious areas! Can we make NGOs in your country aware of the issue so they support our fight?

This was an opportunity to talk about struggles that had met with some success. But how was one to answer this very concrete request?

Suddenly, the discussion was interrupted unexpectedly: we found ourselves in the dark – power cut. Nothing out of the ordinary in itself, but still “in theory” somewhat rare at this time of the year. Someone brought candles to guide everyone into the basement where food and drink had been prepared. The conversations continued informally. I talked with the “Djvari” representative, promising her that I would seek out contacts while aware that the fight this NGO was undertaking was particularly difficult in a context where pressure was coming not only from private companies, but from the interests of the great powers anxious to send the region’s treasures towards the Black Sea (pipeline terminal and the EU’s TRACECA project).

The reactions to Edith’s talk were very positive. Two topics were felt to be especially important: her emphasis on the need to overcome indifference (which takes on specific forms in ex-soviet countries) and her account of the organisation of civil society in certain countries.