STRASBOURG. Sept 30 (Interfax-AVN) - There are a number of problems that need to be resolved in the aftermath of the August conflict in South Ossetia, Council of Europe High Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg told the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Tuesday.
First of all, there is a need to enable the refugees to exercise their right to return to their permanent location [in South Ossetia]," Hammarberg said.
At the same time, he said that some 17,000 refugees cannot do so before the winter because their homes are totally destroyed.
Hammarberg pointed out that the Georgian authorities have begun building homes for them in the Gori area, but the solution of this problem "should not worsen the situation of the 220,000 refugees from the previous war, he said, referring to the 1992-1993 military conflict in Abkhazia.
Having reported that there are still some 15,000 unexploded bombs and shells in the conflict area, Hammarberg pointed out that the problems with diffusing these bombs are increased by a lack of information exchange between Russia and Georgia.
Hammarberg also mentioned the issue of POWs, whose fate is still unknown. However, he said exchange of POWs has taken place: over 170 people have been handed over to Georgia from South Ossetia and some 40 have been handed over by Georgia.
The fate of many people who went missing in the war is still unknown, Hammarberg also stressed.
In addition, some instances of looting and even torture of locals have been registered, he said.
Speaking about the international monitoring mission, Hammarberg stressed that members of this mission need to be provided unrestricted access to all regions of the conflict area because there are still such areas where international observers are not guaranteed full security.