OSCE Mission to Georgia

As part of the OSCE's comprehensive response to the global threat of terrorism, the Mission assists the Georgian Government in implementing United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1373 on anti-terrorism measures, as well as the UN's 13 universal conventions and protocols against terrorism.

In November 2004, by which time Georgia had ratified nine conventions, the Mission organized a workshop in Tbilisi on ratification and implementation together with the OSCE's Action against Terrorism Unit and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. In June 2006, Georgia became part of ratified the remaining three conventions and protocols against terrorism.

The Mission's capacity-building efforts aim to strengthen co-operation between the anti-terrorism departments of various Georgian state agencies and relevant international and regional organizations. A vital part of this is the development of a common system for gathering, analysing, storing and retrieving information about convicted or suspected terrorists and criminals.

Additionally, the Mission assists the Georgian authorities by offering examples of best practices in the fight against terrorism from the experiences of other OSCE participating States.

It also supports participation by Georgian officials in international conferences on security-related issues such as shoulder-fired missiles, travel document security, border management, and ways to combat the trafficking and criminal use of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials and weapons.

Recent activities

A series of OSCE-organized crisis management training programmes began in April 2006, aiming to strengthen Georgia's institutional capacity to counter terrorism, organized crime and other threats.

In line with the OSCE's Counter-Terrorism Programme, the Mission's projects have aimed to support the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs in developing its capacity to fight terrorism. For example, it has been helping to establish more effective communication and co-operation between relevant departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and those in Austria, France, Romania and Spain.

With the help of US and UK experts, the Mission assisted the Georgian Government in developing a Crisis Management Centre. It also facilitated the attendance of government representatives at relevant international counter-terrorism events.

The Mission, in co-operation with Cranfield University and New Scotland Yard, prepared the way for the establishment of a Bomb Data Centre at the Counter Terrorist Centre (CTC) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia.

As part of its long-term assistance programme, the Mission assisted the Counter Terrorist Center in becoming part of the international information-sharing network of the incidents of terrorist nature.