A/HRC/36/65 internally displaced persons has emphasized that internally displaced persons are entitled to restitution of or compensation for their property, regardless of whether they choose to return, integrate locally or resettle elsewhere. 30 He noted that the wire fences along the Administrative Boundary Line represent one of the main obstacles to the achievement of durable solutions and for access to land, property, water and livelihoods by internally displaced persons.31 83. According to the Government of Georgia, violations of the right to property occur systematically in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. For instance, hundreds of houses of ethnic Georgians were burned or destroyed deliberately during and after the war in August 2008. The setting up of razor wire fences in the middle of private farmlands and orchards has been accompanied by expropriations. 12. Violence against women 84. It would be important to ensure accountability and reparation for cases of sexual and gender-based violence that reportedly occurred during the 2008 conflict. 32 85. In Abkhazia, according to the Office of the Public Defender, there have been discussions, involving civil society, on domestic violence, and a local organization has reportedly developed a legal framework on combating domestic violence. The authorities in control in Abkhazia recently agreed that the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) could operate in Abkhazia to take over a partnership with a local non-governmental organization active in the prevention of and response to various forms of sexual and gender-based violence. The Office of the Public Defender reported that the situation in South Ossetia was much graver and that no access by relevant international actors was possible. 13. Confidence-building measures 86. The Council of Europe noted 33 that confidence-building measures activities with Abkhazia included meetings between public defenders and civil society representatives from Tbilisi and Sukhumi and training sessions on international standards and practices for relevant actors; projects on architectural heritage; training sessions aimed at developing professional competence on human rights education for children. The confidence-building measures programme continued to evolve, both in terms of the diversity of thematic issues and the diversity of the participants. However, the Council of Europe underscored the lack of involvement of participants from South Ossetia, due to various factors including difficult access. 87. OHCHR encourages discussions on additional confidence-building measures, and welcomes the initiative of the Council of Europe to include human rights awareness in its programme. 88. According to some sources, the local population believes, inter alia, that confidencebuilding measures can de-escalate the situation around the dividing lines and bring greater peace and security by introducing dialogue across those lines, including between relatives and former neighbours, and by supporting economic exchanges and joint economic projects across the administrative boundary lines. 30 31 32 33 See A/HRC/35/27/Add.2, para. 38. Ibid., para. 26. Report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia, vol. 2, pp. 355-358. See Council of Europe document SG/Inf(2017)18. 15