A/HRC/36/65 33. OHCHR has been informed that an independent and comprehensive assessment of the human rights situation in Abkhazia was finalized in January 2017 following several field visits by independent expert Thomas Hammarberg, at the request of the European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia. At the time of the present report being finalized, that assessment had not been made public. 34. The loss of effective control by the central Government of Georgia over Abkhazia and South Ossetia and the persistent denial of access by the authorities in control of those regions have been cited by United Nations treaty bodies, namely the Committee on the Rights of the Child,14 the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination15 and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 16 as obstacles to the implementation of the relevant treaties. 35. Since December 2016, the authorities in control in Abkhazia and the Government of Georgia have allowed the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to establish a shuttle bus, free of charge, to transport the most vulnerable of the affected population across the Inguri bridge, which is the main crossing point between Abkhazia and the Tbilisi-controlled territory. This has reportedly significantly facilitated crossings for medical care and family visits and for people to buy goods. In addition, in late 2016, UNHCR was able to visit the upper Kodori Valley — for the first time since 2009 — which allowed it to assess the humanitarian situation in that isolated region and to formulate recommendations for assistance. 36. There has been no recent independent assessment of the human rights situation in South Ossetia. Since the conflict in August 2008, United Nations agencies, funds and programmes have had no operational access to the area. Only UNHCR was able to conduct a humanitarian assessment mission, in August 2016, for the first time since the 2008 conflict. It was thus able to assess the humanitarian needs of the population of concern to UNHCR and to get initial information on returns to Akhalgori, which is predominantly inhabited by ethnic Georgians. 37. With a view to ensuring better support for the enjoyment of human rights, as well as predictable and sustainable access and service delivery by humanitarian and development actors in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, it would be important to review, and if necessary modify, the law on occupied territories, which Georgia adopted in 2008 and amended in 2013. For that purpose, due consideration should be given to the comments and recommendations issued in 2013 by the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission),17 and those of the Office of the Public Defender18 addressed to the Government of Georgia in 2017. 38. According to the Government of Georgia, the “law on the order of entry into and exit from Abkhazia”, of January 2016, imposed new restrictive provisions of entry into, exit from and movement within Abkhazia, thus further restricting the already limited access and activities of international governmental and non-governmental organizations in the area. C. Situation of internally displaced persons and refugees 39. Resolution 34/37 expresses concerns that “internally displaced persons and refugees continue to be deprived of the right to return to their homes in a safe and dignified manner”. Since 2009, the General Assembly has adopted an annual resolution on the status of internally displaced persons and refugees from Abkhazia, Georgia, and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia, Georgia, following consideration of the annual report of the 14 15 16 17 18 8 See CRC/C/GEO/CO/4, para. 4. See CERD/C/GEO/CO/6-8, para. 3. See CEDAW/C/GEO/CO/4-5, para. 12. See Venice Commission opinion No. 744/2013 on the 2013 draft amendments to the law on the occupied territories of Georgia (Strasbourg, 9 December 2013). See the special report of the Public Defender of Georgia entitled “Analysis and recommendations regarding the Law of Georgia on Occupied Territories” (2017).