"The illegitimate separatist regime in Abkhazia, Georgia is intending to hold so-called elections without participation of the overwhelming majority of local population, predominantly Georgians, who were forcibly expelled from the region due to a grave crime against humanity – ethnic cleansing," says the statement, which was posted on the Georgian Foreign Ministry's web-site.

The GUAM member states call on the Council of Europe and its member states to condemn such "illegal acts mainly directed against the peace process."
 
"The so-called elections run counter to the standards and values of democracy, rule of law while being conducted in the region, where fundamental human rights and freedoms, especially of ethnic Georgians, are subject to gross and mass violations," the statement reads. Civil Georgia