Today, October 12, we mark 26 years since the adoption of the Act of State Independence of the Republic of Abkhazia. We are publishing the text of this important historical document, signed by Vladislav Ardzinba, the President of the Republic of Abkhazia, the Speaker of the People's Assembly, Sokrat Dzhindzholiya, and members of the People's Assembly.
ACT OF STATE INDEPENDENCE OF THE REPUBLIC OF ABKHAZIA
The Abkhaz statehood has a 1200-year history. For centuries, the people of Abkhazia fought for their independence.
With the onset of the collapse of the USSR, the people of Abkhazia intensified their struggle to restore their loss of state independence. The adoption of the Declaration of State Sovereignty by the Supreme Council of Abkhazia on August 25, 1990 was the first step toward its restoration. The severance of state and legal relations between Abkhazia and Georgia, initiated by the Georgian authorities, and the subsequent of the Abkhaz-Georgian War of 1992-93 led to the de jure and de facto independence of Abkhazia.
The Constitution of the Republic of Abkhazia, adopted by the Supreme Council of the Republic of Abkhazia on November 26, 1994 served as the legal framework for the already established independent state – the Republic of Abkhazia (Apsny).
On October 3, 1999, a referendum was held in the Republic of Abkhazia on citizens' attitudes toward the current Constitution. On the day of the referendum, 219 534 eligible voters resided in Abkhazia, representing 58.5% of the pre-war electorate. 87.6% of those listed on the electoral rolls participated in the vote, representing more than half of the pre-war electorate. 97.7% of voters approved the current Constitution.
According to the Constitution and the Law of the Republic of Abkhazia on the National Vote (Referendum), popular sovereignty is the basis of state power in the Republic of Abkhazia. The people exercise their power directly through referendums or through their representatives. Thus, the people of Abkhazia confirmed their determination to continue building a sovereign, democratic, and legal state—a subject of international law—and to seek its recognition by the international community.
Based on the will of the people, we once again confirm and proclaim the State Independence of the Republic of Abkhazia.
According to the Constitution and the Law of the Republic of Abkhazia on the National Vote (Referendum), popular sovereignty is the foundation of state power in the Republic of Abkhazia. The people exercise their power directly through referendums or through their representatives. Thus, the people of Abkhazia have confirmed their determination to continue building a sovereign, democratic, and legal state—a subject of international law—and to seek its recognition by the international community.
Based on the will of the people, we once again confirm and proclaim the State Independence of the Republic of Abkhazia.
The rights and freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, on Civil and Political Rights, and other universally recognized international legal instruments are among the most fundamental foundations of the constitutional order of the Republic of Abkhazia.
The Republic of Abkhazia intends to build its relations with other states on the basis of equality, peace, good-neighborliness, respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, non-interference in internal affairs, and other generally recognized principles of political, economic, and cultural cooperation between states.
Proceeding from this, we appeal to the UN, the OSCE, and all states of the world to recognize the independent state created by the people of Abkhazia based on the right of nations to free self-determination.
President of the Republic of Abkhazia V. Ardzinba
Speaker of the People's Assembly of the Republic of Abkhazia S. Jindzholiia
Deputies of the People's Assembly of the Republic of Abkhazia
Sukhum, October 12, 1999