Occupied territories of Georgia
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly held its annual session in Monaco on 9 July 2012. It passed a resolution supporting Georgia, and referring to breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia as occupied territories. The resolution urged the Government and the Parliament of the Russian Federation, and the "de facto" authorities of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to allow the European Union Monitoring Mission access to the occupied territories. It also said that the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly was “concerned about the humanitarian situation of the displaced persons both in Georgia and in the occupied territories of Abkhazia, Georgia, and South Ossetia, Georgia, as well as the denial of the right of return to their places of living”. Russian Foreign Ministry reacted harshly, saying that "the majority of deputies in the Assembly (parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE) once again don't wish to objectively accept the realities of the situation today in the Caucasus."
Occupied territories of Georgia
The United States Department of State published The Human Rights Report in 2011 where it is underlined that "de facto" authorities of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are supported by several thousand occupying Russian troops since 2008. The "de facto" Abkhaz authorities restricted the rights of ethnic Georgians to participate in the political process and to exercise basic rights. Since 2008 the "de facto" authorities of South Ossetia have refused to permit ethnic Georgians expelled during and after the 2008 war to return to South Ossetia unless they renounced their Georgian citizenship and accepted a Russian passport. No international party was able to monitor the extent of the Russian military presence. Media in the occupied territories was tightly restricted by the "de facto" authorities and Russian occupying forces.