SUMMARY
Forest Brothers was a Georgian rebel group formed in Abkhazia after fighting between the Republic of Abkhazia and the Government of Georgia ceased in 1993. The group was closely linked to another Georgian rebel group, the White Legion.
The Forest Brothers consisted of ethnic Georgians, with their major base for recruitment being the community of internally displaced ethnic Georgians in Abkhazia. Allegedly, many of the Forest Brother fighters were former members of Mkhedrioni, a Georgian paramilitary group that was outlawed in 1995. The head of the Forest Brothers was Dato Shengelia, who had also been a member of Mkhedrioni.
The primary goal of the Forest Brothers, similar to the White Legion, was to fight against Abkhaz separatism and to disturb the efforts by Abkhaz authorities to consolidate a de-facto regime. The group operated mainly in the Gali region of Abkhazia and on the Georgian side of the Georgia-Abkhazia border. The size of the group varied significantly over the years, with estimates ranging between 50 and 700 members.
The group was allegedly supported by the Tbilisi-based Abkhaz Government in Exile, namely the ethnic Georgian members of the Council of Ministers of Abkhazia, and it financed its armed operations mainly by organized crime, especially smuggling. Gradually, organized crime became the group’s primary occupation. Shengelia formally disbanded the Forest Brothers in early 2004, shortly after Mikhail Saakashvili was elected president of Georgia. Shengelia was arrested on drug-related charges in December 2006 and sentenced the following year to 24 years in prison.
The militant group White Legion was formed in Abkhazia after fighting between the Abkhaz forces and the Georgian government officially ended in 1993 with the defeat of the Georgian army. The group consisted of ethnic Georgians with their major base for recruitment being the community of ethnically Georgian internally displaced persons.. They were supported by the Executive Council of the Abkhaz Government in Exile, which was subsidized by the Georgian government. In line with the objective of the Georgian government and the exile government to regain control over Abkhazia, the primary goal of the White Legion was to destabilize Abkhazia and to disturb the efforts by Abkhaz authorities to consolidate a de-facto regime. However, the Georgian government soon lost control over the White Legion. Increasingly, the groups shifted their focus on organized crime and smuggling across the ceasefire line, profiting from the thriving parallel economy in the region. The group broke up soon after the Rose Revolution and the Abkhaz Government in Exile stopped the financial support. The group was mainly active in the Kodori Valley and the region around the town of Gali, infiltrating Abkhazia by crossing the porous ceasefire line. The leader of the White Legion was Zurab Samushia and the group numbered about 150 to 200 men.
The White Legion has been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.
