What is the Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations?

The Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations, also commonly known as Commonwealth of Unrecognized States, rarely as CIS-2, is an international organisation uniting several states in the former Soviet Union, all of which have limited recognition from the international community.

The agreement on its establishment was reached in 2001 at the Foreign Ministers' meeting in Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The "Community for Democracy and Human Rights" was established June 14, 2006 in Sukhumi separatist republic of Abkhazia (province of Georgia) by heads of partially recognized states:

- Abkhazia, represented by Sergei Bagapch

- South Ossetia, represented by Edouard Kokoïty

- Transnistria, represented by Igor Smirnov

- Nagorno-Karabakh, part of the 2001 agreement, comes out in 2004 and is again a member in 2007

Tatarstan, Chechnya and other states have claimed their independence from the Russian Federation are excluded, the Community includes only the states of the former USSR of other Soviet republics like Russia.

Independence Day parade and celebrations
in Transnistria on 2nd September.

On 17 June 2007, the four States of the Community for Democracy and People's Rights signed in Tiraspol (Transnistrian capital) the "Joint Declaration on the principles of peaceful and just settlement of conflicts". This declaration calls for blocking all types of pressure, such as military deployments, diplomatic isolation, economic blockades or information warfare in conflict resolution negotiations, current practices on these conflicts. It also calls for "external guarantees" and "political regulations" for such conflicts.

On 27 September 2009, members of the "Community for Democracy and People's Rights" decided to abolish visa regimes for their respective citizens. The agreement will enter into force one month after ratification by the three parliaments. It will last five years, after which it will automatically be extended for another five years. This agreement excludes Nagorno-Karabakh, which reserved the right to accede to this agreement at a later date.