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Georgia accuses Russia of war crimes during 2008 conflict
The Russian bombing of towns and civilians in Georgia.
Wherever the Russian military goes, horrific war crimes accompany them. Chechnya, Afghanistan, Georgia, Ukraine, and Syria.
The Russian bombing of towns and civilians in Georgia.
5/23/18
Georgia has accused Russia of war crimes, human rights violations and a “rampage” across its territory during the military conflict between the countries almost 10 years ago. In closing evidence before the European court of human rights in Strasbourg on Wednesday, the Georgian government said Moscow was guilty of multiple violations during the fighting in August 2008. Over five days, it said, Russian planes carried out more than 100 attacks on Georgian targets. The government said there was overwhelming proof that Russian bombs were dropped on civilian areas, killing and injuring innocent people. The evidence included witness statements, satellite footage, and video and phone intercepts. The government in Tbilisi said Russian troops poured into Georgia’s two breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia when the conflict erupted. Approximately 30,000 soldiers were deployed. Ben Emmerson QC, acting for Georgia, told a panel of judges – including a Georgian and a Russian representative – that Moscow’s control of these territories was part of a plan “years in the making”, and the goal was to “occupy as much territory as it could get away with”.
Before and after a ceasefire, Russian ground troops entered ethnic Georgian villages, Emmerson said, sealing off entrances and exits. Ossetian forces and other irregular soldiers then systematically burned down Georgian homes and entire villages, he said, adding that they carried out summary executions and threatened individuals with death if they refused to leave. Georgia took its claim to Strasbourg the day after the hostilities stopped. The long-running dispute – over what happened, and who was to blame for the war – reached its climax on Wednesday, when Russia and Georgia delivered their final speeches. The judges are expected to rule later this year. Their verdict could be consequential. In 2015, the Kremlin said it was on the brink of withdrawing from the court, which has found against the Russian state on numerous occasions. Emmerson told the judges: “It is an open secret that Russia has been lobbying in public and in private for a favorable outcome, mumbling dark threats that it will deratify the European convention on human rights and starve the court of funding if the case goes against it. “There is no middle ground in adjudicating this case. The evidence is all one way.”
Wherever the Russian military goes, horrific war crimes accompany them. Chechnya, Afghanistan, Georgia, Ukraine, and Syria.