European Court Dismisses Accusations against Georgian in 2008 War
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Monday, December 17
The European Court of Human Rights has rejected the complaints of three Russian citizens living in the Georgian occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region, who filed a lawsuit against Georgia stating that the Georgian Army violated their rights during the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.
The court discussed three cases involving seven Russian citizens who claimed that the activities of the Georgian army in August 2008 put their lives at risk, they were subjected to inhuman treatment and discrimination, their properties were damaged, they had no access to effective remedy and their liberty and security rights were violated.
The court stated that the complaints were “inadmissible as manifestly ill-founded.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze stated that the decision once again proved the Russian aggression in Georgia and not on the contrary as Russians say.
"Of course, this is a very important decision of the Strasbourg Court. Of course, this decision is based on the reality that we all knew. In 2008, the Russian Federation was an aggressor and exactly this is said in the document of the Strasbourg Court," Kobakhidze stated.
Head of Georgian Parliament’s Human Rights Committee Sophio Katsarava sad that the verdict is very important.
“The verdict proved that the Russian accusations against Georgia as if we violated human rights in the occupied region are groundless,” Katsarava said.
The Russo-Georgian 2008 War was a war between Georgia, Russia and the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The war displaced 192,000 people and while many returned to their homes after the war, 20,272 people, mostly ethnic Georgians, remained displaced.
35 Georgians and 6 Ossetians remain missing since the war.
