Committee of Ministers of Council of Europe makes decision on war case "Georgia against Russia"
By Liza Mchedlidze
Monday, September 26, 2022
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe The Ministry of Justice of Georgia has made a decision on the "Georgia against Russia" war case.
According to the information released, the Committee of Ministers strongly called on Russia to submit a full-fledged action plan for the implementation of the decision of the Grand Chamber of January 21 as soon as possible and to start taking effective steps to eliminate the main basis of the violations (i.e. continuous occupation) and to prevent the recurrence of similar human rights violations.
"As the public was informed, on January 21, 2021, the European Court of Human Rights published its decision on the case - "Georgia v. Russia (II)" (the so-called "war case"). The decision refers to the administrative practice of massive human rights violations against the population of Georgia during the August 2008 war and subsequent occupation by Russia, which exercised effective control over the Tskhinvali region and Abkhazia.
At the meeting of the Committee of Ministers in September of this year, the Georgian side spoke about the importance of the decision and stated a clear position that despite the termination of the status of a member of the Council of Europe for the Russian Federation, the respondent state still has an unconditional obligation to strictly implement the court's decision.
It is significant that the Committee of Ministers fully supported the Georgian side and emphasized the severity and scale of the established violations.
The Ministerial Committee strongly called on Russia to submit as soon as possible a comprehensive action plan to implement the decision of the Grand Chamber of 21 January and to start taking effective steps to eliminate the root cause of the violations (i.e. the continued occupation) and to prevent the recurrence of similar human rights violations.
The committee also expressed deep concern that the Russian Federation, which exercises effective control over Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region, still does not allow the internally displaced ethnic Georgian population to return to their homes and called on Russia to implement effective measures in this direction in order to implement the decision.
At the initiative of the Georgian side, the committee will return to the consideration of the "war case" at the next session, in December 2022," the statement reads.
