Russia and Georgia military involvement for quite short period of time had led to multiple victims among population and disastrous destructions on the territory of South Ossetia and Georgia. In these war crimes the guilt is owned to both sides – Georgia that had started military actions on South Ossetia territory, and Russia that had used such circumstances to invade Georgian territory. Both sides also guilty in nonselective use of fire, in use of heavy-weight ground arms and aviation in places of civilian population location, in that thousands inhabitants of South Ossetia and Georgia had become refugees. Neither one, nor the other side made no effective attempts for protection of local people living in the war conflict zone, supplied no safe evacuation from this territory. Consequently, both Russia and Georgia had lost the moral right to peacemaking in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. It is international interference that needed for the conflict to be resolved. Russia by acting, not in words, should pullout troops from Georgia. Russia and Georgia should pullout their troops from South Ossetia and Abkhazia, in both regions the armed forces should be replaced by the presence of peacemaking units of the UN.

Moscow Helsinki Group supports appeals made by Russian Federation government on attracting those citizens that had made crimes against peaceful population to responsibility. But attempts of criminal persecution of the guilty using national justice systems are not allowable neither in Russia, nor in Georgia. Those who guilty should be punished by International Criminal Court created in 1998. This Court can bring to responsibility those guilty in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes regarding range and diplomatic immunity.

The Statutes of International Criminal Court had been ratified by more than a hundred states, including Georgia. Russian Federation, having signed the Statute on September 13, 2000, hadn’t yet ratified, meaning it cannot claim for hearings in this Court of cases against citizens of other states, responsible for crimes.

Moscow Helsinki Group appeals to the Parliament and Government of Russian Federation with the proposal to immediately ratify the Statute of International Criminal Court, having acquired by that the right to appeal and execute with this right straight ahead.

Moscow Helsinki Group supposes that Georgia having the right to appeal to International Criminal Court should have used this right to bring to responsibility those guilty in crimes against peaceful people.

Immediate cut-off on military actions by both sides, agreement of both countries on UN peacemakers’ presence in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and appeals to International Criminal Court will be the best solution for this war conflict using mechanisms available to humanity in XXI century.

Ludmilla Alexeeva
Chair of Moscow Helsinki Group
Moscow Helsinki Group