ICC To Probe Possible War Crimes In Russia-Georgia Conflict

As tensions mount between Russian Federation and the West over the MH17 disaster and Moscow’s intervention in Syria, the prosecutor at the worldwide Criminal Court (ICC) has announced an investigation into possible war crimes during the five-day conflict between Russian Federation and Georgia in 2008. “As a result, the Prosecutor estimates that the ethnic Georgian population living in the conflict zone was reduced by at least 75 %”, Bensouda said.

“Georgian peacekeepers were reportedly heavily shelled from South Ossetian positions, killing two Georgian peacekeepers and injuring five more”.

Bensouda said in a statement she had evidence that suggested that South Ossetian forces had killed up to 113 ethnic Georgian civilians, and that both sides had killed peacekeepers.

The ICC said on Tuesday that Bensouda had evidence that both sides had killed peacekeepers – a war crime.

Should ICC Judges grant the Prosecutor authorisation to proceed, she will open an investigation into alleged crimes committed in the Situation in Georgia. A further 13,400 to 18,500 Georgians are thought to have been displaced from their homes, with more than 5,000 Georgian dwellings allegedly destroyed.

An HRW report found that during the conflict, South Ossetian militias “killed, beat, and intimidated ethnic Georgians, burning and looting their homes in a campaign to force them from the region”.

The prosecution office said Fatou Bensouda had been prompted to ask judges for permission to open the investigation after signs that Georgia’s inquiries into its own forces’ alleged crimes had stalled.

The Prosecutor emphesised that there were no substantial reasons to believe that the opening of an investigation would not serve the interests of justice, taking into account the gravity of the crimes and the interests of victims.

The war broke out between pro-Russian South Ossetian separatists, and Russian and Georgian troops, on August. 7, 2008 in the semi-autonomous region of South Ossetia.

Russian Federation is a signatory of the Rome Statute that established the ICC but it has not ratified the treaty, meaning the country has no legal obligation to submit to the jurisdiction of the worldwide court.