Statement of Human Rights Center about Investigation into Alleged Crimes Committed during 2008 Armed Conflict

Human Rights Center welcomes the decision of the government of Georgia to implement its international commitment and investigate the alleged crimes committed during the armed conflict of August, 2008. The Minister of Justice Thea Tsulukiani made statement about possible interrogation of the President Saakashvili and other former governmental officials in order to clarify many circumstances to the society.

Human Rights Center was actively involved in the fact finding process and advocacy of Georgian citizens whose rights were breached during the armed conflict of 2008. The Center had systematic contact with the International Criminal Court and personally with the ICC Prosecutor, who was interested not to leave the alleged grave crimes – including the war crimes and crimes committed against humanity – uninvestigated.

June 25, 2010 Press Release of the Office of Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court states  that the Court potentially has jurisdiction over ICC crimes allegedly committed on the territory of Georgia, including forced displacement of civilians, killing of peacekeepers and attacks against civilian targets.  At the same time, ICC Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo from The Hague said that The Rome Statute ensures the end of impunity. States have the primary responsibility to investigate and prosecute; the Court only steps in if there are no genuine national proceedings.

Visits of the ICC representatives to Georgia in 2010-2013 and their interviews with senior officials were in fact preliminary investigation of the facts to answer the question whether Georgian state can conduct genuine national proceedings into the case or not. 
 
The Court representatives have systematic communication with the Georgian nongovernmental organizations who in 2010 established the Coalition for International Criminal Court. Human Rights Center was actively involved in the activities of the Coalition.

On April 24, 2012 the NGOs released petition to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.  Apart Georgian human rights organizations, two international organizations – International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Norwegian Helsinki Committee also signed the petition. According to their petition, although corresponding authorities from both Georgia and Russia state that national investigations into the crimes committed during the war are ongoing, neither side has publicly shown any progress or significant effort for these to be deemed genuine investigations. For more than three years, no information whatsoever has been available to the victims, their legal representatives, the general public or other interested parties about any national investigations being undertaken. Moreover, in his 29 September 2010 report, Monitoring of Investigations into cases of missing persons during and after the August 2008 armed conflict in Georgia, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg highlighted significant gaps in the investigations carried out by the Georgian authorities into the disappearance of ethnic Ossetians following the 2008 conflict. Two reports published by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, based on research and data collected by Georgian human rights groups, document serious shortcomings in domestic investigation of war crimes in Georgia. Furthermore, in its World Report 2012, Human Rights Watch notes that Georgian authorities have yet to ensure a comprehensive investigation into, and accountability for, international human rights and humanitarian law violations by their forces.

Human Rights Center shares the position of the Minister Thea Tsulukiani who stated that the government of Georgia shall try not to leave the case to be investigated by the International Court and act in accordance to its international commitments on the national level. Otherwise, the case will be investigated on the international level in the framework of the regulations of The Hague International Criminal Court.

Human Rights Center calls upon the government of Georgia to timely implement its responsibilities. At the same time, the Center appeals to the Office of Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and requests to start official investigation into the crimes allegedly committed during the 2008 Armed Conflict if national proceedings are not effective.

Human Rights Center