Categories
Journalistic Survey
Articles
Reportage
Analitic
Photo Reportage
Exclusive
Interview
Foreign Media about Georgia
Editorial
Position
Reader's opinion
Blog
Themes
Children's Rights
Women's Rights
Justice
Refugees/IDPs
Minorities
Media
Army
Health
Corruption
Elections
Education
Penitentiary
Religion
Others

Press Release :Human Rights Center will Assist Sufferers of War to Address ICC

October 15, 2015
 
Human Rights Center welcomes the concrete steps taken by International Criminal Court (ICC) and will help the sufferers of August 2008 war to timely address the Court in Hague.

Human Rights Center has been closely observing the process of investigation of war crimes committed during August conflict in Georgia. In 2011, Norwegian Helsinki Committee published report “Unable or Unwilling”  in preparation of which Human Rights Center also participated. The report concludes:  “Overall, it would seem that the information provided by the survey of the ECHR applicants indicates that the Georgian authorities are at least both partly unable and partly unwilling to conduct an effective investigation into international crimes allegedly committed during and after the August 2008 war”. Therefore, the need of active steps from the ICC for the investigation of these crimes was raised.

With the active participation of Human Rights Center, the Coalition for International Criminal Court was created  which addressed the prosecutor of ICC with a petition in 2012 with the request to investigate the cases of those who suffered during August War of 2008 and bring the perpetrators to justice. The member non-governmental organizations considered that the investigation opened by Georgian and Russian investigative bodies was in conflict with the requirements of Rome Statute . 

In 2009, Human Rights Center addressed the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) regarding cases of approximately 130 alleged sufferers of August 2008 war and argued the violation of the right to life, prohibition of torture and illegal deprivation of property. These cases are still ongoing in ECtHR.

Yesterday, on October 14, International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) and Human Rights Center disseminated a joint press-release which underlines the significance of new undertakings under ICC regarding the investigation of crimes in Georgia . Human Rights Center considers that the steps taken into this direction give hope to the sufferers in the first place – the people who suffered the consequences of war and ethnic cleansing and who will be able to directly address the ICC.

Human Rights Center will address ICC regarding the cases of sufferers of 2008 August war in 30-day term. These are the cases of mass violation of property rights, deprivation of life and looting which have been studied by the organization.

Human Rights Center

News