Georgian Position on the Report Issued by the Amnesty International on November 18, 2008

Georgia is grateful to those members of the international community who are striving to present an objective and thorough evaluation of the Georgian-Russian War. In this context, we welcome Amnesty International’s recent report on "Counting the civilian cost of the Georgia-Russia conflict.” The Georgian government cooperated fully with Amnesty International during its preparation of the report and stands ready to cooperate in the future. We appreciate the extensive work conducted by Amnesty and we are carefully studying the report’s conclusions and recommendations.

Drawing on solid evidence, the report unambiguously places responsibility on the Russian Federation, as an occupying power and in control of the separatist regimes, for violations of international humanitarian law and human rights in the occupied territories

Amnesty has given accounts of "documented unlawful killings, beatings, threats, arson and looting perpetrated by armed groups associated with the South Ossetian side and acting with the apparent acquiescence of Russian armed forces.” The report also notes that these violations "progressively extended to the adjacent ‘buffer zone‘ under effective Russian control in the weeks that followed.” Beyond the legal implications of such incidents, the Government of Georgia underscores the humanitarian consequences on the civilian population, since any occupying power is obliged to preserve law and order in the territories falling under its occupation.

The report’s concerns related to the conduct of military operations by both sides clearly shows that this issue demands a more thorough investigation. It should be noted that Georgia has been fully transparent about its actions and since August 16 had been urging the international community to undertake an independent, unbiased investigation into the conflict.  The Amnesty report clearly credits Georgia for proposing such an investigation.

Georgia welcomes the EU’s recent decision to launch an investigation into the war, which will be headed by a well-known expert, Mrs. Heidi Tagliavini. The investigation will investigate the origins and evolution of the conflict, as well as the grave violations of international human rights law and of international humanitarian law that occurred. Georgia remains committed to cooperate in full with the investigation.

Tbilisi, 19 November, 2008