Georgia wins two more August war cases against Russia in ECHR

Georgian authorities presented hundreds of pieces of evidence to the ECHR, all of which proved that Georgia did not violate the norms of international law during the 2008 Russo-Georgian war. Photo: International Commission of Jurists.

Agenda.ge, 21 Oct 2021 - 17:38, Tbilisi,Georgia

The ECHR has ruled two Russian cases submitted to the court pertaining to the August war of 2008 inadmissible: ‘Shavlokhova and others vs. Georgia’ and ‘Bekoyeva and others vs. Georgia’.

Georgian Minister of Justice Rati Bregadze said that the cases were filed by individuals living in the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region in August 2008, who claimed that Georgia had breached their human rights.

However, the Georgian authorities presented hundreds of pieces of evidence to the ECHR, all of which proved that Georgia did not violate the norms of international law during the 2008 Russo-Georgian war.

The ECHR fully agreed with the arguments presented by Georgia that during the war, the Tskhinvali region was actively being bombed by the Russian Federation, while the Georgian armed forces did not control the town of Tskhinvali and its surrounding areas. Therefore, it is impossible for Georgia to be deemed responsible for any infringements, Bregadze explained.

Georgia won an August war case against Russia in the ECHR on January 21, 2021, when the ECHR found Russia responsible for violating several articles of the European Convention on Human rights during the 2008 conflict and carried out ethnic cleansing of Georgians. 

The court also said that the Russian-occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali are integral parts of Georgia.

The verdict obliged Russia to pay Georgia €10 million in non-pecuniary damages to a group of approximately 1,500 Georgian nationals.

However, Russia has not paid the compensation so far.