Georgia has won “all 3,300 complaints” over Russia-Georgia war at ECHR - Justice Minister

Georgia has won all 3,300 complaints filed against it following the 2008 war with Russia to the European Court of Human Rights over potential violations and crimes committed during the conflict, Justice Minister Rati Bregadze said on Friday. 

In comments to the Parliament, the official stressed the court process had been completed this year with no suits remaining to be submitted from the complaints. 

Georgia has won absolutely all cases, which once again confirms the country is right in all its disputes against Russia”, Bregadze said. 

Noting recent rulings by the ECHR in favour of Georgia over the war, the Minister said his office had created a database of individuals affected by the conflict for the first time, with the information later submitted to the court for compensation rulings. 

The database includes up to 35,000 victims. We have also presented solid evidence on the ongoing [postwar] occupation dispute, which includes cases of Georgian citizens killed by occupation forces”, Bregadze said. 

The Minister said his office had presented the list of up to 35,000 victims of the Russia-Georgia 2008 war to ECHR. Photo: Council of Europe. 

He also pointed out this year had marked the country’s success in the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which for the first time issued arrest warrants against three de facto officials of the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region in a case of torture and ill-treatment of Georgian civilians during the 2008 war. 

In a separate case, the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers earlier this month “deeply deplored” the “continued absence of response” of Russian authorities to its earlier appeals for the state to implement the ECHR’s 2019 judgement concerning the arrest, detention and collective expulsion of Georgian nationals between 2006-2007. 

Russia has refused to pay €10 million “in respect of non-pecuniary damage” suffered by a group of at least 1,500 Georgian nationals in their treatment by the country’s authorities. 

The Committee also adopted an interim resolution on an interstate case concerning various violations in the context of the armed conflict between Georgia and Russia in 2008.

It again urged Russian authorities to submit to the Committee of Ministers a plan on the execution of judgement, and to investigate the “serious crimes” committed during the active phase of hostilities as well as during the period of subsequent occupation.