European Court of Human Rights rejects complaints against Georgia over 2008 war as inadmissible

The European Court of Human Rights has declared inadmissible 370 individual complaints filed against Georgia by residents of the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region in connection to the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, Rati Bregadze, the Georgian Justice Minister, said at a briefing on Thursday.

"The European Court shared the arguments of the Georgian side that the complaints were manifestly ill-founded, as evidence of a minimum standard could not be presented to substantiate the applicants' claims," ​​ Bregadze said at the Ministry.

In findings related to the complaints, the ECHR found the Tskhinvali region was “actively bombed” by forces of the Russian Federation during the war, and that the Georgian Armed Forces did not exercise control over the region and the surrounding area, the Justice Minister explained.

The decision of the court also reaffirms that the “serious violations” committed against the population of Georgia during the 2008 war could be “attributed to specific representatives” of the Russian Federation and the separatist regimes, Bregadze pointed out.

According to the ECHR ruling, the complaints filed by the population living in the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region against Georgia regarding active hostilities during the August 2008 war have ended and all disputes over this issue have been settled.

On March 21, Georgia won a 2008 war case against Russia in the ECHR. The court released its judgement which said Russia violated several articles of the European Convention on Human rights during the conflict and carried out ethnic cleansing of Georgians.

On March 11, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against three de facto officials of Georgia's Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region in a case of torture and ill-treatment of Georgian civilians during the 2008 war.