Ruling party on 2008 war anniversary: conflict UNM Govt’s “numerous crimes against country”

The ruling Georgian Dream party on Wednesday marked an anniversary of the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia by claiming the opposition United National Movement party had committed “numerous crimes against the country and its citizens” while in power between 2004-2012, with the conflict the “greatest and most severe” of them.

The statement of the Political Council of the party said it was “crucial that these events receive proper legal assessment in order to ensure irreversible development of the country and establish long-term peace”.

Today, the Georgian public once again witnessed yet another hypocritical PR campaign of the United National Movement regarding the August War. Members of the war party visited the graves of the heroic soldiers and published condolence messages. They do all this so brazenly, as if they bear no responsibility for the tragedy that unfolded in 2008”, the ruling party said.

“The treasonous crimes of the UNM have had devastating consequences. As a result of the 2008 war, we lost two historical regions, hundreds of soldiers and civilians were killed, and 30,000 people were displaced. It is unacceptable for a crime of this magnitude to remain without legal assessment or punishment”, the statement noted.

The ruling party also said the UNM used to refer to August 8 as the date of the outbreak of the war before the “radical opposition decided to change the date a few years ago” and declared August 7 as the start of the war.

The statement alleged the change had been done “with the sole reason [of] the UNM attempting to cover up its crimes and evade responsibility”, in an apparent reference to Russian military provocations having taken place a day before the UNM Government mounted military response to the crisis.

The statement alleged the “artificial change” to the date of commencement of the war and “similar manipulations” would “not allow representatives of the war party to avoid public responses to the most serious questions”, and further pointed out that “no manipulation with dates can obscure the actions and statements made by the former Government representatives, which indicate the opposite”.

Specifically, the first official statement from the Georgian Government at the time, [which] assert[ed] that there were no Russian troops in the combat zone on August 7, appears in the Presidential Decree #402. This document, issued on August 9, 2008, states that Russian soldiers and military equipment entered Georgia through the Roki Tunnel on August 8. This document was soon followed by the UNM signing a resolution at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on October 2 [2008], which was one of the most treasonous steps in Georgian history”, the statement claimed.

“The resolution said that the escalation into open and full-scale warfare had resulted from the bombing of [regional capital] Tskhinvali [in the now Russian-occupied region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) in central Georgia] without any prior warning on August 7 by the Georgian side”, the party release said.

“This act was deemed to be a disproportionate use of armed forces by Georgia, which violated international humanitarian law and the commitment to resolve the conflict peacefully. The same document described Russia's military intervention as a ‘counteroffensive’. Thus, two months after the war, in the very first official international document, the UNM effectively confirmed its grave crimes, placing the Georgian military, Georgian soldiers and the country at significant risk before international courts”, the ruling party noted.

Georgian Dream further pledged events would “receive proper legal assessment” after the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 26.

In the two years since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war, it has become glaringly evident how determined the UNM was to drag Georgia into this military conflict and plunge our country into the chaos of war once again. This determination has further solidified the belief that these individuals deliberately staged a severe provocation in 2008 and intentionally executed anti-state orders received from external sources”, the statement alleged.  

The ruling party vowed to hold a “public legal process to clarify the matter”, and further added the Government would be “plaintiffs in this process, and the UNM will collectively face charges for their treasonous crimes against the country and its people”.

The statement emphasised the alleged facts in its statement did “not mitigate the crimes committed by Russia” during the war or “the fact that Russia is responsible for the occupation of the country's territories”.