Lawyer seeks probe of Russia-Georgia war. Investigation a first for ICC outside of Africa if approved

The prosecutor for the world's only permanent war crimes court Thursday called for an inquiry to be opened into alleged abuses during a swift but brutal 2008 conflict between Georgia and Russia.

If the surprise request from prosecutor Fatou Bensouda is accepted, it would be the first such investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) outside of Africa.

"On the basis of the information available, prosecutor Bensouda has concluded that there is a reasonable basis to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the court have been committed in Georgia in the context of the armed conflict of August 2008," the ICC said in a statement.

The brief five-day war erupted when the two neighbors clashed over the breakaway territory of South Ossetia.

On the night of August 7-8, 2008, Georgia's then Western-backed president Mikheil Saakashvili launched an offensive to reclaim South Ossetia only to see Russian forces sweep into Georgia.

Several hundred people are said to have died, and some 120,000 were displaced in the brief fighting, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Bensouda "will shortly submit a request to the pre-trial chamber for authorization to open an investigation," the ICC said in a statement.

The move comes at a time of increasing tensions between the West and Russia.

Ties with Moscow have plunged since the start of the conflict in Ukraine last year. Relations have deteriorated further in recent days amid Russian airstrikes in Syria.

After winning the 2008 war, Russia officially recognized South Ossetia - along with another breakaway Georgian region Abkhazia - as independent states.

Together the two regions comprise some 20 percent of Georgian territory.

Moscow, who made no immediate comment as of press time, now has thousands of troops stationed in the region.

According to a 2014 report by Bensouda's office, more than 138,000 ethnic Georgians were displaced by the war, ­although most later returned.

"South Ossetian forces have been responsible for systematically beating, killing and intimidating ethnic Georgians," the report said.

"There is also reasonable ­basis to believe that these ­forces committed war crimes of ­pillaging and destroying ­civilian property belonging to ethnic Georgians," the report said, highlighting attacks on some 15 villages.

Tbilisi filed a ­complaint with the ICC in 2008 charging­ Moscow with "ethnic ­cleansing."

Moscow has claimed 10 peacekeepers were killed and more than 30 wounded after an attack by Georgian forces on August 7-8, 2008.
 AFP
globaltimes.cn
8-9/10/15
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