13 August 2008, 13:29
Georgia brings action against Russia
Georgia has lodged claims against Russia to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of the United Nations. Among other things, Georgia accuses Russia of ethnic cleanings.
Let us remind that President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili treated the actions of Russian troops in Georgia as a military intervention aimed at "occupying and enslaving whole Georgia."
The ICC has officially confirmed the Georgia's application against Russia "in connection with her actions in and around the territory of Georgia."
The ICC's statement runs that Georgia accuses Russia of breaching the 1965 International Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and demands that the individual rights of all the people as guaranteed by this document were completely respected and defended over the whole territory of Georgia.
Georgia asserts that "the Russian Federation, having acted through its state bodies, state agents, other people and objects in charge of exercising the state power, and also through South-Ossetian and Abkhazian separatist forces, who acted under its instructions and under its management and control, is responsible for gross infringements of its fundamental obligations under the Convention."
In parallel, Georgia has lodged a claim against Russia to the UN International Court. The Georgian authorities accuse Russia of ethnic cleanings, as stated by Kakha Lomaya, Secretary of the National Security Council of Georgia. On August 12, the ambassador of Georgia to the Netherlands submitted a claim entitled "Georgia versus Russia". It accuses Russia of ethnic cleanings in Georgia also in the period of 1993-2008.
