HRW: Georgia, Russia should be Pressed to Probe War Crimes

The international community should press Georgia and Russia to bring to justice those who violated the laws of war in last August’s conflict, Human Rights Watch said on October 1.

“The international community is largely focusing on who fired the first shot, but the need for justice should not be ignored,” Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said. “The people whose lives were ruined by fighting are still waiting for justice. It’s hard to imagine how there could be any real reconciliation without it.”

In its voluminous report on the August war released in January, 2009 Human Rights Watch said “violations of the laws of war” were committed by all the parties. The rights group’s recent call for the probe comes after the EU-funded fact-finding mission released its report on the August war on September 30.

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