European Court Verdict into Georgia vs. Russia Case over 2008 War

Russia is responsible for human rights violations, including loss of life, torture, disrespect of property and privacy occurring in Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as it had effective control of the territories after the 2008 Russo-Georgian war, the European Court of Human Rights declared on (21 January).

Russia and Georgia fought a brief war in August 2008 which was ended with the help of the mediation of the then French President Nicolas Sarkozy. As a result, Georgia lost control of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, roughly 25% of its territory.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia are recognized as independent states only by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, and Syria. The Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights is an international court of the Council of Europe, of which both Georgia and Russia are members.

Justices found that human rights breaches fell within Russia’s jurisdiction as it has exercised effective control over the territories since the ceasefire agreement of 12 August 2008.

Even after the official withdrawal of Russian troops in October, “the strong Russian presence and the South Ossetian and Abkhazian authorities’ dependency on the Russian Federation indicated that there had been continued ‘effective control’ over South Ossetia and Abkhazia,” the court found.

Last year Russia was reported to have between 9,000 and 10,000 soldiers on both breakaway territories, which in South Ossetia amounts to one soldier for every eight residents.