The Russia-Georgia war: why the ICC is launching war crimes probe

Fatou Bensouda 

the prosecutor of the International 

Criminal Court

International criminal court judges have authorised my office to open an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in South Ossetia during the 2008 armed conflict.

The conflict was triggered by growing tensions over the status of the region. During a relatively short but intense period of fighting, hundreds of people are alleged to have been killed or injured, including peacekeepers, thousands of people displaced and properties destroyed on a mass scale.

My office first starting analysing the situation back in August 2008, while the conflict was ongoing. The purpose of this was to figure out whether the legal criteria for an international criminal court (ICC) investigation were met.

This included the question of whether there were any relevant and genuine national judicial investigations and prosecutions going on in the countries involved. The Rome Statute, the treaty that governs our work, dictates that the ICC cannot proceed with an investigation if the same cases are already being pursued through national legal systems.

For a long time, Georgian and Russian investigations appeared to be progressing. More recently, however, proceedings in Georgia stalled due to the fragile and volatile security situation in South Ossetia and surrounding areas. As such, in March of last year, my office was informed in unequivocal terms by the Georgian government that there is “no prospect of further progress domestically on the cases related to the 2008 armed conflict.”

In the absence of national proceedings, I asked the ICC judges to authorise my office to undertake our own investigation.

We will now start collecting evidence from a variety of sources concerning all crimes allegedly committed under the court’s jurisdiction. Identifying suspects will come only at a later stage.

If the evidence collected provides reasonable grounds to believe that a person has committed war crimes or crimes against humanity, then we will proceed to the next phase, which would be to apply to the ICC judges for a warrant of arrest or a summons to appear before the court.

Criminal responsibility

This investigation is open-ended and does not target anyone. It is neither about geopolitics nor settling political differences. It is also not about determining the status of South Ossetia, or assigning blame for the outbreak of hostilities in August 2008.

It is an independent legal process aimed at uncovering the truth regarding grave crimes allegedly perpetrated during the 2008 conflict.

Our mandate concerns individual criminal responsibility. It is about bringing a measure of justice to the victims of serious crimes allegedly committed during the 2008 war. It is about holding to account those responsible – irrespective of their status, background or nationality.

My team and I have met with the Georgian authorities. During my meeting in February with prime minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili and a number of senior ministers from his cabinet, as well as a successful visit of a court delegation to Tbilisi that same month, the Georgian authorities reaffirmed their commitment to fully cooperate with my investigation.

My office hopes to receive cooperation from all sides to the conflict. We are seeking to visit all the relevant authorities as well as alleged crime scenes, and stand ready to do so. I have been encouraged by local assurances of cooperation, and I have also noted with appreciation public statements of support from South Ossetia.

I am committed to do my part and I hope I can count on all parties to do the same. The suffering of victims of atrocity crimes must weigh heavily on our collective conscience, and compel us to do what is right. Justice is their due.

Contact the ICC prosecutor at OTP.InformationDesk@icc-cpi.int

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My team and I have met with the Georgian authorities. During my meeting in February with prime minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili and a number of senior ministers from his cabinet, as well as a successful visit of a court delegation to Tbilisi that same month, the Georgian authorities reaffirmed their commitment to fully cooperate with my investigation.

My office hopes to receive cooperation from all sides to the conflict. We are seeking to visit all the relevant authorities as well as alleged crime scenes, and stand ready to do so. I have been encouraged by local assurances of cooperation, and I have also noted with appreciation public statements of support from South Ossetia.

I am committed to do my part and I hope I can count on all parties to do the same. The suffering of victims of atrocity crimes must weigh heavily on our collective conscience, and compel us to do what is right. Justice is their due.

Contact the ICC prosecutor at OTP.InformationDesk@icc-cpi.int

The conflict was triggered by growing tensions over the status of the region. During a relatively short but intense period of fighting, hundreds of people are alleged to have been killed or injured, including peacekeepers, thousands of people displaced and properties destroyed on a mass scale.

My office first starting analysing the situation back in August 2008, while the conflict was ongoing. The purpose of this was to figure out whether the legal criteria for an international criminal court (ICC) investigation were met.

This included the question of whether there were any relevant and genuine national judicial investigations and prosecutions going on in the countries involved. The Rome Statute, the treaty that governs our work, dictates that the ICC cannot proceed with an investigation if the same cases are already being pursued through national legal systems.

For a long time, Georgian and Russian investigations appeared to be progressing. More recently, however, proceedings in Georgia stalled due to the fragile and volatile security situation in South Ossetia and surrounding areas. As such, in March of last year, my office was informed in unequivocal terms by the Georgian government that there is “no prospect of further progress domestically on the cases related to the 2008 armed conflict.”

In the absence of national proceedings, I asked the ICC judges to authorise my office to undertake our own investigation.

We will now start collecting evidence from a variety of sources concerning all crimes allegedly committed under the court’s jurisdiction. Identifying suspects will come only at a later stage.

If the evidence collected provides reasonable grounds to believe that a person has committed war crimes or crimes against humanity, then we will proceed to the next phase, which would be to apply to the ICC judges for a warrant of arrest or a summons to appear before the court.

Criminal responsibility

This investigation is open-ended and does not target anyone. It is neither about geopolitics nor settling political differences. It is also not about determining the status of South Ossetia, or assigning blame for the outbreak of hostilities in August 2008.

It is an independent legal process aimed at uncovering the truth regarding grave crimes allegedly perpetrated during the 2008 conflict.

Our mandate concerns individual criminal responsibility. It is about bringing a measure of justice to the victims of serious crimes allegedly committed during the 2008 war. It is about holding to account those responsible – irrespective of their status, background or nationality.

My team and I have met with the Georgian authorities. During my meeting in February with prime minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili and a number of senior ministers from his cabinet, as well as a successful visit of a court delegation to Tbilisi that same month, the Georgian authorities reaffirmed their commitment to fully cooperate with my investigation.

My office hopes to receive cooperation from all sides to the conflict. We are seeking to visit all the relevant authorities as well as alleged crime scenes, and stand ready to do so. I have been encouraged by local assurances of cooperation, and I have also noted with appreciation public statements of support from South Ossetia.

I am committed to do my part and I hope I can count on all parties to do the same. The suffering of victims of atrocity crimes must weigh heavily on our collective conscience, and compel us to do what is right. Justice is their due.

Contact the ICC prosecutor at OTP.InformationDesk@icc-cpi.int