Facts of Crimes in South Ossetia: Results of Investigation

General Prosecutor office of Russia claims that the Georgian military crimes against South Ossetia can be qualified as genocide. The head of the Inquiry Commission of the General Prosecutor office Alexandr Bastrikin told that at the press-conference on December 23. "We have all the reasons for qualifying Georgian actions during the August war as aggressive and directed against the whole nation of the Ossetians", - said Bastrikin. Also he mentioned that "the recognition of genocide doesn't imply the quantity of dead, the motives and malicious intents are important".

Aggression

"The Inquiry Commission disposes the facts, that witness the Georgians preparation for the War since the August 2005", - reported Bastrikin. The inquiry disposes the materials which were confiscated during the withdrawal of the Georgian militaries. "These are the war plans of invading South Ossetia and Abkhazia which the Georgian high command developed in 2005 - 2007".

In those plans it was certainly clear that the Georgian militaries were going to destroy military objects as well as civilian, including the villages where people lived and the headquarters of the Russian peacekeepers".

Bastrikin stressed that the investigation has a non-political character. "All the information we will send to the international investigators will be truthful and checked", - told Bastrikin.

Casualties

"During the War 48 Russian militants were killed. 10 of them were from the peacekeeping battalion. 157 soldiers were wounded", - reported Bastrikin. He also told that among the Ossetians there are more than 5 000 victims of the Georgian aggression. There are 162 men killed in the official casualties list of General Prosecutor office, but Bastrikin added that a lot of people were burying their friends and relatives in the gardens and yards, so the final number of the deceased will be greater.

Mercenaries

The participation in the Conflict of the foreign mercenaries was also proved by the Inquiry Comission. Clothes, photos, uniform and notebooks - all that proved the partaking in the War by the members of the Ukraine movement "UNA-UNSO". Also Russian investigators found an order of the Georgian Ministry of Domestic Affairs dated July 27, due to which the militants of "UNA-UNSO" were given ammunition.
Besides that, Bastrikin told that the Georgian army also included American, Turkish, Czech and Ukraine mercenaries. Prejudicial evidence and interrogation of the Georgian soldiers proved this fact.

International Inquiry

Bastrikin admitted the possibility of creating a special legal commission like the Hague Tribunal. He told that after the investigation is over all the materials will be given to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia for representing them to the international investigators.
Today the Georgian military crimes are investigated by Russian prosecutors under 2 articles of the Criminal Code of Russia. They are "Murder" and "Genocide". But as Bastrikin told "very soon the list of the articles will be expanded. We will investigate this case also by such articles as "Fighting an aggressive war", "Hiring mercenaries", "An armed attack on the people and building which are under international protection" and "Using the forbidden wepons".

Alexey Leonov, Ossetia-war.com