Georgia Must Appoint a War Crimes Prosecutor

A voluminous report by the Amnesty International is the latest in the series of independent investigations that documents evidence of violations of the humanitarian law during the Russo-Georgian war in August. Georgia must respond to these allegations by appointing a War Crimes Prosecutor charged with investigating the allegations.

The Amnesty International report details the allegations of indiscriminate use of force targeting civilians by the Georgian Army, as well as multiple counts of indiscriminate targeting of civilians by the Russian Army, failure to protect the civilians on territories occupied by the Russian army and multiple counts of direct attacks, forced displacement, murder, arson and other crimes on part of the South Ossetian militia.

Through its Constitution Georgia not only guarantees human rights standards, but recognizes the supremacy of international law. In addition, Georgia has direct responsibilities under multiple international treaties, as well as under the customary law, to investigate and bring to justice perpetrators of violations of the international humanitarian law.

Georgian authorities made the first positive step by co-operating with AI investigations and commenting on their allegations – something the Russian authorities refrained from doing. As a state which understands fully its responsibilities towards its citizens and the international law, Georgia must now make a second step and appoint the War Crimes Prosecutor.

All cases of alleged violations of the humanitarian law should come under the purview of the Prosecutor. It should be explicitly stated, that these include investigation of crimes allegedly committed by the Georgian Armed Forces. Wherever the direct fact-finding would be impaired by the current political situation on the ground, prosecutor should guarantee the protection of victims and seek international mediation in soliciting victim testimonies for indictment.

Appointing of the specially designated Prosecutor would be a political signal of the commitment to investigate allegations and prosecute crimes. It will also serve as a signal to all victims, irrespective of their ethnicity, that the justice will be served. To be effective, the War Crimes Prosecutor must be endowed with sufficient staff and resources to conduct investigation. The international organizations – such as the EU, the Council of Europe and OSCE – must be ready to assist such effort. They must also bring in a wealth of experience that was generated from the functioning of the national war crimes prosecutors in the Balkans.

Such action from the Georgian state would give a clear signal to country’s citizens and to the wider world as to what kind of state Georgians are trying to build.