US Embassy: ECHR Ruling Adds Further Weight to Int'l Community’s Position

"The Court’s ruling adds further weight to the international community’s demand that Russia cease its blatant violations of Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity," - reads the statement released by the US Embassy in Georgia.

The Embassy notes that Russia’s attempts to control and exploit the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia through borderization, arbitrary detentions, restrictions of movement across the administrative boundary lines, and establishment of socio-economic and military “agreements” between Russia and the two Georgian regions are particularly concerning and unacceptable.

“In the state-to-state case of Georgia v. Russia on the 2008 Russia-Georgia War, the Court ruled clearly in favor of Georgia and found Russia responsible for violating multiple articles of the European Convention of Human Rights, including by detaining and torturing individuals, and denying Georgian citizens the right to return to their homes. The court further found the Russian government has not conducted a full or adequate investigation into the events that took place during and after the hostilities.

"The Court’s ruling adds further weight to the international community’s demand that Russia cease its blatant violations of Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Russia’s attempts to control and exploit the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia through borderization, arbitrary detentions, restrictions of movement across the administrative boundary lines, and establishment of socio-economic and military “agreements” between Russia and the two Georgian regions are particularly concerning and unacceptable. These actions threaten the lives, culture, and personal freedoms of people living in these Georgian territories, and deny them the ability to exercise rights and access opportunities that should be available to all Georgian citizens”, reads the statement.

For the record, the Strasbourg Court delivered its judgment in the Russia-Georgia August war case on Thursday. The Georgian Ministry of Justice reported that the European Court of Human Rights has admitted Georgia’s claim that Russia violated several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights during the August 2008 war.

By Ana Dumbadze 

Related Story: ECHR: Russia Violated Several Articles of Convention on Human Rights in August War