Russia gathers evidence for int. trials on S.Ossetia war crimes
25/09/2008 20:23 MOSCOW, September 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russia now has enough evidence to try in international courts those people guilty of war crimes during Georgia's assault on South Ossetia in August, the country's top investigation body said on Thursday.
"The phase of gathering evidence in South Ossetia has been completed," the Investigation Committee head, Alexander Bastrykin, said. "Investigators have obtained ample and unbiased evidence for the future trials of those people who committed crimes [in South Ossetia]."
Investigators have documented events to "help the international judiciary assess the scale of what was done ...in an unbiased way, and make decisions on the responsibility of certain individuals, wherever they may be," Bastrykin said.
He said the evidence suggested that "the aggressor's goal was the total destruction of the Ossetian ethnic group" in the republic.
South Ossetia said more than 1,500 people, mainly civilians, were killed in Georgia's onslaught on the republic in early August. The South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, was left in ruins. Russia and South Ossetia said Georgian aircraft, artillery and tanks had targeted residential buildings.
The Georgian operation was called "Clear Field."
Speaking on Thursday at a news conference following a fact-finding trip to South Ossetia, a Belgian lawmaker, Christine Defraigne, said of Tskhinvali that, "The city resembles Beirut."
The majority of Western states criticized Russia's operation to "force Georgia to peace," and its subsequent recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway Georgian republic. All the sides involved have sought an international inquiry into the conflict.
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