GEORGIA WAS responsible for starting a five-day war against Russia in August last year, which cost the lives of 850 people and left 35,000 homeless, an independent report has found.
The report also concludes that Russia’s response went “far beyond the reasonable limits of defence”.
The report, commissioned by the EU, says both sides broke international humanitarian law and cites evidence of ethnic cleansing against Georgians living in the breakaway province of South Ossetia. It warns that the risk of a new confrontation remains.
“The shelling of Tskhinvali by the Georgian armed forces during the night of 7 to 8 August 2008 marked the beginning of the large-scale armed conflict in Georgia, yet it was only the culminating point of a long period of increasing tensions, provocations and incidents,” says the report by Swiss diplomat Heidi Tagliavini.
Despite the provocation in the lead-up to the events on the night of August 7th-8th, the report concludes the use of force by Georgia was not justified.
Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili had claimed Tbilisi was responding to an invasion by Russian forces when it attacked South Ossetia, but the report found no evidence of this.
The report’s findings could increase domestic pressure on Mr Saakashvili, who survived several days of protests in April demanding that he step down.
Russia, which has recognised the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, said the report proved Georgia started the war.
“It confirms what we’ve known all along: who started the war and who bears responsibility,” said Vladimir Chizhov, Russia’s ambassador to the EU.
But the report also criticises the Russian reaction to the attack. “It seems . . . that much of the Russian military action went far beyond the reasonable limits of defence.”
Russian troops pushed deep into Georgia following the attack on South Ossetia, taking control of the Black Sea port of Poti; its jets bombed army bases and the military airport. Some 100,000 people fled their homes and 850 died in the five-day conflict.
The report is critical of Russian foreign policy in the region, warning of the destablising effects that may result “from a country’s assertive pursuit of foreign policy objectives concerning privileged spheres of interest, in particular with regard to neighbouring countries . . . such a policy is set to deprive smaller states of their freedom of choice and limit their sovereignty.”
The Geneva-based International Independent Fact Finding Mission into the Conflict in Georgia, which has investigated the conflict since early 2009, said the international community did not do enough to prevent the conflict. “There is a need for more timely and more determined efforts to control an emerging crisis situation . . . a more sustained engagement is needed from the international community and . . . the UN security council.”