US European Command's Joint Assessment team and officials from the Georgian government touring Gori homes to assess damage find this Russian missile booster largely intact, August, 2008. Wikicommons/ US Navy/Lt.Jim Hoeft. Some rights reserved.On 27 January the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague made a milestone decision for international justice when it decided to authorize Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s request to open an investigation into alleged crimes committed during the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia. The question now is how to support the Court in its attempt to bring accountability to the Caucasus.
In August 2008 Georgian forces launched a military attack on the breakaway region of South Ossetia. Russia intervened on behalf of the separatist authorities and entered Georgian territory with sizeable forces. Large-scale military operations only lasted a few days, but attacks on the civilian population continued after the cease-fire agreement was signed. While Russia recognized South Ossetia as an independent state, almost all other states still consider the region part of Georgia.
Since Georgia has ratified the Rome Statute, the Court has jurisdiction over crimes on Georgian territory under certain conditions. The decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber of the Court agrees with the Prosecutor in that there is a reasonable basis to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed. The Court refers to cases of deliberate killing and the forcible displacement of thousands of ethnic Georgians. In a separate, concurring opinion, one of the Court judges highlighted the death and destruction resulting from indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets.
