REQUEST FOR THE INDICATION OF
PROVISIONAL MEASURES OF PROTECTION SUBMITTED BY THE
GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF GEORGIA
1. 1 have the honour to refer to the Application submitted to the Court on 12 August 2008
instituting proceedings on behalf of the Republic of Georgia against the Russian
Federation, and to submit, in accordance with Article 41 of the Statute of the Court and
Articles73,74, and 75 of the Rules of the Court, an urgent Request that the Court indicate
provisional measures to preserve the rights of the Republic of Georgia under the
International Convention on the Elimination of AlI Forms of Racial Discrimination
("CERD") to protect its citizens against violent discriminatory acts by Russian armed
forces, acting in concert with separatist militia and foreign mercenaries, including unlawfuI
attacks against civilians and civilian objects, murder, forced displacement, deniaI of
humanitarian assistance, and extensive pillage and destruction of towns and villages, in
South Ossetia and neighboring regions of Georgia, and in Abkhazia and neighboring
regions, under Russian occupation. Contrary to Russia's declaration a ceasefire, the on
going elimination of the remaining Georgian civilians and villages demonstrates an attempt
to expand the boundary ofterritories under the control separatist authorities by changing
the ethnie demography in a pattern resembling the conflicts of the 1990s.
2. The continuation of these violent discriminatory acts constitutes an extremely urgent threat
of irreparable harm to Georgia's rights under CERD in dispute in this case. Given the
extraordinary gravity of the situation, Georgia respectfully asks that this Request be
considered at the Court's earliest possible opportunity. including the expeditious
scheduling of oral proceedings.
1A. JURISDICTION OF THE COURT
3. As set forth in the Application, the Court has jurisdiction over the present case pursuant to
its Statute and Rules and Article 22of CERO.
B. THEFACTS
4. The historical context to this urgent provisional measures Request is set forth in Georgia's
Application. As stated therein, beginning in the early 1990s and acting in concert with
separatist forces and mercenaries in the Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia,
the Russian Federation has engaged in a systematic policy of ethnie discrimination directed
against the ethnie Georgian population and other groups in those regions. Russia's actions
have directly or indirectly resultedin the death or disappearance of thousands of civilians
and the internaI displacement of approximately 300,000 persons. As a result, the ethnie
demography of both South Ossetia and Abkhazia has been dramatically altered. Russia
now seeks to make this situation permanent by denying the right of return of internally
displaced persons ("IOPs") through recognition and support of the de facto separatist
authorities, and the use of armed force to prevent Georgia from exercising its jurisdiction
in allowing its citizens to return to their homes.
5. On 8 August 2008, the Russian Federation launched a full-scale military invasion against
Georgia in support of ethnie separatists in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Russia justified its
aggression by claiming that Georgia had committed "genocide" against South Ossetians
simply because Georgian forces responded to artillery attacks by ethnie separatists against
villages resulting in the deathof several civilians. Contrary to these incendiary assertions,
impartial observers have concluded that "there is little evidence civilians were specifically
targeted by Georgian troops, as Russia claims."l
6. Russia's military aggression has resulted in hundreds of civilian deaths, extensive
destruction of civilian property, and the displacement of virtually the entire ethnie
Georgian population in South Ossetia. Despite the withdrawal of Georgian armed forces
and the unilateral declaration of a ceasefire, Russian military operations continued beyond
1 Douglas Birch, Associated Press writer, 12 AugusavaUable alhttp://news.yahoo.com/sap/200S0S12on
re eu/georgia captured capital.
2 South Ossetia into territories under Georgian government control and resulted in the
extensive destruction of towns such as Gori and the forced displacement of almost its
entire population. Georgian authorities have registered 19,482 IOPs thus far. The
International Committee of the Red Cross ("ICRC") confirms that there are continuing
reports of "widespread displacement throughout the region.,,2
7. Most recently, on 13 August 2008, evidence has emerged that Russian armed forces, acting
together with South Ossetian separatist militia and foreign mercenaries, have engaged in a
campaign of ethnic cleansing involving murder and forced displacement of ethnic
Georgians, and the pillage and extensive destruction of villages adjacent to South Ossetia,
in an apparent effort to expand the territories under the control of separatist authorities.
8. Based on witness reports made available today, the following is an illustrative list of
discriminatory human rights abuses against Georgian citizens in and around South Ossetia:
- Russian forces and separatist militia have summarily executed Georgian civilians and
persons hors de combat after verifying their ethnicity in the villages of Nikosi, Kurta,
and Armarishili;
- Russian forces and separatist militia have engaged in widespread pillage and buming of
homes in the villages of Karbi, Mereti, Disevi, Ksuisi, Kitsnisi, Beloti, Vanati, and
Satskheneti and have executed elderly civilians;
- Russian forces have forcibly transferred the remaining ethnic Georgians in South Ossetia
to Kurta detention camp;
- ln Gori, Russian forces bombed the hospital, university, market place, and post-office,
even though this is an undefended town without any Georgian military presence.
9. Human Rights Watch ("HR W") today published a report confirming this widespread
pattern of abuse, pillage and destruction throughout South Ossetia, based on first-hand
accounts of HRW staff and interviews with civilians. The relevant part of the report,
reproduced in full, provides as follows:
Human Rights Watch researchers in South Ossetia on August 12, 2008, saw
ethnic Georgian villages still burning from fires set by South Ossetian militias,
witnessed looting by the militias, and learned firsthand of the plight of ethnic
2Georgia: ICRC to send humanitarian assistance to contlict area, News ReleaseIl8August 2008, available
al: http://www .icrc.org/web/eng/siteengO .nsf/htmlall/ georgia-news-ll 0808.
3Ossetian villagers who had fled Georgian soldiers during the Georgian-Russian
conflict over the breakaway region of South Ossetia.
In South Ossetia, Human Rights Watch researchers traveling on the evening of
August 12 on the road from the town of Java to Tskhinvali, the capital of South
Ossetia, witnessed terrifying scenes of destruction in four villages that used to be
populated exclusively by ethnie Georgians. According to the few remaining local
residents, South Ossetian militias that were moving along the road looted the
Georgian villages and set them on tire. Human Rights Watch saw numerous
vehicles carrying South Ossetian militia members, as weIl as Russian military
transports moving in the directionof Tskhinvali.
Numerous houses in the villages of Kekhvi, Nizhnie Achaveti, Verkhnie Achaveti
and Tamarasheni had been bumt down over the last day - Human Rights Watch
researchers saw the smoldering remnants of the houses and household items. The
villages were virtually deserted, with the exception of a few elderly and
incapacitated people who stayed behind either because they were unable to flee or
because they were trying to save their belongings and cattle.
"The remaining residents of these destroyed ethnie Georgian villages are facing
desperate conditions, with no means of survival, no help, no protection, and
nowhere to go," said Tanya Lokshina at Human Rights Watch.
In the village of Nizhnie Achaveti, Human Rights Watch researchers spoke to an
elderly man who was desperately trying to rescue his smoldering house using two
half-empty buckets of dirty water brought from a spring. He told Human Rights
Watch that the vast majority of the residents, including his family, fled the village
when active tighting between Georgian forces and South Ossetian militias broke
out on August 8, but he decided to stay to look after the cattle. He said members
of the South Ossetian militia came to his house on August 11, and tried to take
away sorne household items. When he protested, they set the house on tire and
4 left. The man said he had no food or drinking water; his hands were burned and
hair was singed - apparently as he was unsuccessfully trying to extinguish the tire
- and he appeared to be in a state of shock. He said that there were about five to
ten elderly and sick people left in the village, aIl in a similar desperate condition,
and many of the houses were burned.
In the village of Kekhvi, many houses were set on fire between 6.30 pm and 7.30
pm on August 12 - they were ablaze as Human Rights Watch researchers moved
along the road. Two elderly women from Kekhvi were weeping as they told
Human Rights Watch about what happened in the village. One ofthem explained
that the members of South Ossetian militias passed by the village and stopped at
her house and "threw something" that set it on tire. She did not manage to rescue
anything from the house and at the time of the interview could not even enter the
house as it was still buming. She had no money on her and did not know if she
could survive in this situation.
Human Rights Watch researchers also saw armed Ossetian militia members in
camouflage fatigues taking household items - furniture, television sets, heaters,
suitcases, carpets, and blankets - out of houses in the village of Nizhnie Achaveti
and loading them into their trucks. Explaining the looters' actions, an Ossetian
man told Human Rights Watch, "Of course, they are entitled to take things from
Georgians now - because they lost their own property in Tskhinvali and other
places.,,3
10. The systematic pillage and destruction of Georgian villages is clearly intended to prevent
the return of civilians displaced as a result of Russia's aggression commencing August 8.
The full extent of such conduct however, remains uncertain at present because Russian
forces have denied humanitarian organizations access to most of South Ossetia. A press
release of Il August 2008 confirms that: "So far, the ICRC has not been able to gain
3Georgian Villages in South Ossetia Burnt, Looted, Human Rights Watch, 13 August 2008, available al:
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/08/13/georgiI9607txt.htm.
5 access to South Ossetia. This remains a priority for US".4 This can be contrasted with the
ICRC's statement that Georgian authorities have granted "unimpeded access" to Russian
5
prisoners of war. Russia's obstruction of the ICRC demonstrates an attempt to conceal
atrocities against civilians and systematic destruction of Georgian villages in this region.
Il. With respect to the prospect of concealed or further atrocities, the active recruitment by
Russian forces of notorious Cossack and Chechen mercenaries in the North Ossetian
capital of Vladikavkaz is particularly disturbing. As set forth in the Application, these
mercenaries committed large-scale atrocities during the South Ossetian and Abkhaz
conflicts of the 1990s. According to a source reporting on the current conflict:
Officially, Russia denies the existence ofvolunteer brigades. Moscow does not use
conscription and has no provision for enlisting reinforcements in a particular armed
conflict, said a military spokesman. Those who have come to the border with
Georgia offer only humanitarian aid, he claimed. ... [but] sorne officers, when
pressed, admitted that the humanitarian mission was a recruitment smokescreen.
"In the past two days, about 2,000 people volunteered. These are men ... with
experience ofmilitary operations in hotspots," the head of one recruitment post told
the Russian Ria Novosti news agency ... Sorne volunteers in Vladikavkaz said
they were being given assault rifles and $400 (€266).6
The recruitment of such mercenarles allows Russia to terrorize the civilian population
while absolving itself of responsibility for the conduct of "volunteers". This is exemplified
in the statement of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that it would be "difficult to
7
restrain" such elements. This appears to be a repeat of the same pattern that was used by
Russia in support of ethnie separatists against Georgia in the 1990s.
12. In addition to South Ossetia, Russian forces have opened a second front in Abkhazia,
attacking and destroying Georgian villages in the Kodori Gorge and forcibly displacing its
entire population of approximately 3,000. These IDPs are currently concentrated in the
-Id.
5ICRC visits two Russian pilots, ICRC news,Il August 2008.
6Matt Siegel, Cossacks and Chechens unite to fight 'America', The Independent, 12 August 2008, p. 7.
7Id.
6 village of Chuberi. They are surrounded by Russian forces and the deliberate denial of
humanitarian access has created difficult conditions.
13. Russian military operations have extended beyond Abkhazia and included attacks against
the Black Sea port of Poti resulting in numerous civilian deaths and extensive destruction
of civilian property. The town of Zugdidi has been occupied by Russian forces who have
subjected the civilian population to widespread pillage and other abuses.
14. There is serious concern about the situation of sorne 45,000 remaining ethnie Georgians in
the Gali district of Abkhazia adjacent to Zugdidi. Russian forces have denied freedom of
movement for this population and denied access to the region by outsiders. As set forth in
the Application, immediately prior to the August 8 Russian aggression, this population
faced increasing intimidation and pressure to adopt Russian citizenship. Under the present
circumstances, there is a realistic prospect that they too will be subjected to abuses and
forced displacement in order to remove the only remaining Georgian population in
Abkhazia.
c. THE RIGHTS THAT GEORGIA SEEKS TO PROTECT
15. In accordance with Article 41 of the Statute of the Court, the object of provisional
measures is to preserve the respective rights of the parties pending the decision of the
Court, and pre-supposes that irreparable prejudice must not be caused to rights which are
the subject of dispute in judicial proceedings (see e.g. Application of the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Provisional Measures, Order of 8
April 1993, I.C.J. Reports 1993, p. 3, at 19 (para. 34)).
16. In the present case, the rights which are the subject of the dispute are set forth in Articles 2,
3, 4, 5, and 6 of CERD, as specified in paragraph 81 of the Application. Specifically, the
rights under CERD that Georgia seeks to protect with this Request arise from the
obligations of the Russian Federation to prevent acts of ethnie discrimination, including:
(a) the right to ensure that the Russian Federation and separatist authorities under
its direction and control refrain from any further act or practice of ethnic
discrimination against Georgian citizens and that civilians are fully protected
against such acts in territories under the occupation or effective control of
Russian forces, pursuant to Article 2(1);
7(b) the right to ensure that the Russian Federation and separatist authorities under
its direction and control refrain from any further acts resulting in the
recognition of or rendering permanent the ethnic segregation of Georgian
citizens through forced displacement or denial of the right of IDPs to return to
their homes in South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and adjacent territories under the
occupation or effective control of Russian forces, pursuant to Article 3;
(c) the right to ensure that the Russian Federation and separatist authorities under
its direction and control refrain from any further acts violating the enjoyment
by Georgian citizens of fundamental human rights including in particular the
right to security of the person and protection against violence or bodily harm,
the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of Georgia,
the right of IDPs to return to their homes under conditions of safety, and the
right to protection of homes and property against pillage and destruction,
pursuant to Article 5; and
(d) the right to ensure that the Russian Federation and separatist authorities under
its direction and control refrain from any acts denying to Georgian citizens
under their jurisdiction effective protection and remedies against ethnic
discrimination and violations of human rights pursuant to Article 6.
8 D. THE MEASURES REQUESTED
17. On the basis of the facts set forth above, and in order to prevent irreparable prejudice to the
rights of Georgia and its citizens under CERD, Georgia respectfully requests the Court as a
matter of utmost urgency to order the following measures to protect its rights pending the
determination ofthis case on the merits:
(a) the Russian Federation shall give full effect to its obligations under CERD;
(b) the Russian Federation shall immediately cease and desist from any and aIl
conduct that could result, directly or indirectly, in any form of ethnic
discrimination by its armed forces, or other organs, agents, and persons and
entities exercising elements of governmental authority, or through separatist
forces in South Ossetia and Abkhazia under its direction and control, or in
territories under the occupation or effective control of Russian forces;
(c) the Russian Federation shall in particular immediately cease and desist from
discriminatory violations of the human rights of ethnic Georgians, including
attacks against civilians and civilian objects, murder, forced displacement,
denial of humanitarian assistance, extensive pillage and destruction of towns
and villages, and any measures that would render permanent the denial of the
right to return of IDPs, in South Ossetia and adjoining regions of Georgia, and
in Abkhazia and adjoining regions of Georgia, and any other territories under
Russian occupation or effective control.
18. The Republic of Georgia reserves the right to amend the Request and the measures
sought.
9Respectfully submitted,
13 August 2008
10
Request for the Indication of Provisional Measures of Protection submitted by the Government of Georgia