2008 Khurcha incident

Infobox civilian attack
title = 2008 Khurcha incident


caption =
location = Khurcha, Zugdidi district, Georgia, Near the border with the internationally unrecognised Republic of Abkhazia
coordinates =
date = May 21 2008
time =
timezone =
type = Shooting
fatalities = None
injuries = 3 people
perps =
perp =
susperps = Georgian authorities
susperp =
weapons = Small arms, Rocket-propelled grenades

The 2008 Khurcha incident refers to the attack on a bus in the Georgian village of Khurcha, near the ceasefire line with the internationally unrecognised Republic of Abkhazia. The attack took place on the election day and injured 3 people. Despite Georgian accusations, that the attack was carried out by the Abkhazian side, subsequent investigations revealed, that it was probably staged by the Georgian side.

The attack

The attack took place on May 21 2008, the day of the Georgian Parliamentary elections on a football field in the village of Khurcha. A bus carrying voters from Abkhazia's Gali district arrived at the football field, where it came under attack of small arms fire and grenades. 3 people had to be hospitalised in Zugdidi, one of whom was seriously injured.

Reactions

Georgia accused the Abkhazian side to have carried out the attack with Russian support. The Abkhazian side denied this and pointed out, that Khurcha, the site of the incident, was well within Georgian-controlled territory.

Independent investigations

On May 22, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights Centre of Georgia carried out an investigation on the attack. They found out, that the buses had directly come to the football field, rather than to the polling station. Furthermore, media were already present at the scene, before the incident took place. Georgian security troops were immediately present at the scene of the incident, even though Khurcha lies within the demilitarised zone, the nearest base being 15 minutes away. The investigators further found out, that the attack was started only from 100 meters distance from the Georgian side, that is, the side opposite to the ceasefire line. Local eye-witnesses all stated, that they believed, that the attack had been staged by the Georgian side.cite web
url=http://www.humanrights.ge/index.php?a=article&id=2754&lang=en
title=Questions Raised by the Khurcha Incident
publisher=Human Rights Information and Documentation Center
date=2008-05-24
accessdate = 2008-08-21]

Another investigation was carried out by the Reporter studio in Tbilisi, which made a documentary about the incident. It stated directly, that the attack was staged by the Georgian side. Before the busses were hit by grenades, the camera, that would record this, had been already positioned on a tripod and was already recording the buses. Local residents reported, that they had been asked to come to the football field for a video shoot, without voting being mentioned.cite web
url=http://www.geotimes.ge/index.php?m=home&newsid=11796
title=UN Blames Georgians For Khurcha Incident
publisher=The Georgian Times
date=2008-08-04
accessdate = 2008-08-21]

The findings of these two investigations were largely confirmed by a UNOMIG investigation. It also found out, that despite Georgian claims to the contrary, inhabitants of the Gali district had not been hindered from crossing the ceasefire line, in order to vote.cite web
url=http://www.unomig.org/data/file/988/080723_sg_report_en.pdf
title=Report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Abkhazia, Georgia
publisher=United Nations Security Council
date=2008-07-23
accessdate = 2008-08-21]

References