Public investigation of the Ossetian War

The independent search of the reliable information about the 2008 South Ossetia War by nongovernmental organizations.

On the 12 of August the representatives of leading Russian NGO with the support of The Public Chamber decided to create two special Commissions:

The Public Commission for Investigation of War Crimes in South Ossetia and Aid to the Affected Civilians: Sergei Abakumov, Alexander Brod, Alla Gerber, Elena Zelinskaya, Olga Kostina, Zalina Medoeva, Oleg Neterebsky, Valery Tishkov, Anatoly Pchelintcev.

The Public Commission for Assistance to Russian soldiers, injured in the implementation of the peacekeeping mission in South Ossetia: Sergei Abakymov, Alexander Kanshin, Alexander Jarkov, Leonid Roshal, Sergei Ryahovski, the archbishop of Stavropol and Vladikavkaz Feofan, Alexei Molyakov, Leonid Yakubovich.

«The appearance of these commissions was necessary to solve 2 complicated problems: to help the victims of the armed conflict at first and then to evaluate it’s consequences», - declared the Secretary of The Public Chamber Evgeny Velikhov.

On the 13 of August the representatives of commissions came to Vladikavkaz and visited the camp of refugees in Alagir, as well as the 236 military hospital of The Ministry of Defence.

At that time they succeeded to organize co-ordinating headquarters for better interaction between the regions where the south-ossetians accommodated: North Ossetia, Krasnodar Territory.

On the 14 of August members of the public commissions were already in Tskhinvali. There representatives of Russian NGO found out the testimonial evidences and photos demonstrating the reliable data about the conflict.

All the materials of the public investigation are available at the official web-site (сноска).

Nowadays, the Public Commission for Investigation of War Crimes in South Ossetia and Aid to the Affected Civilians prepares a special report for the Russian officials which will contain all the collected information.

The international community shows a great interest relative to this report. During his last visit to the Russian Federation, Ambassador Janez Lenarcic, ODIHR Director, asked members of the Public Chamber to share the results of the investigation with OSCE.

Simultaneously, with the support of the Russian human rights movement Soprotivleniye, the Public Commission for Investigation of War Crimes in South Ossetia and Aid to the Affected Civilians released a book: «South Ossetia: Chronicle of Contract Murder».

At the 1-st of October it will be presented by the delegation of the Public Chamber at the Council of Europe (autumn session of the Conference of INGO’s).