“The Europe learned about the tragedy of South Ossetia. The West cannot hide the truth any more and tends to a recognition of our correctness”, - said Oleg Kudukhov, the coordinator of the National Forum “Ossetia accuses”, on October, 16th for RIA "News" at the press conference, devoted to the book’s publication.

As Kudukhov noted, the active members of "The National forum" were holding the pickets in Strasbourg and Warsaw during the representation of this book there. As he said, many people took part in the pickets including the ethnic Frenchmen and Germans and also the representatives of Ossetian Diaspora.

As also Kudukhov has told, his compatriots had complaints to Europeans. In particular, it is proved that OSCE mission and the Red Cross, which worked in Tskhinval left South Ossetia in the rush a few days before the beginning of the war.

“It means, the Georgian representation of OSCE knew about the attack and warned their people about it”, -  Kudukhov made such a conclusion. And the Ossetians are worried about only one thing in this situation: why had they not been warned too? Why didn’t Europeans try to interfere with the conflict?

Alexander Brod, Paul Astakhov, Sergey Ryakhovsky, the members of Public Chamber, and Natalia Rykova, an executive director of the Moscow bureau on human rights also participated in press-conference.

Paul Astakhov, in particular, has told: “According to the international law, there are no resolutions which can limit the right to answer if you have struck”. "The only impression of Strasbourg’s reaction is - utter barefaced cynicism”, - Ryakhovsky has declared.

Natalia Rykova demanded to create the international tribunal for the condemnation of the Georgian aggression and she noted, that the Russian Public Prosecution Office`s Investigatory Committee was still working under gathering of the evidences of Ossetian genocide.

Translated by Tatiana Inozemtseva

Tragedy of South Ossetia. Testimony of Witnesses:

Valieva Valentine Parmenovna, born in 1952, school teacher

Hetagurovo Village, Ostaeva Street, 12

There were three of us in the house – me, my son and my sister-in-law, Mamieva Tamara Nikolaevna.

At that night, on August, 7-8, the shell exploded with such a force, that the wall was punched by it and the house lighted up at once. In the horror we rushed to the different sides, we did not know where to go and my sister-in-law ran out to the street. She remained there.
The ladder lighted up and has fallen off and she left under its fragments, we couldn’t pull her out - we could not even reach a threshold of the house, such was a shooting there. In the past, on Soviet time Tamara worked as a school teacher of Russian in the Georgian village for a long time.

We ran inside, rushed from a corner to a corner. Here the second shell hit the house with such a noise that we were simply dumbfounded in horror. We ran in the most distant room, have thrown the TV out of a corner and hided there and only then we felt a smell of a smoke and realized that the house was burning. At that time the third shell has flown above the house, hit the grapes and destroyed everything, the huge craters just remained. We already had no place to disappear, so we have broken out a window and jumped out through it and barefoot ran to the basement of our neighbors. My son had a phone in his hand, but he has dropped it in a hurry. His passport burned down too with money together and my sister-in-law documents too... It left nothing at all; we had no time even to take out the needles.

The neighbors, to whom we have run, were very frightened too. We ran to the other basement and I glanced at my house the last time. Suddenly I remembered that there was a gas cylinder in the house and I shouted everybody not to come close to it. The shell hit my neighbor - Mamiev too, it beheaded him. I was running, I did not remember myself. We reached a cellar of our other neighbors which had a car and began to plead with them to take us to Dzhava. He took us and we spent the nigh in Dzhava, we did not sleep, the son did not wish to leave for Northern Ossetia: “my father remained there...” – he said. 

In the afternoon we decided to leave to Vladikavkaz, but suddenly the plane strike the road, began to bomb... (She cries). Near to us Russians had been destroyed by bombing... Two Russian tanks have burned down. From that place we went to a tunnel, the son did not wish to go further, as he said, all our relatives, the father have remained there... And we have sat down there, we could not leave... We thought about how could we leave the sister-in-law? But how could we return?

Then we have learned that that very day Tamara’s brother together with the neighbor, our namesake, Ahsar Mamiev made the way to our house in Hetagurovo, have pulled her out and transferred in order she would not burn down. But all the same her body burned down below a waist. In general, they together with the neighbor took her body out in a court yard, rolled it up in a bed sheet and left on a couch – they were going to bury it, when the shooting would be a bit calmer. In the evening the brother came there again, he wanted to bury, but such strong shooting has begun, that it didn’t come to anything. He hardly rescued, jumping from one ditch to another...

At night he went through a wood on foot, as he says, bullets whistled above his head. He spent the night in Zarsky. He spent four days barefoot, without food, without water... In village Zar one man took him on a lorry to the customs. Then he has reached customs... (She cries). Someone gave him money for the trip... At last, when he reached us, I was so glad to see him... We began to search for our relatives (She cries). The late was buried by our relatives on the third day. And we came today, sent the guys to a cemetery to dig a tomb so that to rebury her body and to give a wake for her in Ossetian traditions. My mother is a refugee from Borzhomsky district too, they were banished from there in 1991, two times Georgians have deprived us of the home and everything that had been acquired for all years.

Let the Lord will not forgive Georgia for it! Let the Ossetian people’s troubles and blood will for ever remain on them! Let them experience everything that we experienced, let them realize how we felt... (Cries) There are eleven funerals in our village today – people rebury the bodies from kitchen gardens to a cemetery. It is a funeral of my pupil – Ahsar Tomaev. He was such a good boy. He was killed together with his friend at the entrance to the village.  It was all the same for them, whom to kill: men, women, elders or children, all the same.

My colleague’s mother-in-law Nastya Dzhioeva refused to leave the house. She was killed on a threshold. The old man, Efim Bekoev, who worked as deputy head in our school, was killed in his house, the killers destroyed his house. I can not remember everybody, so many people died... I don’t know about all of them, now it’s the  first time I went out to the street since the day we left. The entire street is destroyed, they shot the houses by tanks, drove into them, they even drove along my kitchen garden.

And after all these – they were drinking, as the pigs, near the awful remains of burned Tamara. They are pigs, I can not say differently. And I can not call them the “fascists” names, the new term is necessary for them, something worse than fascism...

And if now they do not recognize that it was genocide, it means, there are no normal, reasonable people in the world any more!

Translated by Tatiana Inozemtseva

On November, 6-7 in the capital of Austria took place the OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on Democratic Law-making. The representatives of South Ossetian Non-Governmental organization “Ossetia accuses” took place in this meeting. Oleg Kudukhov, the coordinator of this organization, who had been the member of the delegation, commented on the results of Ossetian delegation’s trip for the internet-portal NFOSSETIA.RU.

-   What is the structure of your delegation? What were the aims?

-  In the structure of delegation were the members of our organization only, the ombudsman for South Ossetia David Sanakoev were among them too.

When we have heard about this meeting, we thought a lot of going there or not to. At last, we decided to go. What we must show the world community is: we are ready to take part in discussion of global problems too; the theme of democratic law-making concerns our young republic too; we are - the representatives of a civil society – take part and will take part in this process. Besides that, we wanted to tell about the lawmaking in our Republic.

- How did the discussion pass? What was the format of your participation there?

-  The format was simple. Besides the official delegations, NGO also had an opportunity to take part in the work of the meeting. We participated in the meeting as a delegation of the nongovernmental organization from South Ossetia. Other similar delegations from the European countries, the CIS countries and the USA also took part in the meeting.

Before the opening of this meeting, there was an additional action for representatives of a civil society, which took place on November, 6 (from 9:00 a.m. till 12.00 p.m.).  We wanted to make a short speech, to tell about the law-making in our Republic. But the moderator of a forum, representative of Moldova, crudely interrupted our speaker, not giving him a chance to express. So we limited to dry comments and recommendations.

However, the work at the meetings was already more constructive. There were no attempts to limit our work or to affect to our performances in the meeting. The moderators of the sessions were representatives of the European countries who, apparently, were less prejudiced, unlike the representative of Moldova.

We took part in the work of the meeting, in discussion of all the questions. I think that such a format was rather useful. The representatives of the European countries have seen that we arrived there not to accuse, not to hold a meeting, we arrived in order to work, because all the discussed questions were extremely important for South Ossetia.

- Did you make speech at the meeting?  Who else from the delegation made speech?

- Yes, I did. It’s me, who was interrupted by the representative of Moldova. Olesya Kadzhaeva also made a speech at the meeting. David Sanakoev also told about the inclusiveness of lawmaking processes in South Ossetia, he told that representatives of a civil society took active part in the legislative process in Republic.

In particular, he gave an example of Youth Parliament which hadn’t got the legislative initiative, but participated actively in work of the Parliament, cooperated with the deputies, and even was the high-grade co-author of the law “About the youth policy”.  

My speech concerned the themes of access to the legislation. We often heard the words “young” and “old” democracy at the meeting. In this connection I emphasized that South Ossetia was the “youngest” democracy in the world for today, that all the questions, which were discussed at the meeting had been extremely important for our Republic. I also noted that, naturally, we would take a positive experience of the other countries, concerning the legislative process, participation of representatives of a civil society in this process.

I offered a number of offers and the recommendations, which concerned access to the legislation. In particular, I told that in some countries the commercial structures are working under the ordering of normative-legal certificates, and then they sell the product, and this product is rather expensive. That in a question of access to the legislation, first of all, it is necessary to consider the financial term of such an access for the ordinary citizen. I also offered the other recommendations.

I think that the trip was very useful. The positive moment was that fact that some recommendations of the participants of our delegation got in the final resumes of the sessions. I.e. representatives of OSCE have considered our offers and recommendations, decided that they were rather useful. It was pleasant. For example, the recommendations of Georgian delegation have not got in final resumes of sessions.

Translated by Tatiana Inozemtseva

Oleg Kudukhov, the coordinator of the public law-protecting organization “The National Forum “South Ossetia accuses” in his interview to the internet-portal Osetinfo.ru told about the activity of his organization and about the opportunity of cooperation with Georgian Non-governmental Organizations (NGO).

Osetinfo.ru - Tell us more details about your organization “South Ossetia accuses”.

Oleg Kudukhov - Our organization was created in August, 2008, it means directly after the tragic events in South Ossetia. We position ourselves as law-protecting organization. Our aim is to protect the human rights of the citizens of South Ossetia not withstanding their nationality. Besides that, we collect and we document a testimony of victims during the Georgian aggression.

The known ossetian historian Ruslan Bzarov heads our organization. The members of our organization are the ordinary people: teachers, journalists, and employees, everybody who has an opportunity to collect testimony and to inform the society about it.

- What kind of actions is the National forum “South Ossetia accuses” holding?

- They started on August, 26. A series of these actions has proceeded in Vladikavkaz and in Moscow. In Moscow the action is held opposite the Swedish embassy. In the first, Sweden presides in PACE, and secondly, Swedish Government reacts ambiguously to the events in South Ossetia. The action named “South Ossetia accuses”. The session of PACE has taken place in Strasbourg, and Russian-Georgian conflict was the main question of the conference. For the action we wanted to remind that South Ossetia is also exists, that Russia mediated this conflict later. We wanted to give our testimony to eurodeputies. We made evident materials and distributed them before PACE building. The Georgian party was against our arrival. We knew that the Georgian representatives would pronounce a speech in Euro Parliament. Therefore we have written the application, we wanted the members of parliament to listen our opinion, which was distinct from Georgian opinion.

Our actions are held not only at the walls of Euro Parliament, we also communicated with journalists. It was very unexpectedly for the Georgian mass-media. We were asked why we had been there if we were not a member of PACE, not even the recognized state.

On the press conference we informed the journalists about our position. Besides it, we had an opportunity to talk to PACE Chairman Luis Maria de Puch.

- Is it possible to change European opinion about the tragedy in South Ossetia?

- What is the Europe? It is necessary to divide precisely official authorities and the simple European inhabitant. Ordinary Europeans didn’t know what happened in South Ossetia. They didn’t know it, because they received the incorrect information from mass-media. We can’t say that authorities did not know about the events in South Ossetia. There are absolutely precise facts. Representatives of OSCE left their office together in several days before the beginning of the conflict in Ossetia. It means they perfectly knew that Georgia is going to do something. OSCE is the main European structure. Representatives of OSCE came after the conflict and saw all the destructions and victims by their own eyes. It’s difficult to allow that they didn’t inform their management about it. So they perfectly understand who was an aggressor and who is guilty. Probably, they have their own reasons to hide the truth and to ignore these events.

Basically, the official structures change their opinions too. Such organizations as “South Ossetia accuses” and the Public Commission of the investigation of war crimes in South Ossetia are holding their actions and inform people of our position.

-  Is it possible to come into the contact with Georgia now?

- It will not turn out to come into contact to Georgia at the official level now. The authorities of Georgia simply do not recognize South Ossetia. Therefore it is necessary to begin dialogue at a level of public organizations, at a level of human contacts. This tragedy also has touched on the Georgian population. There are the Georgians who stayed without habitation. It is necessary to restore the Georgian villages too.

Now it is necessary to bring attention to the question on that Georgia should answer financially for everything it did in South Ossetia. Nevertheless, the unwillingness of political structures to recognize South Ossetia is transferred also to the public organizations. Therefore, I guess, it would be very difficult to come into contact even with the public organizations. Our organization is ready to cooperate with Georgian NGO, but Georgia hasn’t got the same whish.

- What’s your plan for the future?

- We would like to hold the action in Geneva. But we have not enough finances. Now we are gathering and ordering a testimony. A part of it we shall give to the inspectors. And we are also systematizing photo and video materials.

Jury Golov, Osetinfo.ru

I live alone. My spouse has died 6 years ago. My only son studies in Vladikavkaz, Northern Ossetia. I used to the bombardmentand explosions from the Georgian side for a long time. This year an August was very restless. In the evenings, when the shelling of the city usually began, I used to switch off light in the entire house and go to bed. It had been disturbing, but it was possible to sleep. On August 7, at the afternoon I sat as usual in a courtyard with my neighbors. The remote shots and explosions were audible. The neighbor’s fellow told that Georgians have attacked Tsunar village, and the war there has practically begun. All my neighbors went home to prepare basements for the shelter in case of the shelling of the city. I also went home, prepared the candles, and took a mattress down in a basement. But when I’ve listened to Saakashvili`s speech on TV, when he said that there would be no shooting, I have a little calmed down and have gone to sleep in my room. In the middle of the night I’ve heard the first explosion, then the second one.

I’ve never heard such powerful explosions. There was such a feeling that they had been broken off absolutely closed to me. I jumped, quickly put on and ran downwards to the basement. When I reached a cellar, there was pitch-black there. I do not have mobile phone and I could call to nobody. The bombardment and explosions went on and on. I don’t remember such a bombardment from the very first Georgian-Ossetian war. I had very capitally made house, but it was shaking as an autumn leaf. I do not remember how much time I had been in a basement, but sudden blow at my house frightened me outright. I’ve heard an explosion, and the wall of my house failed. I did not know what to do, whether run to my neighbors or to remain there. After the second explosion my house lighted up. I realized it on a smell of a smoke. Then I’ve heard that somebody bangs an entrance door. But I simply could not move from a place, I guess, I was in a panic. My neighbors shouted me: “Ruslan, get away quickly, the house is burning!”

I heard the shouts, but in a panic I began to search for water to put out the fire. Now, after all I understand that I could not put it out, because, in first, I had not got water and secondly, it was already burning strong. It was useless to call out a fire-brigade; they were fired by the sniper. I began to choke with a smoke. By that time, my neighbors have broken out a window and pulled me out. They also took the TV and the pair of mattresses out of the house. All the other things had burned down. What’s the use for me from this TV and mattresses now, if there is no place to put them down? The rest days of war we spent in the basement of the neighbor's houses, there was a shop of the manufacturing of plastic windows in this house. I survived by a miracle but what a sense of my live, if everything I have acquired burned down in a flash. My son has no place to come back. Now I live in old people’s home. The war changed my life drastically. I could never think that I would be alone and without the house when the old age overtook me.

Translated by Tatiana Inozemtseva

The Tadtaev`s family – husband and wife Raisa and Meliton, which live on October Street, 139, suffered a hard loss. One of their two sons - the junior 22-year-old Victor, the employee of the Ministry of Defense of South Ossetia, died as a hero, trying to help hostages.

On August, 9 when the Georgian bands entered Tskhinval again, the fierce fights began in the district of school №12. The tens of Georgian bloodsuckers have located in one part of the two-storied inhabited building, which tenants were hiding in the shared basement. Some more Georgian snipers were situated comfortably at school №12. “When they found out that we were hidden in a cellar, about 15 armed to the teeth Georgians came to us and demanded from us to leave a cellar with the hands in the air. Several other Georgians had been in our houses, - Helen Kachmazova, one of the residents of the house, occupied by Georgians, says. – There were about 8 people in the cellar; four of them were men in pension and a prepension age. I came out to them together with the other woman. We began to plead with them in Georgian language not to kill us. They said that soon the car would come to fetch us to Georgia. At that time one our neighbor Vilen Chibirov was coming home, when he saw Georgians in his house it was too late, they shot him at point-blank range before our eyes. Then our civil guardsmen hurried to help us and began to fight with them.

The Georgians, who have called us from a cellar, took cover in the house too and therefrom were shooting, and we rushed to a cellar again. We were not afraid for ourselves any more, we were afraid for our children; there was my son also among them. All the time we prayed for them.

Victor Tadtaev and his friend Vladik Gazzayev were the first who have ran to help us. They, probably, did not expect that there would be so many Georgians in the house. When they ran in a court yard, they had no time jet to take cover somewhere and shoot from a shelter. They fighted as the heroes, but were killed.

When other civil guardsmen began to attack actively uninvited visitors, the tanks arrived to help Georgians, but our not numerous guys managed to throw them out of the district and from the city. Our fighters managed to liquidate the snipers, which shot at live targets from a school building.

As the neighbors say, Vilen Chibirov was about 34 years old. He is buried in Northern Ossetia. Vilen had a family. Georgians left his seven-year-old son and newborn daughter without the father. During the war Vilen`s wife and children were in Vladikavkaz.

As mother of Victor Tadtaev said, her son was going to celebrate a wedding this autumn. “He was so happy, joyful, wanted to marry even this summer, but the situation around the republic became more and more heated and I asked him to wait a little, while the situation will stabilize. It was decided to celebrate wedding in the autumn. If we knew how this would all turnout…”, - Raisa Tadtaeva says, crying. Victor was buried in a court yard of the fifth school.

Vladik Gazzayev lived in the district of Shanghai. As his friend say he was about 35-year-old. Vladik had great authority among his friends.

Sergey Gazzaev

(On photo: Viktor Tadtaev)

Translated by Tatiana Inozemtseva

And were horrified at the sight of Tshinval

Their chronicle of the five-day war; will now also be written by the europarliamentarians.  All of the past week the mission of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) studied the history of the conflict at ground zero, so to speak.  The delegates visited Tbilisi and Tshinval, after which, at a press conference in the Georgian capital, shared their impressions. Basically, before the local and Western journalists.

The head of PACE mission Luc van den Brande said that he is shaken and even shocked by what he saw in the ruined Tshinval and the burned villages - both Ossetian and Georgian.  There are no words that could justify what happened, - admitted Van den Brande.  But with the interpretation of events he had no difficulties that arose. We can not call that which occurred in Tskhinval genocide, we should speak of genocide with caution. Rather, there has been ethnic cleansing , - the European Parliament member practiced definitions.   According to the information which "Komsomolskaya Pravda" drew from dictionaries, genocide in general is nothing other than a form of ethnic cleansing.  So there was no contradiction in those terms.

But perhaps the PACE does not trust Russian dictionaries.  All should be clarified at the autumn session of PACE, at which Van den Brande will appear with an official report.  Incidentally, The Museum of Russian aggression; may open in the Georgian town of Gori.  What's interesting is that it is located on the second floor of the existing Museum of Stalin.  The Soviet leader, of course, has never dreamt of this...  Prescribed experts from the Baltic states and Poland will help Georgians to create the needed exhibition. How skilled they are at altering history to suit their mood is well known.  In Tbilisi, it must be said, has had another museum running for several years - of the Soviet occupation.  Truthfully, it does not enjoy particular popularity.   Only school age children are brought there to visit as a requirement as well as the inexperienced Western tourists. They say that such an arrangement was made by Michael Saakashvili himself.   But for dessert we will certainly add: the British (!) Ambassador to Russia Tony Brenton openly called the aggression by Georgia against South Ossetia a huge mistake. 

 Komsomolskaya Pravda

Fighting in the Caucasus, accompanied by a large number of civilian casualties among the peaceful population, was unleashed specifically by Georgian authorities.  That is the conclusion reached by Belgian senators who visited South Ossetia.

"On the question of who is the aggressor, we declare without any hesitatation that Georgians were the aggressors", - said deputy chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense Zhozi Dyube, speaking in Brussels.  The member of Parliament told that, together with a colleague Christine Defren, he visited Tskhinvali on his own initiative and talked with numerous eyewitnesses, and thus considers "misinformation inadmissible in this regard."

"Bombing of residential areas was conducted. Georgian tanks fired at houses in which there were no soldiers - RIA Novosti cited the words of Defren.  - The city (Tskhinval) - is Beirut.  It is unimaginable!"

The Belgian senators stressed that they consider the Georgian authorities to be perpetrators of war crimes and genocide against the peaceful Ossetian population, and therefore will seek an independent international investigation. Parliamentarians from Europe indicated that as a result of the armed conflict at least 1500 people died.  "We have to stand in place of Russians to understand why they counterattacked" - explained Zhozi Dyube who previously visited many troubled areas.

Deputy Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense also drew attention to the fact that the Georgian arms and military equipment looked newer than the Russian "tanks and assault rifles."  In his view, it could serve as indirect proof that Moscow did not prepare for war in the region.

Note that the possibility of establishing an international tribunal to deal with war crimes of Mikhail Saakashvili is being discussed in Italy.  In doing so, officers of Femid intend to indict not only to the President of Georgia, but also his aides, who have contributed to an attack on South Ossetia.

dni.ru

We did not want to believe that some villages of our district are already occupied by the Georgian soldiers. Notwithstanding the fact we lived in a constant anticipation of war, people thought everything would get by with the night shelling again. But when on the night of August, 8, the terrible bombardment began, everybody realized, that the most awful thing has happened. At 4 a.m. the neighbor came and shouted that Georgian tanks have surrounded the neighboring village Khetagurovo and were going to our direction.  We wanted to leave to Vladikavkaz together with my 73-year-old husband, little granddaughters of 4 and 7 years old and my daughter-in-law. We got in the car, but didn`t manage to pass even hundred meters when two rockets have fallen in front of us. We and some other women from Tskhinval took cover in a basement of the two-storey building, where the other people were already hidden. Georgians have already been in village. Probably, when they noticed the movement of people they surrounded the building (it`s situated at the road to Tskhinval) and began to sing the songs, shouted: “guamarjos Sakartvelo “, that means “Long live Georgia”, and shouted us: “Get out!”

Children are crying, we are, the women, are crying. There is a roar in the basement. Then I thought: “It`s the end”. There were civil guardsmen, standing in a passage of a cellar. They had got the submachine-guns only. What could they do contrary to the tanks! Georgians looked in a window and shouted “Get out!” The children have climbed in old boxes. At last, civil guardsmen managed to run out from a door of an entrance in the other hand (not where the Georgian tanks had been). They began to shoot at them, but, apparently, killed nobody. After that Georgians began to shoot from the tank, the shooting from different kinds of the weapon began. The terrible sound of a “Grad” rocket system`s shells was audible. My granddaughter Annushka sometimes lost consciousness for fear. I prayed “God, let me die the first so that not to see death of my children”. Afterwards the Georgian tanks, which had been near the house, went off in the direction of Tskhinval. On the way, near the spring, these tanks have shot two cars with the people inside.

There were the son of my friend Tadtaev Leva in one of them, and else I saw killed woman in the car. The others were wounded and cried for help loudly. There was a woman named Mzia with her daughter. They were bleeding and crawled into a big concrete pipe at a road. I could do nothing for them; I could not leave my children. We have rushed to the other basement and heard there the shouts for help from the different sides. When the shelling became a bit calmer, I ran to see where these people have got to, but there were not wounded people any more. There were only the corpses of Tadtaev and the unfamiliar woman. On August, 9, in the morning we got in our neighbor`s car and went off in the direction of Dzhava.

Except us, his mother, his wife Kozaeva Diana and three children of 6, 4 and 2 years old were the occupants of the car. On the way we went to Galuanta village to fetch cousin Diana. Her brother and father stayed in the village. When we reached Vladikavkaz, we have learned that Georgians completely destroyed Galuanta, killed Diana`s brother. On Zarskaya road we saw many burned cars. I peered at each of them. For 5 days we knew nothing about my son who had been a member of the home guard. My little granddaughters held their crosses and prayed to God all the time we were in this hell. We did not want this war, we did not begin it. People only protected their children and their houses.

Haven’t we really right to live?

Translated by Tatiana Inozemtsevа

The book came out as a result of a joint project of the human rights movement «Resistance» and the Public Commission for the Investigation of War Crimes in South Ossetia and assistance to the affected civilian population.

At the time of the book's publishing, the deaths of 364 people killed in South Ossetia during the Georgian aggression on 7-12 of August 2008 were established and documented.

«The investigation of crimes and the identification of the killed individuals was complicated by the fact that relatives were forced to bury the dead in the courtyards of the houses, sprinkled land near roads and in ravines - where death found people. According to the Prosecutor’s office of RYUO, currently there are 1672 people dead and missing.

War crimes in South Ossetia once again prove that human rights can not be viewed through the prism of geographic and geopolitical conjunctions. Those responsible for the killings of civilians in South Ossetia should suffer just punishment. After all, the law is the rule, that does not yields to exclusion », - says in the book.

The publication of the book is dedicated to the 60-year anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The album used pictures of Alina Bestaeva, Lana Parastaeva (IA «Res»), Andrey Kochiev (newspaper «Republic»), Valery Melnikov ( «Kommersant»), etc.

The editors expressed their gratitude for the materials to the State Committee for Information and Press of RYUO, television channel Russia Today, the press service of the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations, Ministry of Internal Affairs of SOA-A, the team on documenting eyewitness accounts of military action «Tskhinval-2008».

GKIP RYUO

A mass cleaning has started in the leadership of the Georgian army and special services of Georgia. The initiator was the Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.

As stated in this regard by the permanent representative of Russia to NATO Dmitry Rogozin, along with purges about 4 thousand criminal charges were brought regarding desertion in Georgian army.

The Georgian prosecutor's office is involved in all these cases.

It is noted that previously there were numerous cases reported of Georgian reservists refusing to obey the orders of their commanders to kill civilians South Ossetia.

NEWSru.com.

"On the territory of the Republic of South Ossetia dozens of unique historical and cultural monuments were obliterated, demolished or affected by explosive waves. This act of vandalism will soon be promulgated. The historical part of the ancient city, declared a zone of architectural preserve, suffered a 100% ", - told the Informational Agency "Res" the Deputy of the Ministry for Protection of Monuments of Culture of the Republic of South Ossetia, Nellie Tabueva.

According to Tabueva, "it was initially being destroyed in 1991, and now, during the Georgian aggression in August 2008, it was totally burnt down".

"After the "Grad" artillery rockets there weren’t even beams left, using which one can hold a special examination and find out the age of the homes; they are from millennia ago, with the underground passageways, - she said.

"The Jewish cultural center survived more or less. The synagogue still stands on the ground, but it is devastated, the glass is broken, repairs and restoration work are urgently needed.

The Church of George Kavtinskogo (IX century) was not affected by fire, but cracks that have emerged during earthquakes have become even wider from the shock waves. It was a miracle that the temple of the Birth of the Virgin Mother of God (1718 year) survived, whose foundation only "shifted", while 15 meters away its auxiliary facilities were destroyed by direct hits. The churches of Saints Constantine and Helen, Nicholas the Miracle Worker, Church of the Ascension, domical temple in the village of Avnevi, the remnants of the walls of St. Sava in the area of the old bridge was not touched. God rescued them, they say here. The Church of St. George (2^nd half of the XVII century), located next to the cemetery, looks intact from the outside after the bombing, but on the inside – it is all in cracks.

And the house-museum of the outstanding Ossetian expert Basil Abaev was burned to ashes with all the exhibits. The monument for Abaev, which was installed in the Theatre Square in the center of Tskhinval, was beheaded. Researcher of the Ossetian language and folklore Vasily Abaev – is the pride of the Ossetian people. Many Ossetians are confident that the Georgian military knowingly committed an assault on the memory of him. The destruction of the culture is the first step in destroying the memory of the people", - Nellie Tabueva stressed, adding, that "for the same reason, the memorial cemetery of the defenders and the civilians who died as a result of the Georgian aggression in the 90s was turned upside down by tanks. The fence was broken through, destroyed were part of burials; there are visible traces of bullets on the marble slabs and on the monument of grief. In addition, affected were all cultural institutions - the cinema hall, the building of the Union Council, and others. According to Nellie Tabueva, the Ministry of Culture building was burnt down along with all the documents inside; there were more than seven hundred historical and cultural monuments on file there, not counting the archaeological ones. The Parliament Building, built in 1937, is also a monument of architecture ".

GKIP RYUO

Since the beginning of the military conflict in South Ossetia, the European Court in Strasbourg has received more than 200 claims from the citizens of South Ossetia against Georgia. The residents complained of a violation of their fundamental rights and freedoms, said RIA Novosti, citing the agency France-Presse.

Although western diplomats are assured that these claims will not be reviewed, the press service of the European Court is obliged to disclose them.

Applications will be considered only if they will pass all levels of the local justice departments.

Recall that on September 8-10 International Court of the United Nations at The Hague considered the claim of Georgia against Russia.

 The Georgian side came forward with the accusations of alleged breach by Russia of the convention on elimination of all forms of racial discrimination and demanded to take action.

The judges make a decision within the next few weeks. Meanwhile, Russia is hoping that the International Court of Justice will dismiss the Georgian suit.

kp.ru

The American human rights organization «Human Rights Watch» is ready to protect the interests of NATO and the USA. Its representative spilled the beans on the preparation of the collapse of Russia ...

Last week a Russian human rights activist Alexander Mnatsakanyan of Moscow's non-governmental organization «Demos», also working for the overseas «Human Rights Watch» gave an extensive interview to the Georgian newspaper «Version». How much they paid this character for the interview is unknown, but everything that he told the reporter, fits quite nicely into the PR-technologies of those who order HRW their jazz.

«The Russian Federation is engulfed by an imperial syndrome... The Kremlin is engulfed by the imperialist ideas. It wants to have influence on each country, it is interested in the seizure of strategic facilities ... Its target - to shut up Ukraine and bring Georgia to its knees... I am disclosing a secret plan to you: a project is in the works at the Kremlin to discredit Georgia; they say, Mimino did not exist at all, it was created for the sole purpose of concealing its shortcomings, to neutralize the bad...».

Then, according to invented by them absurd «syndrome Mimino», Mr. Mnatsakanyan – somehow the tongue is not turning to call him a citizen - word for word repeats every escapade by Condoleezza Rice: «The weakness of the Russian policy is more clearly manifested in the Tskhinval events. The large country, the Russian Federation, needed to lie about the South-Ossetian events. The information we heard from Moscow about the deceased was a very inflated. To appeal to this data, the Kremlin accused Georgia of genocide of Ossetians. Myths were spread about the violence and atrocities committed by Georgians. With regard to genocide, it was evident that the Ossetians, in collaboration with the Russians, actually staged genocide against Georgians: the burning of villages, annihilation of innocent civilians, and expulsion of Georgians».

What conclusion does he make from this? NATO's reaction should be much harsher: «If Georgia was accepted into a group of countries-friends, then other activities should have been undertaken. For at least one to two weeks - refuse the use of their energy, not to issuing visas to citizens of Russia»... During the world's economic crisis, it is clear than adhering to such appeals could hypothetically lead to the collapse of the economy and the impoverishment of the population. The call to not issue visas, in fact, explicitly bears witness about whom the activities of the West should be directed against – toward the ordinary Russians. Precisely in this our separate human rights defenders, who receive money from abroad, see for themselves as «the protectors of human rights».

Moreover, in the end, this so-called human rights defender (which protects the rights of whomever, but not of his fellow citizens) spills the beans on the final plans of the overseas diplomacy, whose ambitions the «Human Rights Watch» reflects: «In perspective, nothing good will come out of this for Abkhazia and South Ossetia, since the federation is doomed to disintegrate into regions... I will say for comparison: if a person got fat and no longer fits through the door, he better go on a diet. In addition, it is difficult for the fat person to control his/her own her own body, the circulatory system works only intermittently. Thus, it will be good if the unitary in structure Russia will first convert into a federation, and then adopt the appearance of a confederation... Perhaps someone will accuse me of treason, but I believe that this is a good prospect for the Kremlin. It is rather difficult to manage such a huge state from one spot - from the Kremlin administration».

Overall, as usual, the American administration does everything for the sake of the world community: stages the genocide of Serbs for their benefit, for the benefit of the Iraqis it is killing thousands of them, for the benefit of Pakistan - bombing its villages along with their children and the elderly. Now, through the «Human Rights Watch», Washington wants to destroy our country. And, of course, it is for our own good.

But then again, we all know in what direction the road is paved, constructed with good American intentions. Why wouldn't these builders of happiness take a ride on this road themselves? Even more, the U.S. is already talking about defaulting - the economic circumstances of today, more than contribute to the outcome of events.

polithexogen.ru

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has increased funding for law enforcement departments. According to the local opposition, the head of state intends to use the army and police against the peaceful population of Georgia.

As told by the leader of the party "New Right" David Gamkrelidze, the authorities have organized additional funding for ministries of defense and internal affairs in the amount of 150 and 100 million lari respectively. "The police and army are being prepared again to use against the population" - the leader of the opposition party is convinced, according to whom the authorities are preparing "great repression and terror."

There really is cause for concern for Saakashvili - with the end of hostilities in Georgia a temporary truce of the power with the opposition has ended. Now the resignation of the president would be required virtually by all more or less well-known opposition politicians, including the widow of the late Zurab Zhvania.

Gamkrelidze is confident that the current Georgian leader has lost support both inside and outside of Georgia. "In Europe and the U.S. they say that Saakashvili is an unpredictable and unreliable partner", - said the leader of the opposition, warning that stability in Georgia will occur only after the removal of Saakashvili.

However he, in order to quell a new wave of internal protests, scheduled for November 7 - the anniversary of last year's brutal repression of the opposition action, is trying to gain support of the law enforcement, the opponents are certain. This is due to increased funding and power.

At the same time, many Georgian politicians are already rushing to declare that it them the US will support instead of Saakashvili, said the business newspaper "Vzglyad." And some of them, such as Gamkrelidze himself, Nino Burjanadze, and the leader of the Republican Party Davit Usupashvili, recently visited the United States.

dni.ru

Hubulov Sarmat Emzarovich, born in 1990, painter

On August, 7, I’ve been in Tskhinval. There were 7 of us – me, my grandmother, grandfather, my aunt, two little sisters and the nephew. All of us have gone to sleep, because Saakashvili has told that there would be no shooting any more. We were sleeping when the explosions have suddenly begun. One of the fleeting shells hit our balcony. We ran to a basement straight away.

I took the documents and warm clothes. In two hours the shooting stopped, I have gone upstairs and went to bed. We really used to the fact, that the shooting usually quickly stops. I was sleeping, when they began to shoot from the “Grad " rocket systems. I returned to a cellar - for the whole 4 days. The

was burning. In the morning, about 9 o’clock the Georgian tanks have already entered the city. There were 4 tanks on our Tabolov Street, and they were shooting directly at our building. Well, while they were turning around, we thought that they were Russians and looked out of the basement. They have noticed us and began to shoot at the house. Then they got out of the tanks and opened the neighboring shop, cafe "Asel", got the beer, took the seats on the tanks and began to sing in a Georgian way. Then they have glanced in a cellar, but didn’t go downstairs and went away. And then people were talking (our neighbor Alexander is from The Heroes Street), that some of them spoke Ossetian, they said: "Don’t be afraid, we are Ossetians". There were women and children in the neighboring basement near a bakery. A woman from there looked out when she heard Ossetian speech; right at that moment they threw grenade in the basement. In the evening of the same day the car drove along our street, the father wanted to take his child away. For some reason they braked on the crossroads of Isak St.and Heroes St., and the tank has shot at them. And they knew that there was a child in the car. The neighbors have seen that, almost all the city knows about this occurrence. And else, I saw black men by my own eyes. That’s how it was: when it becamerelatively calm, I ran to my mother, who lived near the station. And then the shooting began again, and I had to stay there because the tanks already came nearer. Several servicemen, my friend, the neighbor and 4 other guys - we are all had been in a basement. When the tanks came nearer, my friend Slavik hit them from a grenade launcher, both of them! Two men got out of one tank; they were almost burning, and they ran into the house. When they saw us, they began to shoot. Our guys shot at them and killed them. My neighbor was wounded in the leg. Those killed men were Koreans. And one more fighter was sitting under the tank and shooting at us from there. Then my friend has shot from a grenade launcher again and killed him. And all of us have seen that it was the Negro. I saw him by my own eyes. The bodies have remained there. They were scorched not strongly, it was possible to define that it was Negro.

The tanks were in front of the Fire Department, they turned the guns to the hotel and shot – they knew that there were people in the cellars. They didn’t see us.  My friend Slavik went outside and hit the both tanks. In general, Slavik came as a volunteer on the first day of the war.

One more tank was in front of the school №6, it was shot down by one guy, whom, as they say, was released from the prison: they couldn’t be left in the hands of fate.

That guy was released from the prison by the fighters of Spetsnaz group; they gave him a machine gunner, which he used very well. He is, basically, a good guy, and he had been in prison for a road accident. Then, there were heavy fights near the hotel and the guys called him there by a portable radio. He ran there and was shot from the Georgian tank. Then, when it became a bit calmer, Russians were already on Zarskay road, I ran home, went upstairs for the water for ours. I found my relatives and got my uncle by phone, as it turned out, he stayed in a basement. He returned in 4 days, hungry, without water. He said that he had a car in his office and he would take us away. He took us to the hotel, there were 7 of us. Then, in Тbet we have placed one more woman. A time before they said people it would be an evacuation, but there was nothing and a full panic as a result. Some people drove through Tbet, others - through Kvernet, and we went through Тbet. When we reached road Zarskaya, we were fired. Those cars, which came before us, "Volga" and "UAZ", both stood on road burnt. The uncle looked at "UAZ" and said there was nobody inside. Then I have examined “Volga”, it’s roof was broken off, and the people inside have completely burned down, only the blood was still there. Then we have returned to the car, somehow drove round and passed further. The car behind went with the included headlights, and was shot. Then the uncle has jumped out and shouted that driver to switch off the headlights, and after that the fire stopped. We got to Dzhava and therefrom we went to Vladikavkaz, where my aunt lived. Tomorrow, on August, 15 I’ll return to the city, the grandfather stayed there. Our house is almost completely destroyed, but I cannot remain here.

And, in general, I think, many people will return in Tskhinval, and if they finish building of the city, everyone will return.

Translated by Tatiana Inozemtseva.

People came in their tens to the central square of the city in order to accuse publicly Georgia and its president in war crimes. The gathered people also condemned the authorities of the USA and a management of NATO for their support of Saakashvili`s regime.

Within limits of the action, organized by a national forum of South Ossetia, the whole series of meetings is planned. They will take place within the next few days in Vladikavkaz, Moscow and Strasbourg.

The active workers of the national forum of South Ossetia are going to hold three demonstrations in front of headquarters of the Council of Europe where the regular session of PACE will take place a next week. They are going to call on the world community to admit the fact of a genocide of Ossetian people and to prosecute Michael Saakashvili.

TranslatedbyTatiana Inozemtseva

The representatives of Ossetian Diasporas from the different countries of the Europe took part in this action.

They have gathered in France to tell the truth about the tragedy of Tskhinval and in order to draw the summit participant’s attention to the crimes of Georgian management.

Such the actions, organized by the active workers of National Forum of South Ossetia already took place in Vladikavkaz, Moscow and Strasbourg.

Their participants called on the world community to condemn the aggressive actions of Georgia and to recognize the right of South Ossetia of self-determination.

“The First Channel”

Translated by Tatiana Inozemtseva

Russia plans to review trade agreements, which in their present form can be economically disadvantageous for Russia, with approximately five countries, including the USA, the Director of the Department of Trade Negotiations of the Ministry of Economic Development Maxim Medvedkov told reporters on Monday.

"The number (of countries) will not exceed five. Consultations with partners will begin in October," - said Medvedkov. He also reported that Russia has already sent a number of offers to its trading partners, including the American side on revising the agreement on supply of chicken meat.

Medvedkov noted that there were 8-10 bilateral agreements that were signed with the United States at different times, which were not related to the entry of Russia into the WTO, including the leasing of aircrafts, telecommunications equipment, working together in the field of veterinary and phytosanitary measures.

"Not all of these agreements will be reviewed, but only those where there are tariffs, which we believe to be very liberal" - explained the representative of the Ministry for Economic Development of Russia.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said earlier that Russia would review the agreements that it signed with individual countries to accelerate the entry into the WTO, as these agreements do not meet the economic interests of Russia. Medvedkov also noted that these agreements are "excessive and difficult for some sectors of the economy."

He said that trading partners were notified a year ago of possible revisions to previously agreed on commitments. "We will discuss how to adapt these parameters together. We will deal with this the coming months" - said the official.

However, this does not mean that Russia will slow down the negotiating process to join the WTO. "We continue to work towards ending the negotiation process, but the final decision will, of course, be up to the Government and the Parliament, which would need to ratify the protocol on Russian accession to the WTO", - said the negotiator.

According to Medvedkov, Russia will resume consultations on agriculture within the WTO accession parameters in Geneva in early October, but starting the week of November 3, it will continue multilateral consultations on preparing the final version of the report by the working group on Russian accession to the World Trade Organization.

Chicken may increase in price

Commenting on the agreement with the United States on imports of chicken meat to Russia, which may be revised, Medvedkov recalled that it was signed in 2005 to avoid a trade war with the States. The fact is that in the early 90's a Russian-American agreement was signed, according to which if one party introduces measures to protect its market, the other party has the right to respond. "To avoid a trade war, we have agreed that we will sign the agreement for five years" - said Medvedkov.

He noted that this agreement allowed the domestic poultry industry to grow at 15% per year and receive a return of more than 10%. However, in 2008 the situation has changed: prices on grain increased and the domestic industry has ceased to grow. Therefore, Russia wants to revise an agreement signed earlier with the USA, said the representative of the Ministry for Economic Development.

But if the import of chicken meat from the U.S. declines, the chicken will go up in price, warns Medvedkov.

Earlier, the head of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia Alexei Gordeev reported that a quota on imports of poultry meat can be reduced in 2009 to 200-300 thousand tons. In addition, he noted that the U.S. is a major supplier of poultry meat in Russia - this year, 870 thousand tons from the total quota of 1.2 million tons are American Chicken legs.

Within the framework of quotas, the import of meat is based on the rate of duty equal to 15% of the customs value. Shipments in excess of quotas are subject to higher rates.

Progress is evident

In assessing the 15 years during which Russia lead the talks on accession to the WTO, Medvedkov noted that during those years the negotiating partners seriously changed their attitude towards Russia and now perceive the country not only as a market for their products but also as a market of investments into various sectors of the economy.

"The philosophy of our partners changed. Before, they wanted to get the most liberal terms both on goods and on services. Over time, they agreed with the fact that there should be tougher positions in the final documents", - said Medvedkov. Thus, in his words, many partners insisted on a duty-free import of automobiles and aircraft into Russia four or five years ago, but during the negotiations the parties agreed to a phased reduction of tariffs to 12% (from the current 20-25%) during the seven years following Russia's entry into the WTO.

"We are interesting to our partners not only as a market for goods, but as a market for investors, who will work not only within Russia, but also in export, and further tariff barriers would be beneficial for them", - said Medvedkov.

He also noted that some restrictions in the financial sphere, which Russia will keep after the entry into the WTO, are also beneficial to foreign banks and insurance companies, who will work in Russia, as they would maintain their competitiveness.

At the same time, Medvedkov admitted that without the participation of Russia in the WTO it would be difficult to defend the interests of their exporters. This does not have to do with energy resources, but will play a big role in promoting products with high added value, clarified the representative of the Ministry for Economic Development.

RIA Novosti

When she reached Russian border with eight kids on her hands, she realized that God exists.

During three nights she was running to the Russian border together with the eight small children; her husband and two elder sons have remained in South Ossetia so that to protect their Republic.

Lolita and Aslan lived with their ten children rather poor, but in a friendly manner. For fun people called the Tebet`s residents “the mountain dwellers”, but there were not any mountains there. Tebet is almost the suburb of Tskhinval. The house with four and a half rooms in it became small, and they began to build near a new house, which would be more open-hearted so that everybody could have enough places there.

But they had time only to construct a big but strong basement. This basement has rescued all the family when the storm of a city began.

Aslan Sagkaev worked in the Migratory service, but he never thought, that he could become the compelled migrant by himself. Lolita Kabisova, having married, didn’t change her surname, though there wasn’t other such a close-knit family in the district. Lolita did not work anywhere and it was easy to guess why she didn’t, when you see her native children: Peter of 21, Vadik of 20, Sarmat of 17, Amina of 16, Valery of 15, Ilona of 14, Aslan of 10, Boris of 7, Soslan of 5 and little Linda of 8 months. The family cultivated maize and beans, reared hens, and ate these foodstuffs.

The elder sons choose man's profession: one of them served in OMON, another in SOBR. Their father steeped in a civil guardsmen’s line. And that’s why Lolita with her younger children only had been at home when the Georgian armies entered the city.

– During the shelling, we took cover in the big basement, - Lolita says – Even now the children are afraid of the loud sounds... When they bombed us, Amina was crying terribly, and Soslan, who was five years old, was only mumbling and shaking; and now, as soon as he hears a sound of the flying plane, he starts to mumble and shake. At the first war I had only five children, and the elder children even used to the war. And the kids now were afraid awfully. There was a shooting at that day, and then we heard a sound of tanks, and the neighbors were delighted, they thought it was, probably, Russian army, and we began to get out of a cellar. And four fighters of OMON, which went past, have run to us and began to shout: “hide the children, these tanks are Georgian”! Then the shooting began and these four fighters fell over – they were dead. But they saved our lives, and we together with the children had time to return to a cellar. Till the night we took cover in a cellar and dreamed only about one thing - to get to Russia, - Lolita continues. – We hadn’t the relatives there, but we knew that our rescue was there. In the evening we released the hens so that the enemies couldn’t get them, and started a way. Three nights we were on our way to the north through the wood, I carried little Linda by myself.

Soslan could not go too, and the brothers carried him. We saw killed children, women, and elderly. But we had time to take cover by ourselves. When we crossed the Russian border, we understood that God exists. Today the big family, as well as many other refugees, took shelter in Alansky Female monastery, which is situated near the Nothen Ossetian town Alagir. Divinely beautiful places - the pond, wood and a small river - help to forget about the endured horrors.

- The main thing is, when we helped them to call to South Ossetia, it turned out that her husband and the elder sons are alive! – says Ekaterina Tsalieva, the deputy director of a monastery. The rehabilitation center of this monastery was built by the local Russian authorities for the children, who suffered in the tragedy of Beslan. We thought: “We’ll treat the kiddies and will use the center only for good affairs, and forget about the troubles here...” Today the convenient rooms are useful for the reception of refugees. The townspeople bring here meal, clothes – everything they have. Also we receive about a hundred free copies of "The Russian Newspaper"; the refugees daily learn from it the news about their native South Ossetia.

- Do you want to come back?

- I experienced such a fear, - Lolita says, - that I shall return home only if there will be a real border with Georgia and Russians return to South Ossetia.

"The Russian Newspaper"

Translated by Tatiana Inozemtseva.