“Russia ordered to pay €130 million in compensation to Georgia over inhumane acts – ECHR ruling”

Russia has been ordered to pay about 130 million euros in compensation to Georgia almost 15 years after the war in the South Caucasus, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg announced, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.

The order follows a 2021 court ruling in which judges found Russia responsible for “inhumane” acts against Georgian citizens following the end of hostilities that lasted from August 9 to 12, 2008.

During the war against Russia, Georgia lost control of its breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The court concluded that Russia could not be held responsible for human rights violations during the five-day war.

After the ceasefire, however, the Russian authorities were responsible for the situation in the conflict region and should have applied the Convention on Human Rights, the judges said at the time.

However, Russia has allowed looting, looting, abuse and torture by South Ossetian forces. Georgian civilians were captured, driven from their homes or killed. Until now, the question of compensation remained unanswered.

Whether Georgia will actually receive the money seems doubtful. Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe because of its war against Ukraine and is thus no longer a member of the European Convention on Human Rights, whose observance is guaranteed by the ECHR. Russian President Vladimir Putin had announced that he would no longer recognize the court’s rulings.

However, several thousand cases against Russia are still pending at the ECtHR. The Council of Europe, the Convention on Human Rights and the ECHR are independent of the EU, the DPA points out.