2.4 Georgian Forces' Ground Offensive

In the early hours of August 8, Georgian ground troops, including tank columns and infantry, entered South Ossetian villages to the west of Tskhinvali and then proceeded into the city. While in some villages and in parts of Tskhinvali South Ossetian militias seemed to put up armed resistance and defend their positions, by the afternoon of August 8, Georgian authorities claimed to have complete control of the city. In Tskhinvali the exchange of fire between Georgian forces and South Ossetian forces supported by the Russian army and air force continued until August 10, when the Georgian command ordered withdrawal of troops from South Ossetia.

The presence of South Ossetian combatants throughout Tskhinvali and in some villages in many cases makes it difficult for Human Rights Watch to assess the legality of some of Georgia's attacks during the ground offensive. Armed with automatic weapons, the militias targeted Georgian military vehicles and infantry moving through the city. Numerous witnesses confirmed to Human Rights Watch that virtually all able-bodied males joined the volunteer militias, often after moving their families to safety in North Ossetia.[151]

Human Rights Watch believes that, particularly during the attempt to take Tskhinvali, on a number of occasions Georgian troops acted with disregard to the protection of civilians by launching attacks where militias were positioned that may have predictably caused excessive civilian loss compared to the anticipated military gain. Some of the Georgian soldiers interviewed by Human Rights Watch confirmed that while they were targeting Ossetian fighters who were shooting at them from apartment buildings, they were fully aware of the presence of civilians in these buildings. One soldier said,

We entered Tskhinvali in the morning of August 8. There was a street fight. Ossetians were mostly in the buildings, in apartments, and shot at us from the buildings. We could see civilians in the basements. Some would come up and peek out to see what was happening on the street level. Then they would go back down. The fighters were also in the basements and would fire at us from the basements.[152]

Human Rights Watch researchers saw multiple apartment buildings in Tskhinvali hit by tank fire. In some cases, it was clear that the tanks and infantry fighting vehicles fired at close range into basements of buildings. Human Rights Watch interviewed several people who were sheltering in these basements at the time of the attack.

Human Rights Watch examining the basement of an apartment building on Luzhkov Street, in Tskhinvali, which was hit by Georgian tank fire. © 2008 Human Rights Watch

Giorgi G. took Human Rights Watch researchers to his apartment building at 50 Luzhkov Street, Tskhinvali, which he explained suffered severe damage during the Georgian ground offensive. The wall of the building had a gaping hole at the basement level, apparently from a shell fired at close range. Giorgi G. said,

When the fighting started, everyone who remained in the building rushed to the basement. We stayed there for the next two days, unable to step outside because the shelling was so heavy. On August 9 a BMP [infantry fighting vehicle] fired right into the basement, leaving a gaping hole in the wall. The noise was deafening and debris was flying all over the place. My neighbor's elderly father-in-law was so scared that he started running away, slipped and broke his legs. No one was killed because everyone was in the adjacent room.[153]

  Even when the presence of Ossetian militias meant that apartment buildings could be legitimate targets, it was not apparent from the evidence of the aftermath of the attack that the Georgian military had taken all feasible precautions to minimize the harm to civilians.[154] It is clear, however, that the military tactics they used caused civilian casualties and significant damage to civilian property.

For example, residents of Tselinnikov Street in Tskhinvali told Human Rights Watch that at around 3:30 p.m. on August 8 a Georgian tank opened fire at their apartment building, after a group of Ossetian militia started withdrawing through the neighborhood. Six tank shells hit the building, destroying five apartments, and killing an elderly man, Erdish Kulumbegov. Building residents told Human Rights Watch,

We all rushed to the basement, but an elderly man, some 80 years old, who lived on the fourth floor, didn't manage to make it to the basement in time. His apartment was hit by a shell and caught fire. When the attack was over, we went upstairs and saw that the old man burned to ashes. We … buried [his] remains in the yard.[155]

Neighborhood residents told Human Rights Watch that the attack did not result in any casualties among the militia, with whom they were all acquainted.[156]

Similarly, in some villages, the Georgian offensive seemed to have been carried out with little regard to the safety of civilians. Ossetian militias fled their positions in villages as Georgian ground troops started their offensive. Human Rights Watch has no information about street fighting that ensued between these Ossetian fighters and Georgian forces.

Ossetian forces left the village of Khetagurovo, where they had firing positions, just prior to Georgian ground forces' entry into the village on August 8. Human Rights Watch researchers learned that as the Georgian infantry entered the village they were spraying the gates and fences of homes with bullets, demanding that the militias surrender. Hundreds of bullet holes were clearly visible on fences and gates. According to witnesses, on August 8 one of the stray bullets killed an elderly woman, Anastasia Dzhioeva, as she went to feed the chickens in her yard.[157] One villager, Mokhmed Maldigov, told Human Rights Watch,

At dawn, around 5 a.m. or so, the Georgians entered the village-first the tanks, and then the infantry. They were shooting in all directions. One [tank] shell hit my house. People were so frightened. Many started running, women and kids in particular. And they just continued shooting.[158]

Novyi Tbeti, a village of about nine houses on the outskirts of Tskhinvali, was almost completely destroyed by Georgian artillery and tank fire. One villager, 63-year-old Izolda Galieva, told Human Rights Watch that all of the young men, including her sons, had joined the militia and gone to the city, and only women and elderly stayed in the village when the Georgian army entered it on August 8. Galieva described the ordeal she and her neighbors suffered:

On Friday [August 8] at around 6:30 in the morning I saw two Georgian tanks on the street and one car full of gunmen. Then one of those tanks fired for the first time-right at my house, and I just dropped to the floor and crawled to the basement. The Georgians were shooting from machine guns and submachine guns, and screaming obscenities. When a tank [shell] hit my house directly the house just fell apart, and I got shrapnel wounds on my neck and arms. I was flat on the basement floor, bleeding and afraid to move …

The neighboring house was also destroyed by tank fire on that day, and my neighbors, the Makaevs, husband and wife, both got shrapnel wounds. The tanks fired 15 times or so-and now, as you can see, the whole village is gone … It all happened in one day … I just stayed in the basement until Monday afternoon [August 11], when some neighbors looked into the basement and found me. They told me that the Georgians had all fled, and dragged me out. Then, an ambulance came for me and took me to the hospital.[159]

The Conduct of Georgian Troops during the Ground Offensive

The majority of witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch did not complain about other types of violations against them by the Georgian forces. Judging by their statements, in most cases the troops entering the villages did not deliberately cause physical harm to civilians. Several Ossetian interviewees said that Georgian soldiers told them they were under orders to look for and pursue Ossetian militias, but to spare women, children and elderly during the ground offensive.

Zareta Z., from the village of Sarabuki, said that when Georgian soldiers entered the basement where she was hiding with her husband, they told them, "Now you'll live with us, with Georgians, and we'll live in peace. Misha [Saakashvili] told us not to touch women and children. We're instructed to kill the young guys [fighters] only. And that's what we'll do. You are not to worry."[160] Another woman from the same village, "Svetlana S.," also said that the Georgian soldiers were telling the residents, "We have not killed any residents and we are not going to! Everyone is safe!"[161]

Madina M. from Khetagurovo said that she was terrified when Georgian troops entered the village, but to her surprise they were "polite" and did not harm her. She said,

They were going from yard to yard and looking for young guys. They did not know our guys weren't around anymore. I was so frightened … I thought they'd be doing cruel things to women and to the elderly, like during the first war, back in 1992. But they were … polite, really. They kept saying that they had an order not to touch women, children, and old people, and we had nothing to fear from them. They were so young-seemed to be 19 or 20, no more than that. Those who came into our basement even told us, "We don't want to die either."[162]

Several women from five mountain villages in Akhalgori district populated mainly by Ossetians also confirmed that the Georgian forces did not harm civilians when they entered the villages on the night of August 7-8.[163] A woman from Tsinagari told Human Rights Watch,

They told us not to be afraid and said that if our men wouldn't shoot, they wouldn't shoot either. They shot in the air-probably trying to frighten us. They entered the houses, checked identification documents, even some of our neighbors' passports. They also looked for young guys and for the men. But all our men were already gone by then-they joined the militia and hid in the woods. The Georgians were also looking for firearms but our men had taken their weapons with them, so there was nothing much to find.[164]

A small number of witnesses from different villages complained, however, that the Georgian forces ransacked their houses as they were looking for Ossetian fighters, and in a few cases took money, valuables, Russian identification documents, or other things from the residents. For example, Slavik Gabuzov, age 71 and disabled, told Human Rights Watch that when Georgian ground forces arrived in Znauri on August 8 they came to his home looking for fighters and arms. They treated him roughly and stole money:

All my family left on the 7th but I stayed behind because I cannot walk properly and traveling is pretty much impossible. The Georgians came in the morning of the 8th. Their tanks were all over the place. Three of them came to my place and said, "Are you Georgian?" I said, "No, I'm Ossetian." So they pointed their submachine guns at me and put me against the wall, with my crutches and all.

They demanded that I give my weapons to them. But what kinds of weapons were they thinking of finding, an old handicapped man like me? When I told them I had no weapons they ordered me to drop flat on the ground. They yelled all kinds of obscenities and mocked me. They searched my place and found this cashbox where I keep all of the family savings. They forced me to open it for them and took all the money. [165]

A young woman from the village of Tsair told Human Rights Watch that Georgian soldiers stole whatever money she had at the house, as well as the passports of the residents, all of whom have Russian passports.[166] A resident of Muguti, 75-year-old Fenya Dzhioeva, said that when Georgian forces searched her home they "tore everything apart." She managed to retrieve money she had hidden under her mattress, but as she was putting it into her pocket, "they still noticed and took [it] from me."[167]

International humanitarian law applicable to the conflict prohibits looting or pillaging, and individuals and commanders involved in such acts may be responsible for war crimes.[168]