2.8 Georgian Detentions and Ill-Treatment of Ossetians

The Georgian military during active combat in South Ossetia detained at least 32 Ossetians. These 32 were released between August 21 and 27, in exchange for Georgian civilian detainees. At the request of the South Ossetian authorities, nine Ossetians previously convicted of crimes and held in Georgian prisons were also exchanged for Georgian civilians.[212]

Human Rights Watch interviewed five of the 32, whom the Georgian military had detained on August 8 and 9.[213] All five detainees reported having been beaten by Georgian soldiers at the moment of their detention, and receiving poor and inadequate food while in detention.

The Georgian government maintains that all 32 Ossetians were militia fighters and were detained for their participation in hostilities.[214] Human Rights Watch cannot definitively determine whether the Ossetians detained by the Georgian military were civilians or were participating in hostilities. The Georgian authorities have not presented evidence that all of the Ossetians whom they detained were in fact combatants. At least one case investigated by Human Rights Watch, that of an elderly man who said he was a pacifist on religious grounds, calls into question the Georgian government's blanket determination about those whom its forces detained. One interviewee, however, made no effort to conceal that he was a combatant-he told Human Rights Watch that he was from North Ossetia and traveled to South Ossetia to join the militia forces as a volunteer immediately before the Georgian military attacked Tskhinvali.

Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, civilians are considered to be protected persons. The Convention requires that "persons taking no active part in the hostilities, … shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, color, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria." [215] During hostilities and occupation, the Fourth Geneva Convention permits the internment or assigned residence of protected persons for "imperative reasons of security."[216] In the case of detention of civilians on reasonable security grounds, detentions must be carried out in accordance with a regular procedure permissible under international humanitarian law. Those detained have a right to appeal their internment and have their case reviewed every six months.The Fourth Geneva Convention provides detailed regulations for the humane treatment of internees. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) must be given access to all protected persons, wherever they are, whether or not they are deprived of their liberty.[217]

Under international humanitarian law Ossetians who were not members of any regular forces, but members of militias or otherwise took up arms against the Georgian military, are not entitled to POW status, but are detained as non-privileged combatants, and should be treated in accordance with the protections guaranteed to civilians under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

In its detentions of Ossetians, regardless of combatant or civilian status, Georgia had the obligation to guarantee protections set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights. Both the ICCPR and ECHR provide an absolute prohibition on torture and other degrading or inhuman treatment.[218] In cases documented by Human Rights Watch, the Georgian authorities' ill-treatment of Ossetian detainees violated this prohibition. The provisions of the ICCPR and ECHR banning arbitrary detention are also applicable, as during the conflict Georgia did not derogate from those convention obligations, although limited derogations in times of war are permitted.[219]

Human Rights Watch has received allegations from both Ossetian and Georgian authorities about instances of hostage-taking during the conflict and since the end of hostilities.[220]  International humanitarian law strictly forbids hostage-taking, which is defined as holding or threatening someone to compel another party to do or not do something.[221] Hostage-taking is a crime of a self-perpetuating nature, which makes it a serious concern for some time to come. Human Rights Watch documented extensive hostage-taking following the 1991-92 conflict in South Ossetia.[222]

Ill-Treatment at the Time of Arrest

Detentions in Khetagurovo

Oleg Tikaev, age 51, the deputy head of the South Ossetia traffic police, told Human Rights Watch that Georgian military forces detained him on August 9 at approximately 9 a.m. in the village of Khetagurovo. He described his detention:

They surprised me in the street, threatened to kill me, shot in the air several times, and pointed their guns at me. I had no other choice but to surrender. They took my car, two cellphones, and all the cash that I had on me: 10,320 [Russian] roubles [US$380]. I was armed and in my police uniform … but I tried to explain that … I had nothing to do with the armed fighting.… They just started beating me.[223]

The Ministry of Defense of Georgia maintains that Tikaev was one of three Ossetian field commanders detained by the Georgian military.[224]

When a Russian military convoy began to approach Khetagurovo, the Georgian military forced Tikaev and several other detainees to walk to Avnevi. Tikaev described to us his transfer from Avnevi to Gori and Tbilisi:

In Avnevi they put me and [another detainee] Leonid Dzhioev into a truck, tied us to the seat and handcuffed us to a side rail. The truck took us to Gori, where we were handed over to the military police. From there we were transported to Tbilisi. They were beating me over and over before the [military] police claimed us. They were really beating me all the time in Avnevi, in Karteli, on the way to Gori. My right hand is still all numb and does not work properly [as a result of the beating].[225]

Sergei Lokhov told Human Rights Watch that he was detained on August 9 in Khetagurovo. He said that he was unarmed, but Georgian soldiers ignored his efforts to explain that he was a civilian. Lokhov said Georgian soldiers beat him at the moment of his detention, and described the beating to Human Rights Watch:

They asked me, "Why are the Russians bombing us?" … [and], "Who's your president?" I said, "Kokoity?" They hit me and asked again. And I said, "Do you mean Putin?" So they hit me again. It's only later that I realized they wanted me to say "Saakashvili."[226]

Tikaev confirmed that when he saw Lokhov in detention at the Vasiani military base, Lokhov bore signs of beating. Tikaev told Human Rights Watch, "There was another man from Khetagurovo held with me, Sergei Lokhov. He is in his late forties ... Sergei was treated worst of all. When I saw him [in detention] … I was so scared. His jaw was dislocated from the beating, and he was in a very bad state."[227]

Diana Dzhabieva, interviewed by Human Rights Watch in the village of Muguti, stated that one of her neighbors, Nodar Butlotaev, also reported having been beaten by Georgian soldiers when they detained him in Khetagurovo on August 8 (Dzhabieva spoke with Butlotaev following his release on August 22). Butlotaev told Dzhabieva that Georgian forces beat him, including in the head with the butt of an automatic weapon, resulting in an open head wound.[228]

Detention near Tskhinvali

Ivan Bosikov told Human Rights Watch that Georgian forces detained him near Tskhinvali on August 8. Bosikov identified himself as a volunteer fighter from North Ossetia. Bosikov stated that he and other detainees were held in the prosecutor's office in Gori on August 8-9 and beaten. Bosikov was eventually transferred to a temporary detention facility in Borjomi.[229]

                                                

Detentions in the Znauri district

Human Rights Watch interviewed two individuals who were detained on August 8 in the Znauri district, west of Khetagurovo. Tengiz Bakaev, age 66, from Batatykau, stated that Georgians entered the village in the early morning, shooting and entering houses searching for fighters and weapons. The village was nearly deserted except for Bakaev and his wife. Both Bakaev and his wife stressed that he did not take part in the hostilities because of his age and religious convictions. Bakaev described his detention to Human Rights Watch:

When the Georgians entered the house … my wife hid somewhere in the yard.… I told them weapons were wrong and fighting was wrong. I am a Christian, a Pentecostal, and we abhor fighting. And they asked what kind of passport I have, and I told them, "A Russian one and an Ossetian one." They said, "You'll be coming with us." I said, "I won't go," and they hit me in the head and dragged me off… On the way to Kareli I was beaten, but not as badly as the other guys who were … with me. Probably because I was older … But they did beat me on my face and on my back with their fists and gun butts.[230]

Georgian forces detained Zaza Lakhtilashvili, who is half Georgian, in Znauri on August 8. Those who know him told Human Rights Watch that Lakhtilashvili is mentally disabled, and although Human Rights Watch is not qualified to make assessments about an individual's medical state, our impression of him was consistent with what his acquaintances said.[231]

When Georgian forces asked for his name, Lakhtilashvili became confused and, thinking the soldiers were Russian, gave the name Gobozov, his Ossetian mother's maiden name, rather than his Georgian last name. After Lakhtilashvili told the soldiers that he had killed four Georgians, the soldiers beat and detained him. He described his ill-treatment to Human Rights Watch: "[The Georgian soldiers] beat me up first and took me away with them. They hit me and hit me again.… They took me away and held me someplace."[232]

Conditions of Detention

The Georgian authorities held Tikaev and Lokhov together with other detainees at the Vasiani military base, near Tbilisi. Other Ossetian detainees were held in facilities under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, including four pretrial detention facilities, Prison No. 8 in Tbilisi, and the central prison hospital.[233] The Georgian government maintains that persons detained in the context of the conflict were placed separately from other prisoners in newly constructed or newly renovated facilities. It has stated that detainees had three meals daily, which met "accepted nutritional requirements," unlimited access to water, and access to medical services when needed or requested.[234] The government also told Human Rights Watch that the ICRC had unimpeded access to the facilities in which Ossetian detainees were kept, and visited two: the Vaziani base and Prison No. 8.[235] The government stated on December 3, 2008, that to date it had received no complaints of abuse from Ossetian detainees.[236]

In interviews with Human Rights Watch, former detainees complained chiefly about inadequate food in detention. Tikaev briefly described to us his detention at the Vasiani military base:

I was held in … Vasiani on their military base. They have a sort of a guardhouse there and that is where they held [us]. There were 18 of us altogether. They fed us very poorly. We were hungry all the time. They only gave us a piece of bread, a quarter of a chicken or a piece of sausage a day, plus water and dried crusts.[237]

Bakaev similarly told Human Rights Watch that Georgian authorities provided little to eat during his two-week detention, stating that he received only bread. He did not know the specific location of his detention, which he described only as a "prison."[238] None of the detainees complained of ill-treatment while in detention facilities.[239]

Tengiz Bakaev and Zaza Lakhtilashviili were exchanged by the Georgian authorities for Georgian detainees held by Ossetians on August 21. Sergei Lokhov was exchanged on August 24. Oleg Tikaev was one of three Ossetians released to Ossetian authorities on August 25, although not in exchange for any Georgian detainees still held by Ossetians.[240]

Possible Enforced Disappearance

Human Rights Watch received allegations that at least one Ossetian detainee in Georgian custody "disappeared."[241] The Georgian government denies that any Ossetians detained during and immediately after the conflict remain in Georgian custody.[242]

According to Zoya Kabisova, her son, 29-year-old Tomaz Kabisov, was last seen in the village of Tbeti on August 8, as Georgian tanks entered the village from nearby Khetagurovo. Kabisov's family had no information about his whereabouts until August 21, when they received a phone call from Ivan Bosikov,[243] the fighter from North Ossetia whose detention is described above.

Bosikov told Human Rights Watch that he first saw Tomaz Kabisov when Kabisov was brought on August 8 to the prosecutor's office in Gori, where several Ossetian detainees were held overnight. Bosikov said that the next day he and several other detainees, including Kabisov, were taken to a detention facility in Khashuri, a town west of Gori. He told Human Rights Watch that he last saw Kabisov on the evening of August 10 in Khashuri, when Bosikov served as an interpreter during Georgian authorities' interrogation of Kabisov, who said he did not speak sufficient Russian or Georgian. Bosikov stated that Kabisov managed to give him his sister's phone number and asked Bosikov to call her upon his release.[244]

Kabisov was not among the Ossetian detainees exchanged for Georgian detainees in August 2008, and his whereabouts remain unknown.[245] South Ossetian Ombudsman David Sanakoev told Human Rights Watch that Georgian authorities deny that Kabisov is in their custody.[246]