2008 Georgian-Russian war. The ICC issues three arrest warrants

The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced on Thursday (30 June) that it has issued arrest warrants for three people for alleged war crimes committed during the 2008 war between Georgia and Russia in South Ossetia.

They are Mayramovich Mindzaev, former Minister of Internal Affairs of de facto independent South Ossetia, former director of the detention center Gamlet Guchmazov (or Kuchmazov), known as “insulator“, and Davit Georgievich Sanakoev’s former “middleman“, according to the court. Judges at the Hague-based court said they had reasonable grounds to believe that civilians “perceived to be of Georgian originwere arrested in the territory of South Ossetia, Georgia, imprisoned, brutally treated and subjected to extremely harsh conditions of detention in the Tskhinvali detention center. The ICC opened an investigation in January 2016 into the war, which has killed several hundred people, according to an August 2008 UN report. At the time, it was the jurisdiction’s first investigation outside of Africa and the first into a conflict involving Russia. ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan requested an arrest warrant for the three officials in March, a few days after Russia invaded Ukraine. The judges authorized them on June 24, ahead of publication on Thursday.

Then civilians would be used.”as a means of negotiations between the Russian and de facto South Ossetian authorities for the exchange of prisoners and detainees;“, and after this exchange had to leave South Ossetia. Russian citizens Mayramovich Mindzaev, 66, and Gamlet Guchmazov, 45, are both accused of illegal detention, torture and inhumane treatment, violation of personal dignity, hostage-taking and illegal transportation of civilians. 45-year-old Davit Georgievich Sanakoev is accused of taking hostages and illegally transporting civilians. Russia is not a member of the ICC, but Georgia is.