The ECHR found Russia responsible for the torture and death of Georgian prisoners of war.

The European Court of Human Rights unanimously found Russia responsible for the murder of three and the torture of eight Georgian prisoners of war captured during the August 2008 war. The court ordered Moscow to pay compensation to the surviving servicemen and the families of the deceased.

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg today announced its decision in the joined cases of Malachini and Others v. Russia and Chikviladze and Antsukhelidze v. Russia, finding Russia guilty of violating the rights of Georgian prisoners of war. The complaints were filed in 2009 and 2010, and the proceedings took over 17 years.

Russia was found in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights' articles on the right to life and the prohibition of torture (Articles 2 and 3). The court found that Junior Sergeant Ushangi Sopromadze and Corporal Kakhaber Khubuluri were executed while in custody; the latter was killed because he was considered a traitor due to his Ossetian origin. Assistant gunner Giorgi Antsukhelidze went missing on August 9, 2008, in Tskhinvali. His body was handed over to the Georgian side in November 2008, and his identity was established through DNA testing, according to the ruling on the ECHR website.

The five survivors—David Malachini, Zaza Kavtiashvili, Imeda Kutashvili, Malkhaz Meladze, and Kakhaber Zirakashvili—were held captive until August 19, 2008. According to their testimony, they were interrogated, beaten, had their skin and fingers burned, and were forced to walk on the Georgian flag. The court found all these actions to constitute torture.

The court ordered Russia to pay the families of each of the three deceased servicemen €65,000 and each of the five surviving servicemen €40,000. The total compensation amounts to €395,000. Payments are only made for damages not covered by the previously issued decision in the interstate case "Georgia v. Russia II," the ruling clarified.

The decision is a precedent-setting one. In its 2021 verdict in the case "Georgia v. Russia II," the ECHR refused to consider complaints relating to the period of active hostilities, citing the "context of chaos." Now, Strasbourg has ruled that the detention of prisoners of war in Tskhinvali constitutes a separate category, over which Russia's jurisdiction extended during the active phase of the conflict, Novosti-Gruzia reports.

The court concluded that Russia exercised "effective control" over South Ossetia through the systematic issuance of Russian passports, the staffing of local security forces with Russian officials, and ongoing military and financial support. This, according to the court, places responsibility on Moscow for the actions of South Ossetian forces against prisoners of war.

"This is a historic and emotional day," said Tamar Oniani, chair of the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association (GYLA). This organization has represented the plaintiffs at the ECHR since 2009.

The Young Lawyers' Association has appealed to the Georgian authorities and international bodies to create a special compensation mechanism based on frozen Russian assets abroad, as the prospects for actual payments remain uncertain: following its expulsion from the Council of Europe in March 2022, Russia adopted domestic legislation refusing to implement ECHR decisions issued after that date. Formally, the obligation for cases filed before September 2022 remains, JAMnews notes.

Georgia considers Abkhazia and South Ossetia to be Russian-occupied territories after Russia intervened in the armed conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia on August 8, 2008, and subsequently recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The Georgian parliament voted to sever diplomatic relations with Russia, according to a "Caucasian Knot" report on the "Five-Day War" of 2008, which also contains details of the armed conflict.