Georgia: Satellite Images Show Ethnic Attacks

Sat Aug 30 20:56:38 UTC 2008

29 08 2008
Georgia: Satellite Images Show Destruction, Ethnic Attacks

Georgia: Satellite Images Show Destruction, Ethnic Attacks
Russia Should Investigate, Prosecute Crimes

(New York, August 29, 2008) ? Recent satellite images released by the  
UN program UNOSAT confirm the widespread torching of ethnic Georgian  
villages inside South Ossetia, Human Rights Watch said today. Detailed  
analysis of the damage depicted in five ethnic Georgian villages shows  
the destruction of these villages around the South Ossetian capital,  
Tskhinvali, was caused by intentional burning and not armed combat.

?Human Rights Watch researchers personally witnessed Ossetian militias  
looting and burning down ethnic Georgian villages during their  
research in the area,? said Rachel Denber, deputy director of the  
Europe and Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch. ?These  
satellite images indicate just how widespread the torching of these  
villages has been in the last two weeks.?

The new satellite images, taken by a commercial satellite on August  
19, were analyzed by experts of the Geneva-based UNOSAT program, which  
is part of the UN Institute for Training and Research and produces  
satellite-derived mapping in support of UN agencies and the  
international humanitarian community. UNOSAT experts identified  
visible structures on the images that were likely to have been either  
destroyed or severely damaged. The expert analysis indicates clear  
patterns of destruction that are consistent with the evidence gathered  
by Human Rights Watch researchers working in the region.

Among the images publicly available from the UNOSAT website  
(http://unosat.web.cern.ch/unosat/) is a map marking  
satellite-detected active fire locations in the ethnic Georgian  
villages around Tskhinvali. The map shows active fires in the ethnic  
Georgian villages on August 10, 12, 13, 17, 19 and 22, well after  
active hostilities ended in the area on August 10. On these dates the  
lack of cloud cover allowed the satellites to view those locations.

° Fires by date (high resolution, 3.3MB)
° Fires by date (low resolution, 1.6MB)

UNOSAT has also released a set of six high-resolution satellite images  
of the enclave of ethnic Georgian villages stretching nine kilometers  
north from Tskhinvali, showing that the majority of them have been  
destroyed.

° Destroyed ethnic Georgian villages (high resolution, 26.7MB)
° Destroyed ethnic Georgian villages (low resolution, 8.5MB)

The images strongly indicate that the majority of the destruction in  
five of the villages ? Tamarasheni, Kekhvi, Kvemo Achabeti (Nizhnie  
Achaveti in Russian), Zemo Achabeti (Verkhnie Achaveti in Russian),  
and Kurta ? was caused by intentional burning. The high-resolution  
images of these villages show no impact craters from incoming shelling  
or rocket fire, or aerial bombardment. The exterior and interior  
masonry walls of most of the destroyed homes are still standing, but  
the wood-framed roofs are collapsed, indicating that the buildings  
were burned. Only along the main road through Tamarasheni are a number  
of homes visible with collapsed exterior walls, which may have been  
caused by tank fire. Ethnic Georgian witnesses from Tamarasheni told  
Human Rights Watch that they had witnessed Russian tanks  
systematically firing into the homes on August 10.

° Detailed satellite images of destroyed ethnic Georgian villages (10.2MB)

On August 12, Human Rights Watch researchers witnessed massive looting  
by Ossetian militias in Tamarasheni, as well as in the neighboring  
ethnic Georgian villages. Human Rights Watch researchers saw and  
photographed the still-smoldering and the recently torched houses in  
Tamarasheni. Witnesses from local villagers in Tamarasheni, Kvemo  
Achabeti, and Kekhvi told Human Rights Watch that Ossetian militias  
were systematically looting and burning ethnic Georgian homes. In the  
village of Kekhvi, many homes had been set alight by Ossetian militias  
just before the arrival of Human Rights Watch researchers, who  
photographed the burning homes.

° Human Rights Watch photo essay, "Burning and Looting of Ethnic  
Georgian Villages in South Ossetia"

Human Rights Watch researchers spoke with several members of the  
Ossetian militias who openly admitted that the houses were being  
burned by their associates, explaining that the objective was to  
ensure that ethnic Georgians would not have the houses to return to.

?All of this adds up to compelling evidence of war crimes and grave  
human rights abuses,? said Denber. ?This should persuade the Russian  
government it needs to prosecute those responsible for these crimes.?

The damage shown in the ethnic Georgian villages is massive and  
concentrated. In Tamarasheni, UNOSAT?s experts counted a total of 177  
buildings destroyed or severely damaged, accounting for almost all of  
the buildings in the town. In Kvemo Achabeti, there are 87 destroyed  
and 28 severely damaged buildings (115 total); in Zemo Achabeti, 56  
destroyed and 21 severely damaged buildings (77 total); in Kurta, 123  
destroyed and 21 severely damaged buildings (144 total); in Kekhvi,  
109 destroyed and 44 severely damaged buildings (153 total); in  
Kemerti, 58 destroyed and 20 severely damaged buildings (78 total);  
and in Dzartsemi, 29 destroyed and 10 severely damaged buildings (39  
total).

Selected Accounts from Ethnic Georgian Residents

?[The Ossetians] had cars outside and first looted everything they  
liked. Then they brought hay, put it in the house and ignited it. The  
house was burned in front of my eyes.?
? Zhuzhuna Chulukhidze, 76, resident of Zemo Achabeti

?I was beaten and my house was looted by Ossetian militias three times  
during a single day. After they took everything and there was nothing  
more to loot, they brought petrol, poured it everywhere in the rooms  
and outside the house, and then put it on fire. They made me watch as  
my house was fully burned.?
? Ila Chulukhadze, 84, resident of Kvemo Achabeti

?They [Ossetians] came several times to my house and took everything  
they liked. Once there was nothing else to take, they poured petrol  
and put it on fire. I watched how they burned my house as well as my  
neighbors? houses.?
? Rezo Babutsidze, 80, resident of Kvemo Achabeti

?Ossetians first took out everything they could from my house. Then  
they brought hay, put it in the house and put it on fire. They did not  
allow us to take even our documents. I saw how my house was completely  
burnt.?
? Tamar Khutsinashvili, 69, resident of Tamarasheni

  http://www.gfsis.org/pub/eng/shownews.php?detail=1&id=448