The European Court of Human Rights ordered Russia to pay more than 129 million euros in compensation to Georgia for violations of the European Convention on Human Rights and damages caused to the country’s citizens as a result of the military invasion in August 2008.

The press release of the court states that in today's decision of the Grand Chamber in the case “Georgia against Russia” (II) (Application No. 38263/08), the European Court of Human Rights discussed the issue of fair compensation (Article 41). The case concerned allegations by the Government of Georgia regarding administrative practices by the Russian Federation leading to various violations of the Convention in connection with the August 2008 armed conflict between Georgia and the Russian Federation.

The court’s press release notes that in today’s decision of the Grand Chamber on the issue of fair compensation, the court unanimously found that it had jurisdiction to hear the applicant government's (Georgia’s) claims for fair compensation, although the Russian Federation is no longer a member of the Council of Europe and that Moscow's failure to cooperate does not constitute an obstacle.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia must pay the applicant government 3,250,000 euros within three months for the non-pecuniary damage suffered by at least 50 victims in the Georgian villages of South Ossetia and the "buffer zone" as a result of the administrative practice of killing civilians and that the Russian government have not fulfilled the procedural obligation to conduct an adequate and effective investigation into these killings.

According to the court's decision, Russia must pay the Georgian side 2,697,500 euros within three months to compensate for the non-material damages suffered by at least 166 victims of the administrative practice of inhuman and degrading treatment and arbitrary detention of Georgian civilians on August 10-27, 2008 in Tskhinvali. They were detained by South Ossetian forces in the basement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of South Ossetia.

In addition, according to the court's decision, the respondent state must pay the applicant government 640,000 euros within three months to compensate for the non-material damages suffered by at least 16 victims of the administrative practice of torture of Georgian prisoners on August 8-27, 2008 in Tskhinvali.

According to the decision of the European Court of Human Rights, Russia must pay the applicant government (Georgia) 115,000,000 euros within three months to compensate for the non-material damage suffered by at least 23,000 people as a result of administrative practices that prevent Georgians from returning to their homes in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

In addition, the court ordered the Russian side to pay the applicant government (Georgia) 8,240,000 euros within three months in compensation for non-material damages suffered by at least 412 victims due to Moscow's failure to conduct an adequate and effective investigation into the deaths that occurred during the active phase of hostilities.

The press release explains that the main decision in the present case was issued on January 21, 2021, after which the court invited the applicant government and the respondent government to submit their comments on the case.

The decision of the Human Rights Court of Strasbourg clearly shows that the government of Georgia is primarily focused on the interests of its own country and stands next to Western values, argued Givi Mikanadze, an MP from the ruling “Georgian Dream” party.