On December 16, Karim Khan, the Prosecutor of the Hague International Criminal Court (ICC), stated that the investigation phase of the Situation in Georgia, which examined crimes against humanity and war crimes in the context of an international armed conflict between July 1 and October 10, 2008, was concluded. 

In his statement, Prosecutor Khan stressed that during the inquiry, his office looked at information relating to suspected crimes by all sides in the armed conflict in collaboration with survivors, civil society, and appropriate authorities in an independent, unbiased, and objective way.

Lt.-Gen. Mikhail Mindzaev, the de-facto Interior Minister from 2005 to 2008; Hamlet Guchmazov, the head of the de-facto Interior Ministry's Preliminary Detention Facility at the time of the events; and David Sanakoev, the de-facto President Representative for Human Rights in separatist South Ossetia/Tskhinvali Region, all received arrest warrants from the ICC on June 30, 2022, as a result of the investigation.

The three defendants faced accusations of illegal incarceration, torture, ill-treatment, hostage kidnapping, and subsequent unlawful transfer of ethnic Georgian people in the context of occupation by the Russian Federation. The Prosecutor claimed that these acts were symptomatic of a larger pattern of criminality that included the widespread theft and destruction of Georgian villages and residences and the refusal of the return of practically all of the Georgian people of the Tskhinvali district.

Vyacheslav Borisov, a Major General in the Russian Federation's Armed Forces and the Deputy Commander of the Airborne Forces at the time of the events, was also implicated in the investigation. He was believed to have intentionally contributed to the execution of some of these crimes but is now deceased. The Prosecutor emphasized that today [December 16] marks the first occasion in the 20 years since the ICC was founded that his office has chosen to wrap up the investigation phase of its work regarding a situation the Court has handled. According to prosecutor Khan, making such judgments is crucial to defining and putting into practice a successful prosecuting strategy.

According to the prosecutor, the judgment made about Georgia is not exceptional. It will be followed by similar decisions regarding other circumstances, such as the situation in the Central African Republic, which was also disclosed. However, Prosecutor Khan stressed that there is still more to be done by the ICC regarding the Georgia situation. "My office has focused its efforts on ensuring the effective prosecution of those subject to arrest warrants and will continue to do so," he said.

"As much as my decision clarifies the outer scope of our intended caseload, it also provides a renewed opportunity for working collaboratively with competent national criminal jurisdictions to help reduce remaining impunity gaps," the Prosecutor said. "This will ultimately advance the goal of supporting new cases that, through working in collaboration, might be brought before domestic courts," he added. In the effort ahead, he emphasized, "My office is ready to continue its work with and alongside the Georgian authorities, survivors, the relatives of victims, and civil society."

Notably, following the conclusion of the preliminary inquiry, which got underway on August 14, 2008, the prosecutor launched the investigation on January 27, 2016.

Read also: International and Regional Reactions to the August 2008 Russo-Georgian War