European court orders Russia to pay compensation to Georgia

Russia has been ordered to pay around $142.7 million in compensation to Georgia, almost 15 years after the war in the South Caucasus.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) announced this in Strasbourg on Friday.

The order follows a ruling by the court in 2021, when the judges found that Russia had been responsible for “inhumane’’ acts against Georgian citizens after the end of the fighting, which lasted from 9 August 2008 until 12 August 2008.

Georgia lost control of its breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the war against Russia.

The court concluded that Russia could not be held responsible for human rights violations during the five-day war.

After the ceasefire, however, the Russian authorities were responsible for the situation in the conflict region and should have enforced the Human Rights Convention, the judges said at the time.

Russia, however, had allowed looting, pillaging, abuse and torture by South Ossetian forces.

Georgian civilians had been taken prisoners, driven from their homes or killed. Until now, the question of compensation had remained unanswered.

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Whether Georgia will actually get the money seems doubtful.

Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe because of its war against Ukraine and is, thus, no longer a member of the European Convention on Human Rights, which the ECHR ensures is observed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had announced that he would no longer recognise rulings by the court.

The Council of Europe, the Human Rights Convention and the court are all independent of the EU.

(dpa/NAN)