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26 Sep, 2008 20:33

South Ossetians accuse Georgia of inhumanity

The first rally by a campaign group called “Ossetia blames” has been held in South Ossetia’s capital, Tskhinval. Hundreds of South Ossetians flooded the city’s main square to express their condemnation of Georgia.

People were protesting against what they call Georgia's genocide against them. They say Georgia not only committed military crimes against their republic but also violated international and humanitarian laws.

One of the activists, Grigory, recalls:

“In the morning, Georgians fired at the village. My father went out and was killed by a shell, which exploded in the yard. Next day, they started using rockets and mortars. All the Georgian artillery was being used. Two shells hit the building where we were hiding. On August 9 we were captured by Georgians.”

Now there's only one question Grigory would like to ask those responsible:

“I want to ask the U.S. and Europe, who supported Georgia and Saakashvili’s regime, why they killed my father? Probably they do not know the answer because they say on TV that Georgia was a victim of Russian’s invasion.”

As the protests continue another international is trying to find out the truth.

Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights at the Council of Europe, says he is in South Ossetia not to ‘play politics but to try to assist people’.

On Friday Hammarberg met with the republic officials.

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