Human Rights Watch talks of indiscriminate attacks on both sides

Human Rights Watch has investigated the civilian deaths in the the 2008 South Ossetia War. It has found very concerning reports of attacks indiscriminate attacks mainly by rocket and shelling attacks. It also have reports BMP infantry fighting vehicles been used to blast into basements where civilians were hiding.

As I blogged in a post about the weapons used by Georgians during this war the BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers were used by the Georgian during the battle for Tskhinvali. There is a big problem with using these rockets in an urban area. There targeting is very simple and is more commonly used in battlefields not in city warfare. These rockets have hit a number of civilian homes most likely causing casualties, but I can’t give any accurate numbers of these. a BM-21 Grad rocket also hit a kindergarten, however the children had been evacuated already, however South Ossetian forces told HRW that militia had been hiding there.

Shelling from artillery has also caused vast amounts of damage and civilian deaths. Shells have hit buildings and Hospitals. Basements have been breeched by shells killing the civilians that were hiding inside. The artillery used by both Russia and Georgia does not have accurate targeting. None of this weaponry is like the US smart missiles which have GPS targeting, which even with this can still go off course. These weapons are more suited to battlefield warfare, out in countryside or desert, not in large cities with apartment blocks and other tall buildings.

HRW has also reported that BMP infantry fighting vehicles used its 30 mm automatic cannon to breach basements where civilians were fighting. Both sides have been seen to use these vehicles. Georgia has around 200 and Russia has around 3,250.

If these stories are true and it can be identified who shot into the basements this would be seen as a direct attack against civilians. The use of BM-21 Grad in an urban environment could be seen as a direct attack against civilians as there is no accurate way of targeting just military targets. Georgia is a member of the ICC so its leadership could be brought before the court if there is enough evidence of these allegations.

You can read Human Rights Watch’s report here