Sukhumi massacre 1993

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The 1993 Sukhumi massacre ( Georgian სოხუმის დაცემა ; Russian Сухумская резня ) was a war crime committed on September 27, 1993 against Georgian civilians in Abkhazia's capital Sukhumi . It was part of ethnic cleansing that took place during the Abkhaz civil war .

procedure

On September 27, 1993, Abkhaz militants and their allies broke a United Nations- brokered ceasefire guaranteed by Russia . He had obliged the Georgian army and the Abkhaz militias to refrain from any military activity. Georgia had already withdrawn heavy artillery and tanks from Sukhumi in fulfillment of its contractual obligations .

Abkhaz militants, their North Caucasian auxiliaries, Cossacks and Russian mercenaries stormed Sukhumi early that morning. The Georgian military units remaining in the city were in the minority and unable to stop the military operation. At lunchtime, the Abkhaz militias and their allies had taken bridges and television buildings. A Georgian battalion holed up in the government building of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia to protect the current Abkhazian government. In the late afternoon of the same day, she lost the fight.

A large number of Georgian residents stayed in Sukhumi, building on the ceasefire agreement. Abkhaz militias and their allies combed the city and rounded up any civilians they found. Men, women and children were shot dead on the streets, in apartments, houses and backyards. According to eyewitness reports, many people were victims of torture . Children were killed in front of their parents and parents in front of their children.

Women have been the target of sadistic rape . Refugees remember that people were burned, gutted and mutilated alive. Massacres took place in Sochumi's city park, in front of the government building, in schools and hospitals. All members of the Abkhazian government and their bodyguards were shot in the suburbs of Sukhumi. Were killed u. a. Prime Minister Schiuli Schartawa , Sochumi's Mayor Guram Gabiskiria, Georgian General Mamia Alasania and the politician Raul Eschba.

The US State Department reported in its Human Rights Report of 1993 [ Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1993 ] "The separatist militias commit extensive atrocities against Georgian civilians, killing many women, children and elderly people, took some hostage and tortured others ... you killed a large number of Georgian civilians who remained in the area occupied by Abkhazia. "

Perpetrator

There are a number of conflicting claims as to whether the massacre was carried out by Abkhaz militants or their North Caucasian allies. Allegedly, the commander of the Abkhaz militias, their deputy defense minister, Shamil Basayev , was partially responsible. According to witness statements, the perpetrators spoke North Caucasian languages ​​and Russian. Other survivors of the massacre said their Abkhazian and Armenian neighbors helped the militias. Many people remember how Russian officers commanded, "Don't take live prisoners!"

The massacre killed over 7,000 people on September 27, 1993 and in the days that followed, including over 100 public figures, scientists, artists and doctors. Houses and land belonging to Georgian and Greek owners were looted and later taken over by Abkhaz, Russian, Cossack and other immigrants from the North Caucasus.

Prosecution

The OSCE has officially recognized and condemned the ethnic cleansing against Georgians in Abkhazia. No participant in the massacres has yet been brought to justice.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Svetlana Mikhailovna Chervonnaia: Conflict in the Caucasus: Georgia, Abkhazia, and the Russian Shadow . Gothic Image Publications, 1994.
  2. ↑ Dmitri Cholodov , Moscow journalist who covered the civil war
  3. ^ US State Department , Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1993 , February 1994, pp. 877, 881
  4. ↑ Anatoly Gordijenko Basayev's brothers in arms move to Abkhazia , Nezavisimaya Gazeta , 2004
  5. ↑ Shamil Basayev - Russia's Enemy No. 1 , BBC, 2002
  6. ↑ Svetlana Mikhailovna Chervonnaia, 1994
  7. ↑ Human Rights Watch: Interviews, August 1993
  8. ↑ Andrew Andersen: Russia Versus Georgia: One Undeclared War in the Caucasus . October 2001

literature

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