Human Rights Watch confirms the use of cluster bombs by Russian
during Georgia bombing, urges Russia to keep within the international
norms and warns Georgia to take urgent measures to protect the civilian
population in Georgian villages from unexploded ordnance left by
Russian attacks.
This is the report released by the organization today:
Georgian and Russian authorities should take urgent measures to
protect the civilian population in Georgian villages from unexploded
ordnance left by Russian attacks, Human Rights Watch said today. Human
Rights Watch researchers documented additional Russian cluster
munitions attacks during the conflict in Georgia, refuting Russia's
earlier denials that it used the weapon.
Human Rights Watch researchers saw and photographed unexploded
submunitions from cluster munitions in and around the villages of
Shindisi, in the Gori district of Georgia. Residents from Shindisi and
the nearby Pkhvenisi village told Human Rights Watch researchers there
are hundreds of unexploded submunitions in the area. Submunition "duds"
are highly dangerous and can explode if picked up or otherwise
disturbed.

"Many people have died because of Russia's use of
cluster munitions in Georgia, even as Moscow denied it had used this
barbaric weapon," said Marc Garlasco, senior military analyst at Human
Rights Watch. "Many more people could be killed or wounded unless
Russia allows professional demining organizations to enter at once to
clean the affected areas."

Witnesses told Human Rights Watch
that on August 8, 2008, Russian air strikes on Georgian armored units
located near Shindisi and Pkhvenisi were followed by extensive cluster
munition strikes that killed at least one civilian and injured another
in Shindisi. At least two more civilians were killed and five wounded
in the following days when they handled unexploded submunitions,
including an incident 10 days after the initial strikes. As of August
20, Shindisi and Pkhvenisi areas remain under Russian control.
Human
Rights Watch called upon Russia to immediately stop using cluster
munitions, weapons so dangerous to civilians that more than 100 nations
have agreed to ban their use. Human Rights Watch also called on Russia
to provide precise strike data on its cluster attacks in order to
facilitate cleanup of areas contaminated by submunitions. Human Rights
Watch called on Georgia to undertake an immediate risk education
program for its population, including radio and television
announcements about the dangers of submunitions.

In
Shindisi, Human Rights Watch researchers saw unexploded dual purpose
(anti-armor and antipersonnel) submunitions, commonly known as
Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munition (DPICM) submunitions.

"Highly
dangerous unexploded bomblets now litter farms, roads, and pathways in
Shindisi and Pkhvenisi," said Garlasco. "People remaining in these
areas don't realize the dangers these submunitions pose and are at
serious risk of injury or death if they handle, or even approach, the
bomblets."

Human Rights Watch first reported on Russian use
of cluster munitions in Georgia on August 15, after it identified
strikes on Gori and Ruisi on August 12 that killed at least 11
civilians and injured dozens more. Russia subsequently denied any use
of cluster munitions. Colonel General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy head
of the Russian General Staff, stated on August 15, "We did not use
cluster bombs, and what's more, there was absolutely no necessity to do
so."
Zura Tatrishvili, 62, showed Human Rights Watch researchers
an unexploded submunition that he had picked up without realizing that
just touching it could make it explode. "We were playing with them, as
were the Georgian soldiers," said Tatrishvili. "It was only when one of
the bombs exploded after a soldier threw it that we understood that
they were dangerous." Even now, Tatrishvili continues to keep his
livestock in a pen with unexploded submunitions, demonstrating the need
for clearance as well as education.

During the attack on
August 8 in Shindisi, Vano Gogidze, 45, was killed and his relative,
Dato Gogidze, 39, was injured. Also in Shindisi, Ramaz Arabashvili, 40,
was killed and four people were wounded when a submunition that they
had gathered from a field exploded on August 10. On August 18, in
Pkhvenisi, Veliko Bedianashvili, 70, died when a submunition exploded
in his hand. "There are so many of these lying around. The fields are
full of them," said his son, Durmiskhan Bedianashvili.

Zviad
Geladze, 38, showed Human Rights Watch researchers fields contaminated
with submunitions. He estimated the submunitions covered an area
extending at least one kilometer through his farm. The fields are full
of produce ready to harvest. Because humanitarian agencies continue to
lack access to much of the Gori region, fields like Geladze's may
provide residents of the region with their only food source.

Cluster
munitions contain dozens or hundreds of smaller submunitions or
bomblets and cause unacceptable humanitarian harm in two ways. First,
their broad-area effect kills and injures civilians indiscriminately
during strikes. Second, many submunitions do not explode, becoming de
facto landmines that cause civilian casualties for months or years to
come.

Under international humanitarian law, indiscriminate
attacks including attacks in populated areas with weapons that cannot
be targeted solely at military targets are prohibited. Russia has an
obligation not only to cease any such attacks, but also to take all
necessary measures now to ensure the safety of the civilian population
in areas over which it exercises effective control.

Human
Rights Watch called on Georgia, which is known to have cluster
munitions in its stockpiles, to join the international move to ban the
use of cluster munitions and to publicly undertake not to use such
weapons in this conflict. Neither Russia nor Georgia was part of the
Oslo Process launched in February 2007 to develop a new international
treaty banning cluster munitions. In May 2008, 107 nations adopted the
Convention on Cluster Munitions, which comprehensively bans the use,
production, trade and stockpiling of the weapon. It will be open for
signature in Oslo on December 3.