23 September 2008, 15:09
Human Rights Watch: EU mission in Georgia should protect peaceful residents
Human Rights Watch asserts that the situation of anarchy in the Georgia-South Ossetia conflict zone promotes attacks and the atmosphere of fear, therefore, the mandate of the European Union's mission should assume defence of civilians.
The main group of the members of the EU's Observation Commission will arrive to Georgia within the next few days. An anonymous source in the EU has stated that the Union is ready to send more than 300 observers to Georgia, instead of 200, as it was planned earlier.
"The mission of EU observers, which is supposed to be deployed in the regions adjacent to South Ossetia, should be provided both with the powers and sufficient resources for protecting the civil population. Recently, the workers of the international human rights organization in Georgia have registered numerous attacks accomplished by Ossetians in the territory, which is actually controlled by Russia," runs the statement published on an official website of the organization.
According to George Gogia, Human Rights Watch's representative, the "safety zone" has nothing to do with safety; this is a piece of neutral land, and the population there "desperately needs protection."
