The relatives of the Ossetians abducted by power structures 13 October 2008 addressed the CoE Human Rigths Commissioner Tomas Hammerberg through the Office of the Special Representative for Post-Conflict Settlement. As reported by the Special Representative for Post-Conflict Settlement Boris Chochiev, the letter reads: “Dear Mr. Hammerberg,
We, undersigned, the mothers and close relatives of the South Ossretian citizens, abducted on 13 October (ABDUCTED, not missing, as the Georgian side reports) by the Georgian power structures:
1. Alan Yurievich Khachirov, 1992, resident of Tskhinval,
2. Alan Davidovich Khugaev, 1989, resident of Tskhinval,
3. Soltan Rostikoevich Pliev, 1983, resident of Tskhinvali
By conducting illegal and inhuman policy against South Ossetian, Georgian authorities brought the situation to an open aggression against our Republic, and as a result o f this, hundreds of South Ossetians were detained in Georgia, and our sons are among those. Despite the numerous addresses to Georgian authorities, they rejected the fact of detention.
Mr. Hammerberg, we very much appreciated your readiness to assist and facilitate any action aimed at finding the whereabouts of the persons lost during the Georgian aggression in August 2008. However, we should stress that there were no developments in our problem, though we have provided international agencies with all evidences available. We have transmitted the piece of video record where our sons are subjected to torture by representatives of Georgian power structures. We have also provided the details of their arrest by militants under supervision of some Niko Okropiridze (son of Vazha), who brought the detainees to the village of Mereti, where he took them from later and further traces of our sons were lost. To our knowledge, David Sanakoev, the South Ossetian Humanr Rights Commissioner, informed you in his letter about the fate of our sons. This issue has been repeatedly raised at Geneva discussions and meetings of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism Working Groups. We have also met with the EUMM officials. Unfortunately, there is still no
Mr. Hammerberg,
The most important for us is the fate of our sons, which depends on the actions undertaken by representatives of international organizations to protect the rights of South Ossetians. Regrettably, it seems that international organizations participating in the settlement of the above problems follow the Georgian policy. The Georgian side tries to mislead not only the South Ossetian side, but also representatives of international organizations in the issues related to South Ossetians.
In this regard, we are addressing you, as to guarantor of human rights protection, to return to the examination of our problem and to call on the leadership of Georgia for more responsible approach to the problem and quickest possible disclosure of the crime committed by representatives of power structures of Georgia”.
