As a result of the inhumane policy of the Georgian leadership, the mournful day of May 20, 1992 is a bitter and sad date that will forever remain in the history of South Ossetia, in the memory of the entire Ossetian people. This is stated in the address of Ambassador of the Republic of South Ossetia to the Russian Federation, Znaur Gassiev, to the heads of diplomatic missions accredited in Moscow, as well as to the Georgian interests section at the Swiss Embassy.
Gassiev has noted that 32 years have passed since the beginning of the brutal massacre of the civilians on the road near the South Ossetian village of Zar, but the tragic event still resonates in hearts with pain and indignation.
“On this day, exhausted by the endless shelling by the Georgian armed formations of the besieged Tskhinval, women, children and the elderly, driven by fear, sought salvation and hope to wait out the war in a safe place. However, fate prepared a painful death for the peaceful Ossetian residents at the hands of nationalist executioners. A column of cars and trucks was shot in cold blood by the Georgian armed forces, inspired by their leadership with the ideology of superiority, under whose slogans the Ossetian population was being exterminated in 1920, 1989-2008. 33 civilians were killed on the Zar “road of life” on that tragic day,” the Ambassador’s address reads.
He has noted that the atrocity of the criminals still remains unpunished, although the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of South Ossetia has opened a criminal case into the monstrous murder of civilians on the Zar road.
“The participants in mass war crimes against the people of South Ossetia have been identified, but the search and arrest are being hampered by the official authorities of Georgia, on whose territory the perpetrators are hiding,” the diplomat has reminded.
Gassiev has emphasized that the idea of the superiority of one nation over others has no right to exist; it is destructive for universal human values.
Unfortunately, there are many adherents in today’s Georgian society who pose a great threat to the entire civilized world. South Ossetia is once again calling for condemnation of the ethnic cleansing committed by Georgia against the peaceful Ossetian population. States that tolerate Nazi ideas and justify fascism must be harshly and directly condemned by the world community, since impunity and encouragement of Nazism give rise to new crimes against humanity,” he has concluded.
On May 20, 1992, on the bypass road near the village of Zar, Georgian armed forces ambushed civilians who were trying to escape from the besieged Tskhinval.
The victims of the tragedy, recognized as one of the worst in the modern history of South Ossetia, have become 36 people, 12 were injured. The youngest of the fallen was 11 years old, the oldest was 76.
