Georgia and Russia: At It Again

Georgia has it out for Russia. And no, I don’t mean the state of Georgia. I actually mean the country. They had presented a case before the United Nations court that was denied last Friday against Russia, alleging allegations of ethnic cleansing in 2 provinces.

The reason the case was thrown out wasn’t due to lack of evidence or in light of other testimony or counters, but because the court decided that it had no jurisdiction. This was because of the fact that Georgia didn’t try and work things out with Russia before taking the matter to court.

This complaint was filed at the end of a five day war between the countries. Georgia’s top officials have been quoted on their disbelief and desire for a swift turnabout decision for what they deem to be a miscarriage of justice.

Though this dispute has been ongoing for some time, Georgia’s failure to try and rectify the situation leading to this lawsuit that arose in 2008 before taking legal action which Georgians feel was a mere technicality while Russian officials have praised the decision.

Now that the case will no longer be heard or even examined in the world court, it is being further investigated before any other legal proceedings begin. The International Criminal Court is carrying out a preliminary investigation on individuals from both countries suspected of committing war crimes.

In this dispute it would be easy to argue for either side since it was the middle of a war and there were significant losses to both countries. However, the ability to clearly see both sides’ points of view on this issue leads one to wonder why it was brought into court in an attempt for money or reparations anyways since it was during wartime.

Although the destruction and deaths are certainly horrible and detrimental to both countries, there is no way to legally settle a war and trying to do so will only lead to more anger and hostility since there is no way that both sides can win.