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On January 23 the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch published its 200-page report on the August war in South Ossetia - one of two breakeaway regions of Georgia that shares a border and has very close ties with Russia.The report is called; Up in Flames: Humaninitarial Law Violations in the Conflict over South Ossetia. Human Rights Watch was among those very few international human rights organizations that managed to enter the conflict zone shortly after the military activities were over. The report is based on more than 460 interviews.

The reprt "..details indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks by both Georgian and Russian forces, and the South Ossetian forces' campaign of deliberate and systematic destruction of certain ethnic Georgian villages in South Ossetia. It also describes Russia's failure to ensure public order and safety in areas of Georgia that were under its effective control.

The armed conflict started on August 7, 2008, and lasted until a ceasefire on August 15, with Georgian forces in retreat and Russian forces occupying South Ossetia and, temporarily, undisputed parts of Georgia. In the week of open conflict, and the many subsequent weeks of rampant violence and insecurity in areas under Russia's effective control, hundreds of civilians were killed, and tens of thousands were displaced. Many of them have not been able to return home."(www.hrw.org)

Human Rights Watch documented a number of cases in which Russian forces occupying Gori district in Georgia opened fire at civilian vehicles, killing or wounding civilians.
Both Russian and Georgian forces used cluster munitions, causing civilian deaths and putting more civilians at risk by leaving behind unstable "minefields" of unexploded bomblets. Cluster munitions are banned under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which neither Georgia nor Russia has signed.(www.hrw.org)

I personally met the civilians who lost their very close family members during the war. One 15-year-old boy was killed by Russian militaries in the yard of his house. A very old woman was burned alive because she could hardly move and could not leave the burning house on time.

I can still hardly belive that all this happened in my country and with my compatriots.