Georgia/Russia: Use of Rocket Systems Can Harm Civilians
On August 11, 2008, Human Rights Watch in South Ossetia saw
Russian military trucks, including at least two
Uragan 16-round multiple rocket launchers and four trucks with rockets, being moved toward South Ossetia’s administrative border with Georgia.
The Uragans were among numerous pieces of heavy artillery being moved by the Russian army toward Georgia on August 11.
The soldiers who operated the trucks told Human Rights Watch that they were moving toward the Georgian border and were waiting for the orders to strike. Meanwhile, Russian television on August 12 aired video images of Grad and Uragan rockets being fired into the Kodori Gorge, an area of Abkhazia that had been under Georgian control.
In addition to high-explosive fragmentation warheads, both 122MM Grad (Hail) and 220MM Uragan (Hurricane) rockets also have cluster munition warheads that contain submunitions. Grads and Uragans are designed to affect areas rather than specific targets.
“These are all indiscriminate weapons when used in populated areas, as they cannot be targeted against only military targets and therefore risk causing unnecessary harm to civilians,” said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “They simply shouldn’t be used in areas where there are civilians.”
Human Rights Watch learned that about 1,500 people, almost all of the population of the Kodori Gorge, had been evacuated before the shelling started. [/b]
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