PEACE IN GEORGIA

Links to YOUTUBE videos about Russia-Georgia war, August, 2008

Russian soldiers steeling forks, terrorizing journalists
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX3ruvujS-4&feature=email 
Dutch camera man killed by Russian cluster bomb in Gori
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lst9Hk4fwns 

The phenomenon of russian leadership and media, of its trustworthy doesn't represent news for me. Not a long time ago I prepared research paper about Beslan Tragedy and how russian media was covering this event. I think now it's the best time to publish it and show the crime commited by Russian government and media during Beslan days. 

2. International media about Beslan events

 “Russians lose faith in media after Beslan” – under this headline British Guardian published article on 8^th of September 2004. “It took an hour for two of the country's main three television stations to go live to Beslan, and even then one of them returned to its schedule to show a drama after just 10 minutes. Presenters stuck to the Kremlin-approved line about what was happening, insisting that the Russian troops had no plan for storming the school. The stations are all controlled by the state in one way or another and have been accused of providing a mouthpiece for government evasions and lies. They have reportedly toned down their approach since the Dubrovka theatre siege in Moscow, when President Vladimir Putin criticized them for abusing media freedom and accused them of jeopardizing the safety of hostages with their coverage. While TV stations appeared to have erred on the side of censorship, several Russian newspapers have been vigorous in their attacks on the government and the TV channels' coverage. "My God, how our valiant state television stations took fright and lost their heads," wrote columnist Irina Petrovskaya in the daily paper Izvestiya on Saturday”.( READ MORE.... )

The phenomenon of russian leadership and media, of its trustworthy doesn't represent news for me. Not a long time ago I prepared research paper about Beslan Tragedy and how russian media was covering this event. I think now it's the best time to publish it and show the crime commited by Russian government and media during Beslan days. 

Introduction 

"'We want peace in Chechnya,' he explained.

'Our women are being raped. Our children are being killed.
"'I told him, 'You should have taken the authorities hostage,
Not kids.' He said, 'Doctor, if you only knew how we got here,
you would be very surprised.'"¹

On the 1^st of September 2004 the new school term began in horror for the town of Beslan in North Ossetia when a group of at least ten² armed Chechen separatists and supporters took more than 1,200³ schoolchildren and adults hostage. As a result of  tragic event that followed, more than 330 civilians were killed, including 186 children. School N 1 became the subject of international news coverage. 
A huge criticism appeared about Beslan tragedy media coverage from the first days. Russian government censorship was soon revealed and finally the coverage of the events had proven that media freedom had taken hold in Russia. Cases of detention and harassment of journalists occurred, seriously impeding their work. Even more importantly, the government did not provide in a timely manner truthful information on the handling of the crisis: How many people were taken hostage; What was the number of hostage takers; Who were they; What were their demands.  As a result a huge gap arose, between the government and the media, between the media and the citizens, and between the government and the people. “This is a serious drawback for a democracy”-  was written in special report about Beslan media coverage by Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. ⁴ 
The Russian government has denied the people the most important and elementary right of reliable, rapid and extensive information on what was happening. From the beginning of the crisis on the morning of September 1 to its tragic end two days later, leading politicians, representatives of the secret police and the major Russian media outlets in conducted a deliberate campaign of disinformation regarding the extent of the catastrophe and its dreadful consequences. The handling of the siege by Vladimir Putin's administration was criticized by a number of observers and grassroots organizations. 
Did Russians lose faith in media after Beslan? Different opinion poles showed that public confidence in the media in Russia had fallen to rock-bottom levels following controversial coverage of the Beslan school siege.
The relatives of Beslan victims till today claim that the officials have done nothing to establish the real picture of the tragedy. What had Russian and foreign media done to establish the real picture and how was Putin’s government trying to hide the truth from media? These are the questions we will try to answer in this research paper.  

( READ MORE... )

On 16 August 2008 at approximately 4 p.m. local time, armed gangs of the Abkhazian separatist regime together with units of the Russian regular army shifted the administrative border of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia towards the Enguri River. This caused the villages of the Zugdidi region Ganmukhuri and Khurcha, villages of the Tsalenjikha region Fakhulani, Tchale, Mujava and Fotskho-Etseri, as well as territory of the Enguri Hydro Power Plant and adjacent villages of Phichori, Otobaia, Nabakevi, Tagiloni, Chuburkhinji, Dikhazurga and Saberio to fall under the occupation of the Russian army and armed gangs of the Abkhazian separatist regime. In those villages Abkhazian separatist government set up temporary administration.

 According to the statement of 16 August 2008 of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation, subdivisions of the Ministry have started withdrawal of ethnic Georgian population from the Tskhinvali region in the direction of Gori.
"We are faced with a new wave of ethnic cleansing of Georgians conducted under military-occupation regime by the Russian Federation, this time through the involvement of Russian state structures. We would like to focus the international community’s attention on the fact that the Russian Authorities have recently been making an increasing number of statements on the necessity of taking into consideration the will of the region’s population. The ethnic cleansing of Georgians seems to be a method by which Moscow expects to attain awaited results," says ministry of foreign affairs of Georgia.  

Despite the international community’s efforts and the signing of documents on cessation of hostilities, the Russian Federation’s armed forces continue military actions against Georgia, destroying civilian infrastructure. On 16 August 2008 troops of the Russian occupation army mined and exploded the Metekhi-Grakali span of the railway bridge in the Kaspi district. This subversive-terrorist act resulted in the severing of railway links between the east and west of Georgia and connections with Georgia’s seaports. Moreover, the bridge used to provide a route for refugees from the Russian-occupied territories into safe places.
According to information provided by ministry of foreign affairs of Georgia, Russia is pursuing deliberate policy aimed at undermining Georgia’s statehood, including through bringing about humanitarian catastrophe. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia calls on the international community and friend countries to take urgent measures to avert humanitarian catastrophe in Georgia and prevent destruction of Georgia’s statehood.
Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Anatoly Nogovitsyn denied the fact of bridge blast and said: "I state with fully responsibility – it is ruled out." With respect to this statement of Anatoly Nogovitsyn, every organization or physical person concerned may check this video for video footage of the exploded bridge.

The first part of this video is about how russian soldiers break into Georgian bank in Gori... The second part is about Russian Soldiers robbing CARS ON THE ROAD OF GORI! These Facts are after peace-agreement between russia and georgia! russian troops and tanks still remain in Georgian cities !

BalkanInsight.com

Russia's ambassador to Belgrade has thanked Serbs for their "understanding of the situation in Georgia". In a statement to Belgrade's B92 television, Aleksandar Konuzin said Moscow was grateful for “the sympathy showed towards Russians and Russia’s citizens” during the armed conflict over the breakaway Georgia’s South Ossetia province.

In order to analize ongoing events on Georgian teritory it's very important to listen to refugees who went through all these.... I am posting translation of refugees' stories that was sent me by email.... At this moment all these people are resettled and living in Tbilisi....

Woman from Tskhinvali region
The Kazakhs torture everyone. My father did not leave together with us and who knows what's happening to him now. We left by foot and slept overnight on the highway at the entrance of Tbilisi. We got a message that the whole village was burnt after we left. They are burning everything now, all Georgian villages. 

A Dutch television journalist was killed when Russian warplanes bombed the central Georgian city of Gori. The television news station RTL cameraman Stan Storimans, 39, was killed and correspondent Jeroen Akkermans was wounded in the leg in the attack. 

I am deeply sorry for this tragedy and my thoughts go out to Mr. Storimans' family, his wife and two children. 

Storimans had planned to publish a book this year describing his 20 years of reporting from hotspots like Sri Lanka, Congo, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Iraq and the former Yugoslavia, among others. 

Russian media continues agressive propaganda and missinforming Russians population and world as whole, publishing articles ander such titles: GEORGIAN DISTRICT OF RUSSIAN FEDERATION!!!!! (see http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-www.cgi/http://www.gazeta.ru/politics/2008/08/14_a_2810757.shtml) I would lough some weeks ago reading this, but now it's not a topic for kidding any more....
Russia's foreign minister declared Thursday that the world "can forget about" Georgia's territorial integrity. 

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Associated Press writers in Europe, Turkey and the Middle East contributed to this report
Major international aid commitments to Georgia to help victims of the Russian-Georgian conflict:

_The International Committee of the Red Cross, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and the U.N.'s World Food Program have been providing aid through long-standing operations in Georgia. In addition:
_ICRC dispatched the first of five new shipments of food and other supplies for 25,000 people.
_World Food Program sent two planeloads of high-energy biscuits.
_U.N. refugee agency has sent two planeloads of supplies and plans a third flight Friday.
_U.S. sent two cargo planes carrying US$2 million (€1.3 million) worth of sleeping bags, cots, medical supplies — including syringes and surgical supplies.
_Turkish Red Crescent has sent tents, blankets, bottled water and food, and a new truck convoy is to leave Thursday. Turkish government to dispatch medical aid.

The source obtained from:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/08/20080813.html

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. I've just met with my national security team to discuss the crisis in Georgia. I've spoken with President Saakashvili of Georgia, and President Sarkozy of France this morning. The United States strongly supports France's efforts, as President of the European Union, to broker an agreement that will end this conflict. The United States of America stands with the democratically elected government of Georgia. We insist that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia be respected.

Russian Soldiers in Georgian Military base. They are talking how good conditions Georgian soldiers are living in and this is not like Military base of Russians in Russia where "Russian soldiers are living as tramps". Video was filmed by cell phone of one of the Russian soldier.

Georgian journalist being shot at during a live broadcast near Gori. Moments into a bulletin about the arrival of humanitarian aid multiple gun shots ring out from behind the news presenter and she is hit by a bullet. In the rush for cover the young female journalist moves out of shot. Seconds later the camera shows a colleague reach out and grab her as she appears to fall to the floor. For a while it was unclear whether or not the woman has survived and shaky images capture the panic as the entire crew gather round her and pile into the nearby broadcast van. Amazingly, as a bullet proof vest is being pulled on to her and secured around her waist, the journalist resumes her commentary. She describes her narrow escape and the camera zooms in to show an injury on her arm caused by a passing bullet.