25.02.2009 07:10 | O. Kudukhov: “The West Cannot Hide the Truth Any More”

“The Europe learned about the tragedy of South Ossetia. The West cannot hide the truth any more and tends to a recognition of our correctness”, - said Oleg Kudukhov, the coordinator of the National Forum “Ossetia accuses”, on October, 16th for RIA "News" at the press conference, devoted to the book’s publication.

As Kudukhov noted, the active members of "The National forum" were holding the pickets in Strasbourg and Warsaw during the representation of this book there. As he said, many people took part in the pickets including the ethnic Frenchmen and Germans and also the representatives of Ossetian Diaspora.

As also Kudukhov has told, his compatriots had complaints to Europeans. In particular, it is proved that OSCE mission and the Red Cross, which worked in Tskhinval left South Ossetia in the rush a few days before the beginning of the war.

“It means, the Georgian representation of OSCE knew about the attack and warned their people about it”, -  Kudukhov made such a conclusion. And the Ossetians are worried about only one thing in this situation: why had they not been warned too? Why didn’t Europeans try to interfere with the conflict?

Alexander Brod, Paul Astakhov, Sergey Ryakhovsky, the members of Public Chamber, and Natalia Rykova, an executive director of the Moscow bureau on human rights also participated in press-conference.

Paul Astakhov, in particular, has told: “According to the international law, there are no resolutions which can limit the right to answer if you have struck”. "The only impression of Strasbourg’s reaction is - utter barefaced cynicism”, - Ryakhovsky has declared.

24.02.2009 08:08 | Tragedy of South Ossetia

Tragedy of South Ossetia. Testimony of Witnesses:

Valieva Valentine Parmenovna, born in 1952, school teacher

Hetagurovo Village, Ostaeva Street, 12

There were three of us in the house – me, my son and my sister-in-law, Mamieva Tamara Nikolaevna.

At that night, on August, 7-8, the shell exploded with such a force, that the wall was punched by it and the house lighted up at once. In the horror we rushed to the different sides, we did not know where to go and my sister-in-law ran out to the street. She remained there.

The ladder lighted up and has fallen off and she left under its fragments, we couldn’t pull her out - we could not even reach a threshold of the house, such was a shooting there. In the past, on Soviet time Tamara worked as a school teacher of Russian in the Georgian village for a long time.

We ran inside, rushed from a corner to a corner. Here the second shell hit the house with such a noise that we were simply dumbfounded in horror. We ran in the most distant room, have thrown the TV out of a corner and hided there and only then we felt a smell of a smoke and realized that the house was burning. At that time the third shell has flown above the house, hit the grapes and destroyed everything, the huge craters just remained. We already had no place to disappear, so we have broken out a window and jumped out through it and barefoot ran to the basement of our neighbors. My son had a phone in his hand, but he has dropped it in a hurry. His passport burned down too with money together and my sister-in-law documents too... It left nothing at all; we had no time even to take out the needles.

21.02.2009 10:02 | Delegation from South Ossetia took part in OSCE Meeting in Vienna

On November, 6-7 in the capital of Austria took place the OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on Democratic Law-making. The representatives of South Ossetian Non-Governmental organization “Ossetia accuses” took place in this meeting. Oleg Kudukhov, the coordinator of this organization, who had been the member of the delegation, commented on the results of Ossetian delegation’s trip for the internet-portal NFOSSETIA.RU.

-   What is the structure of your delegation? What were the aims?

-   In the structure of delegation were the members of our organization only, the ombudsman for South Ossetia David Sanakoev were among them too.

When we have heard about this meeting, we thought a lot of going there or not to. At last, we decided to go. What we must show the world community is: we are ready to take part in discussion of global problems too; the theme of democratic law-making concerns our young republic too; we are - the representatives of a civil society – take part and will take part in this process. Besides that, we wanted to tell about the lawmaking in our Republic.

- How did the discussion pass? What was the format of your participation there?

-  The format was simple. Besides the official delegations, NGO also had an opportunity to take part in the work of the meeting. We participated in the meeting as a delegation of the nongovernmental organization from South Ossetia. Other similar delegations from the European countries, the CIS countries and the USA also took part in the meeting.

20.02.2009 08:58 | She Became the Victim of the Terrible Shelling

There are many sick old people, which had no time or were not in condition to cover in the shelters, among thousands of peaceful citizens, who became the victims of the terrible shelling of Tskhinval on August, 2008.   

Kumaritova Tamara Tugievna, Tskhinval resident, was 85 years old when she died a dreadful death.

Tamara Kumaritova was born in Kohat village, area Tskhinval. For a long time she worked as a teacher in the secondary schools of the Republic. She lived in

, 183 in the nine-floor house with her son and his family.

As her son Hamlet Khubezhov tells, he and his mother had been in their flat on the seventh floor, when the night storm of Tskhinval began on August, 8^th. Hamlet’s wife with two children came to her mother’s house in the other end of the city, so-called BAM district, after the night bombardment on August, 5^th.of Tskhinval city from the site of the Georgian villages Nikozi and Ergnety, where the Georgian army’s firing positions had been located.

At night of August, 8^{th ,}  when the massive shelling of the city from “Grad” rocket systems and heavy weaponry began, many people took cover in the basements, but my mother had got the sore legs and it was hard for her to go downstairs from the seventh floor - Hamlet says, - Our flat’s  windows were aside Nikozy village, from where the Georgian soldiers opened heavy fire on the city. We moved to an empty neighbor’s apartment, its owners left me the keys before their departure. I thought we would be safe there”.

20.02.2009 08:34 | Oleg Kudukhov: “We are ready to work together with the Georgian public organizations!”

Oleg Kudukhov, the coordinator of the public law-protecting organization “The National Forum “South Ossetia accuses” in his interview to the internet-portal Osetinfo.ru told about the activity of his organization and about the opportunity of cooperation with Georgian Non-governmental Organizations (NGO).

Osetinfo.ru - Tell us more details about your organization “South Ossetia accuses”.

Oleg Kudukhov - Our organization was created in August, 2008, it means directly after the tragic events in South Ossetia. We position ourselves as law-protecting organization. Our aim is to protect the human rights of the citizens of South Ossetia not withstanding their nationality. Besides that, we collect and we document a testimony of victims during the Georgian aggression.

The known ossetian historian Ruslan Bzarov heads our organization. The members of our organization are the ordinary people: teachers, journalists, and employees, everybody who has an opportunity to collect testimony and to inform the society about it.

- What kind of actions is the National forum “South Ossetia accuses” holding?

- They started on August, 26. A series of these actions has proceeded in Vladikavkaz and in Moscow. In Moscow the action is held opposite the Swedish embassy. In the first, Sweden presides in PACE, and secondly, Swedish Government reacts ambiguously to the events in South Ossetia. The action named “South Ossetia accuses”. The session of PACE has taken place in Strasbourg, and Russian-Georgian conflict was the main question of the conference. For the action we wanted to remind that South Ossetia is also exists, that Russia mediated this conflict later.

19.02.2009 16:19 | Margiev Ruslan Fedorovich, age 68, Tskhinval

I live alone. My spouse has died 6 years ago. My only son studies in Vladikavkaz, Northern Ossetia. I used to the bombardmentand explosions from the Georgian side for a long time. This year an August was very restless. In the evenings, when the shelling of the city usually began, I used to switch off light in the entire house and go to bed. It had been disturbing, but it was possible to sleep. On August 7, at the afternoon I sat as usual in a courtyard with my neighbors. The remote shots and explosions were audible. The neighbor’s fellow told that Georgians have attacked Tsunar village, and the war there has practically begun. All my neighbors went home to prepare basements for the shelter in case of the shelling of the city. I also went home, prepared the candles, and took a mattress down in a basement. But when I’ve listened to Saakashvili`s speech on TV, when he said that there would be no shooting, I have a little calmed down and have gone to sleep in my room. In the middle of the night I’ve heard the first explosion, then the second one.

I’ve never heard such powerful explosions. There was such a feeling that they had been broken off absolutely closed to me. I jumped, quickly put on and ran downwards to the basement. When I reached a cellar, there was pitch-black there. I do not have mobile phone and I could call to nobody. The bombardment and explosions went on and on. I don’t remember such a bombardment from the very first Georgian-Ossetian war. I had very capitally made house, but it was shaking as an autumn leaf. I do not remember how much time I had been in a basement, but sudden blow at my house frightened me outright. I’ve heard an explosion, and the wall of my house failed. I did not know what to do, whether run to my neighbors or to remain there. After the second explosion my house lighted up. I realized it on a smell of a smoke. Then I’ve heard that somebody bangs an entrance door. But I simply could not move from a place, I guess, I was in a panic. My neighbors shouted me: “Ruslan, get away quickly, the house is burning!”

18.02.2009 12:18 | We remember everybody, who sacrificed a life for the sake of the Homeland: Leonid Nikolaevich Doguzov

Leonid Nikolaevich Doguzov was one of the first, who bore the brunt of theenemy's attackin the days of Georgian aggression against South Ossetia.

Tengiz Doguzov, Leonid`s brother, tells:

- Leonid was born in 1962 inSouth Ossetia (Tskhinvalsky District, Satikar village). He finished 8 classes of a rural school, ented the technical college in Beslan. He has served in army. Then he worked in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tskhinvalsky District. Married. From the beginning of 90th (it was time of unrest for South Ossetia) he served in the Ministry of Defence of the republic, the last years carrying out his service on the posts.

He was a sportsman, the candidate for the master sportsman of judo and boxing, he was a reliable comrade. On August, 8, the day of the beginning of the Georgian aggression he had to hand over the post and leave to Vladikavkaz, to see his nephew of 6. He also was going to visit his brother and the sister living in Mozdok, whom he did not see for a long time. But all these plans were shattered by the Georgian tanks, which invaded Satikar village, being escorted by two hundreds of armed fighters.

Saving the lives of his friends, Leonid gave him a chance to take cover, and continued to shoot till the last cartridge. He died in unequal fight. Riddled, he won a time, so that elderly, women and children of his native village Satikar had time to take cover in the next wood.

28.01.2009 12:25 | In South Ossetia people demanded to punish everyone who was involved in genocide of Ossetian people

Today, on September, 26 at 13:00 in Tskhinval on the Theatrical Square the action “South Ossetia accuses” took place. It became the beginning of the world action of the same name; such the actions will take place in the countries of the Western Europe, and since October - in the USA. All the Ossetian Diasporas, political parties and the youth organizations will take part in this world action.

Ruslan Bzarov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, chairman of recently created National Forum “Ossetia accuses” made a speech at the meeting.

“There is a question of whom Ossetia accuses, - Ruslan Bazrov has told, addressing to the gathered people. - Ossetia accuses those people, who came to destroy it, those, who tries to hide the committed crimes today. Ossetia accuses the authors of genocide of Ossetian people which lasts for 90 years. Ossetia demands the recognition of the Republic and recognition of genocide of Ossetian people. We are going to inform people about the truth of that have happened on August, and we shall speak about it in all the countries. The action “Ossetia accuses” starts today. This action will be continued on September, 27 in Vladikavkaz, and 29 inMoscow and Strasbourg in front of the building of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, where the sessions on which events in South Ossetia will be discussed begin”.

The Chairman of a National Forum has called everybody to join to the work of a forum, to the gathering of materials which are necessary in order to call the criminals to account. “We are going to work until there will be even one military criminal in the world, while all the authors and executors of genocide of Ossetian people appear before the international tribunal. We made a mistake when we tried to forgive the destruction of our people. We made it in the Twenties and in 1992 when we believed that it would be possible to stop the war and genocide by ringing in the peacemakers. It tuned out to be impossible. We are not going to continue this flawed line, to forgive criminally the destruction of our people, - Ruslan Bzarov has emphasized. He called Ossetian people to change the position of “forgiveness everything”, it should never be any more, if Ossetian people want to survive and keep the unity of already incorporated native Land.

08.01.2009 19:33 | He didn’t manage to hide in a shelter

68-year-old Jury Tigiev lived in Pris village. On that diabolical night – from the 7^th to the 8^th of August, when Georgia made a barbarous attack to South Ossetia, shooting at sleeping Tshinval and other inhabited areas from heavy weapons, “Grad” rocket systems and other, Jury together with his spouse Juliet Gagieva took cover in a basement. Village Pris, which is located near the border on Georgia, also underwent by the massive shelling.  

At a dawn husband and wife decided to move to the city, to the house of Jury’s sister -Alexandra. It seemed to Jury more dangerous to remain in village Pris under Georgian’s very nose than in the city, because any minute the Georgian murderers could enter and take reprisals against them. The private house of sister Alexandra in Tshinval, situated on Pobedy Street, seemed to be less dangerous place.

As Alexandra Tigieva says, Jury together with his spouse and several residents of the village came to the city in the morning, despite of a constant bombardment from Georgia. They went past Zguderskoje cemetery across a wood. “I was alone in the house, took cover from bombardments in the cellar. It was about 10 o'clock in the morning when the brother with his wife came to me, - Alexandra says. - I was so glad that they managed to reach my house safe and sound. I invited them to my shelter, but at the moment they were going down, the deafening explosion was heard.  Everything around were shaking: the shell hit my house and destroyed a part of a building. The spouse of my brother managed to go down to a basement, and my brother, unfortunately, didn’t manage, he had no enough time – just few seconds. The shell’s shrapnel hit his neck, face and legs. The blood flooded from the wounds on a neck, I ran out to him, but already could do nothing: Jury died instantaneous death from received wounds.

19.12.2008 08:52 | South Ossetia: August 2008