Rights groups say Ossetia fighting risks war crimes
MOSCOW, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Global rights groups warned Russia and Georgia on Saturday that acts against civilians in the separatist region of South Ossetia may constitute war crimes and urged both sides to keep ordinary people out of the conflict.
Russia sent troops into South Ossetia on Friday after Georgia launched a military offensive aimed at restoring control over the restive region it lost after a war in the early 1990s.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev described the situation there as a "humanitarian catastrophe" on Saturday.
"All sides must remember that attacks on civilians, or acts intended to terrorise civilians, clearly violate international humanitarian law, and may constitute war crimes," Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
"This would be true even if they are carried out in reprisal for indiscriminate attacks by the adversary."
South Ossetian and Russian officials have estimated total civilian losses at up to 1,500 but there was no word on the casualties by the Georgian side.
International Crisis Group said separately the fighting represented a humanitarian threat to 75,000 civilians in the region and risked spilling over into a larger conflict in the volatile Caucasus region.
"There is a real danger that the conflict will expand beyond South Ossetia to Abkhazia and other parts of Georgia," it said.
"All sides should immediately cease hostilities in South Ossetia, uphold humanitarian law, protect the civilian population and resume talks to stop an expansion of the conflict."
Medvedev, facing his first major crisis since taking over from Vladimir Putin this year, dispatched Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu to the Russian region of North Ossetia, which neighbours South Ossetia, to coordinate Russian actions.
"People who are responsible for this humanitarian catastrophe should carry responsibility for what they have done," Medvedev told a government meeting. (Writing by Maria Golovnina)
Russia sent troops into South Ossetia on Friday after Georgia launched a military offensive aimed at restoring control over the restive region it lost after a war in the early 1990s.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev described the situation there as a "humanitarian catastrophe" on Saturday.
"All sides must remember that attacks on civilians, or acts intended to terrorise civilians, clearly violate international humanitarian law, and may constitute war crimes," Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
"This would be true even if they are carried out in reprisal for indiscriminate attacks by the adversary."
South Ossetian and Russian officials have estimated total civilian losses at up to 1,500 but there was no word on the casualties by the Georgian side.
International Crisis Group said separately the fighting represented a humanitarian threat to 75,000 civilians in the region and risked spilling over into a larger conflict in the volatile Caucasus region.
"There is a real danger that the conflict will expand beyond South Ossetia to Abkhazia and other parts of Georgia," it said.
"All sides should immediately cease hostilities in South Ossetia, uphold humanitarian law, protect the civilian population and resume talks to stop an expansion of the conflict."
Medvedev, facing his first major crisis since taking over from Vladimir Putin this year, dispatched Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu to the Russian region of North Ossetia, which neighbours South Ossetia, to coordinate Russian actions.
"People who are responsible for this humanitarian catastrophe should carry responsibility for what they have done," Medvedev told a government meeting. (Writing by Maria Golovnina)
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