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Russia and Georgia in Propaganda War, UN's OCHA Is Called
One-Sided
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
August 14 -- As at the UN a second
draft of a Georgia resolution was being negotiated, the Ambassadors of
Russia
and Georgia held back-to-back press events. Russia's Vitaly Churkin
called it a
propaganda war, and denounced reports in the Washington Post and
Financial
Times about occupation and destruction in Stalin's birthplace, Gori.
Georgia's
Irakli Alasania said that ethnic cleansing had occurred in both South
Ossentia
and Abkhazia.
Inner City
Press asked what Georgia was seeking with its just-filed case in the
International Court of Justice against Russia, for discrimination. Amb.
Alasania that the proving the case was the first step. But, Inner City
Press
asked, if Georgia seeking damages? Its credit rating has been lowered
from B+
to B, the port of Poti, of which Georgia owns 49% -- the Ras Al Khaimah
Investment Authority of the UAE
owns the rest -- has been bombed, and BP has turned off the flow of
oil, if
only as a precaution. Amb. Alasania said that yes, Georgia would be
seeking
compensation from Russia, including for the death toll, which he put at
175.
Amb.
Churkin said that it would be good if Georgia added to the $500 million
Russia
has committed for the rebuilding of South Ossetia; he did not provide
any
update on what he'd said were 2000 dead in South Ossetia, or on Russian
experts' investigation of possible Georgia war crimes.
Georgians on the way to Azerbaijan, OCHA
objectivity not shown
Inner City Press
asked
about a quote from involved Russian official Alex Bastrykin, who said
the
evidence would be presented to the International Criminal Court or,
strangely,
to the European Human Rights Court is Strasbourg. I
can't respond to every quote, Amb. Churkin
said. He added that Russia could not accept Georgia peacekeepers, going
forward, as they had turned their weapons on Russian peacekepers in
South
Ossetia.
Amb.
Churkin was asked about "UN complaints" about lack of humanitarian
access. He responded that he had not heard any complaints, that his own
communication with the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs
had been to complain about OCHA's lack of balance in reporting on 850
displacees from Georgia to Armenia, but not 30,000 from South Ossetia
to North
Ossetia. Inner City Press has acked OCHA's acting spokesperson to
respond to
this; that response will be published on this site when it alon gwith
other long-outstanding
answers are received.
Watch
this
site. And this (on
South Ossetia), and
this --
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