Representatives from the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor's Office visit Georgia, as part of regular consultations launched since the events of the August, 2008 war has been the subject of preliminary examination by ICC prosecutor’s office.

Team from ICC Prosecutor’s Office met on June 23 with senior officials from the Georgian Justice Ministry. A senior official from the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office said after the meeting that the representatives from ICC were briefed about cases of violation of international humanitarian law by the Russian forces.

“Foreign experts were provided with comprehensive information about ethnic cleansing carried out on the territory occupied by the Russian Federation, about expulsion of Georgian population and purposeful destruction of Georgian villages. We briefed our colleagues about those crimes, which are still taking place on the territory occupied by Russia,” Zaza Kachibaia, an official from the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office investigative unit, said.

Shortly after the war, the ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said on August 20, 2008, that the situation in Georgia was under analysis by his Office.

Unlike Russia, Georgia is a state party to the Rome Statute, hence the ICC has jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide possibly committed in the territory of Georgia.

According to the ICC Prosecutor’s Office it requested information from the Russian and Georgian governments back in August, 2008 and received response from the both countries.

Zurab Adeishvili, the Georgian justice minister, was in The Hague this March where he met with ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.