PRESS CONFERENCE BY GEORGIA

Recent air raids had left three Georgian civilians dead and seven injured, said the Permanent Representative of Georgia to the United Nations, Revaz Adamia, at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon. 

Mr. Adamia said the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)mission, deployed at the border, had witnessed the incursion into Georgian airspace and the bombings when, three days ago, two groups of Russian military aircraft had flown sorties into Georgian territory, including the settlements of Patara Borbalo, Ukana Pshavi, Bukhrebi and other areas of the River Ilto gorge.  

In international law "bombardment by the armed forces of a State against territory of another State or the use of any weapons by a State against territory of another State" was an act of aggression regardless of a declaration of war, he said.  He hoped the Security Council would give due consideration to this flagrant violation of international law and the United Nations Charter, as these acts endangered international peace and security, posing a risk of dragging the entire Caucasus region into war.  

Correspondents were told that the latest bombing had taken place concurrently with a reported military build-up in the zone of conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia.  The Georgian Government had all indications that these actions were parts of a larger game design.  It was not the first time Georgia was subjected to attacks -- in the last three years, Georgia had been subjected to air attacks half a dozen times, Mr. Adamia claimed.  Regrettably, proposals to jointly investigate and prevent such acts had been disregarded by the Russian Federation.

It was not only the sovereignty and independence of Georgia that was at stake, but also the very fundamentals of the current workings of the international system.  The jungle principle of "might is right" must be relegated to history, Mr. Adamia said. 

When asked about a possible cause of the bombing, Mr. Adamia said that no official explanation had been given since the Russian Federation had denied the incident.  Correspondents asked how the Georgian Government could be sure that the Russian Federation was responsible, to which Mr. Adamia said that the aircraft came from the north and that the Russian Federation was the only State with adequate military capacity to undertake such a mission.  He further stressed that the OSCE mission deployed at the border had witnessed the attack. 

A correspondent asked what the Government of Georgia expected from the international community and the United Nations.  Mr. Adamia informed journalists that the Georgian delegation was speaking to representatives at the United Nations; had asked the Secretariat to distribute a statement by the Georgian Foreign Minister to the Security Council and the General Assembly; and, depending on the results, would decide whether to approach the Security Council.  He concluded by stressing that acts such as these must not be accepted by the international community. 

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