Russian human rights activists stand for restoring the rights of those who suffered from the conflict in Georgia

Russian human rights activist urge the European community to promptly restore the rights of those persons who suffered from military actions in Georgia and South Ossetia.

"The public opinion is now focused on the problems of sovereignty and self-determination, but we find it important to emphasize the priority of human rights, inadmissibility of violating them and the need of urgent actions to restore the rights of victims," runs the statement of Russian human rights NGOs.

Maria Kalivis, regional director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS, has stated earlier that the organization is concerned with heavy consequences of the armed conflict in South Ossetia for children and women.

The human rights activists assert that the responsibility for what has happened is on all the participants of the conflict.

"The degrees of responsibility and guilt for particular violations of the international law should become a subject of a serious international investigation. The Europe's disregard of the confrontation that had lasted for many years has also contributed to tragic development of events. It is obvious that no national and regional human rights defence systems - including many European mechanisms - were actually geared in 'hot points' in the territory of the former USSR and failed to prevent the heavy humanitarian and legal crisis in South Ossetia and adjacent regions," runs the statement.

In the opinion of representatives of human rights organizations, it is necessary to run a prompt international monitoring of the situation with refugees and internally displaced persons in the territory of Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia by means of personal presence there of humanitarian missions.

Human rights organizations are also suggesting that European organizations and countries assist in ensuring safety, observance of the norms of the humanitarian law, stop of violence and destruction of property, in release of violently detained participants of warfare and peaceful citizens, and in liquidation of other consequences of the conflict.

The document was presented by the Human Rights Centre "Memorial", Moscow Helsinki Group, Centre for Development of Democracy and Human Rights, "Sova" Information-Analytical Centre, International Youth Human Rights Movement, Institute of Human Rights, Fund "Public Verdict", Association "Golos" (Voice), Committee "Civil Assistance", Centre "Demos", RPA "Right of the Child", Chechen Committee of National Salvation and OPM "For Human Rights".