Friday, October 3, 2008

President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia rightly cast doubt on the initial figures cited by the Russian government for civilian deaths in the South Ossetia conflict in his Sept. 23 op-ed, "Answering Russian Aggression." But Mr. Saakashvili's statement that Human Rights Watch estimated that there were 44 civilian deaths was inaccurate.

Human Rights Watch does not have the capacity or expertise to count civilian casualties. We were skeptical, though, about Russian estimates, beginning one day after the conflict started on Aug. 7-8, which ranged from 1,500 to 2,000. It was not clear how such figures were compiled, and the range was inconsistent with the number of civilians reported wounded, which was in the hundreds.

In August, we interviewed a doctor at the hospital in the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, who said that the hospital received 44 bodies between Aug. 6 and 11. We presented this figure not as a comprehensive account of civilian deaths but as a doctor's report of the number of bodies brought to what was the only medical facility in the Tskhinvali area.

We have repeatedly underscored publicly that it is not a comprehensive figure.

The Russian prosecutor's office is investigating 154 deaths, although to date it is unclear whether that office is distinguishing between civilians and members of volunteer militias, and, if so, how.

RACHEL DENBER

Acting Director

Europe and Central Asia Division

Human Rights Watch

New York