A delegation from the Office of ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo today Wound up a two day programme of meetings with senior Russian officials, confirming its full support for any genuine proceedings on the alleged crimes committed during the armed conflict in South Ossetia, Georgia in August 2008, including alleged attacks against civilians as well as against forces who were acting as part of a peace keeping mission.

‘In the criminal justice system established in Rome, States have the primary responsibility to investigate and prosecute. As in all the situations, we have offered to support in every possible way efforts by the Russian judiciary to do justice for all victims of these crimes’ said Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo. ‘This is positive complementarity at work’.

The Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) visit took place 8 -10 March at the invitation of the Russian Federation. It is the first visit of an OTP delegation to the Russian Federation. It occurred in the context of the preliminary examination into the situation in Georgia, announced by the Prosecutor on 20 August, 2008.

The programme included notably meetings with senior officials of the Office of the Prosecutor General and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, the Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and other key judicial and government actors.

They briefed the OTP on the nature and progress of Russia’s national judicial proceedings relating to crimes allegedly committed during the violence in South Ossetia.

‘We highly appreciate the outcome of the meetings with the delegation from The Office of the Prosecutor’ said the Director of the Legal Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. ‘My Office welcomes the openness of the Russian authorities and we thank them for this dialogue’ said the Prosecutor.

Russia, a State not Party to the Rome Statute, has to date sent 3, 817 communications to the OTP. Georgia has been a State Party to the Rome Statute since 5 September, 2003. As such the ICC has jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide possibly committed in the territory of Georgia or by nationals of Georgia. The Prosecutor requested information from the Governments of the Russian Federation and Georgia on 27 August, 2008. Both the Russian and the Georgian authorities responded. The Office conducted a visit to Georgia in November, 2008. A further visit to Georgia is planned in 2010.