Double investigation reveals Russian blame in Storimans’ death

Russian cluster bombs killed Dutch cameraman Stan Storimans, 39, during the war last August.Two independent investigations conduicted after his death.
The first investigation was held by the Dutch government last October.
The second investigation was compiled into a documentary film and screened Aug. 12, 2009, exactly one-year after Storimans’ death. The 46-minute film was shot by Dutch RTL TV reporter Jeroen Akkermans who worked with Storimans on the day of the tragedy.
A special report prepared by the Dutch Permanent Mission to the UN states that, “Dutch cameraman Stan Storimans, who was killed in the Georgian city of Gori on Aug. 12, 2008, was the victim of cluster munitions. The munitions were propelled by a type of rocket that is only found in Russia’s military arsenal. That is the conclusion of the mission that Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen appointed to investigate the circumstances of Storimans’ death.”
Verhagen stated he regards the findings “extremely serious.”
“I have made this clear to the Russian authorities,” he said. “Cluster munitions must not be used in this way. There were no troops in Gori and innocent civilians were killed.”
The Russian government rebuked the accusations and blamed Georgia in the incident.
“The accident was the result of aggressive actions conducted by the Georgian forces,” President Dmitry Medvedev told a RTL News correspondent. “In this particular case, we arrived at the conclusion based on the fact that the Georgians have recognized their use of cluster weapons.”
He then expressed his condolences to the Storimans family.
In his documentary film, Akkermans uncovers evidence proving that Russian Iskander rockets led to Storimans’ death. Akkermans is RTL’s Germany and Eastern Europe correspondent, and has 20 years of journalistic experience. His work has taken him in to conflict areas such as Chechnya, Georgia, Abkhazia and the Balkans.
While conducting the investigation, Akkermans met with a number of military analysts.
Human Rights Watch Senior Military Analyst Marc Garlasco was in Georgia and participated in examining the exploded materials. He is sure the bombs that killed Storimans were cluster rockets owned only by Russian forces.
“As soon as I saw the cradles I knew they were cluster munitions because of the signature,” he said, noting that the star-shape patterns divulge the Russian origin of the bombs. “I have seen them many times in many other conflicts in Afganistan and Lebanon.”
“I am absolutely certain,” he said.
The Iskander M (NATO reporting name “SS-26 Stone”) was named after the Arabic version, “Alexander the Great” and invented by Russian specialists for Middle Eastern clients.
“The technical characteristics show that this is an absolutely unique missile,” Russian military expert Ruslan Pukhov tells Akkermans in the film. “The Russians became interested in the bomb and then developed the ‘M’ version, which means modernized.”
The missile’s range is about 250 miles and according to Akkermans’ film it can be shot from Dagestan or Chechnya to Gori.
Based on his and Storimans’ coverage last year, Akkermans said that all Georgian troops had left Gori Aug. 11, and the incident occurred the next day when only peaceful citizens and journalists were in the city. The bombing took place on the city’s main square – a flat, open area near the Stalin monument.
“We left our positions,” a Georgian soldier tells reporters in an interview late night Aug. 11, 2008.
Analytical Department head Shota Utiashvili at the Interior Ministry also confirmed that the troops were ordered to leave Gori late afternoon Aug. 11.
“It was a test-rocket shot into Gori,” Akkermans told Georgia Today. “It had no military meaning. It was only a gesture to show their power to Georgia, to threaten peaceful locals, and to enhance the spirit of war in their soldiers.”
In Akkermans film, German military expert Robert Schmucker states that the rocket had a psychological as opposed to military impact on the Georgian people.
Several Gori residents died together with Storimans.
A number of wounded people survived, including Akkermans, who sustained minor injuries to his leg. Israeli journalist Zadok Yecheskeli still has problems moving.
“I will never be able to run again, ski or play tennis,” Yecheskli says in the film. “But I do not concentrate on what I cannot do. I think about what I can do. I realized that I can function as a journalist, I can walk and ask questions.”
Yecheskeli came to Georgia after the war to conduct the ivestigation with Akkermans.
Akkermans noted another reason for holding the investigation.
“After a war, journalists have the task to find out what really happened,” he said. “Georgia like other countries wants to close the book and forget about the war. But we have to find out the truth and make the governments feel and meet their responsibilities.”
In one segment of the documentary Akkermans says Russia’s blame in the tragedy does not free Georgia from its own responsibility. As both countries used cluster bombs, the same tragic accident could have occurred in some South Ossetian towns, he states.
Akkermans is eager to screen the film in Georgia under the condition that it is translated honestly and shown from the beginning to the end.
Neither Georgia, who recognized its use of cluster bombs during last year’s war, nor Russia, who denied using these munitions, has signed the international convention prohibiting the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of cluster bombs. The convention was adopted in Dublin by 107 states on May 2008 and signed on Dec. 3 the same year.
Anna Chichinadze
21.08.2009

Political woes damage tourism

Although there is still one month before the end of summer, prominent figures of the Georgian tourism industry agree that the period has been far below satisfactory. The last August war, four months of opposition protests and the global economic crisis have resulted in the industry’s financial woes.
However, Georgian Tourism Department Chief Petre Kankava remains optimistic. His official statistics reveal that 600,000 tourists visited Georgia in the first 6 months of 2009 whereas 1.3 million tourists visited the country in 2008.
Kankava said June was the month when the most tourists crossed the border into Georgia – most coming from Azerbaijan and Turkey. Israelis, Ukrainians and Russians have been frequent visitors. German, British, Greek, Bulgarian, Baltic and Philippine citizens are also steadily visiting Georgia.
Compared with the same period last year, the rate shows an 11.7-percent decrease in the flow of tourists or 15,000 fewer visitors. Kankava considers the outcome a solid achievement although most tourists came in June. The Tourism Department considers everyone who crosses the border a tourist regardless of their purpose for entering the country.
“The purpose of their visit does not matter,” Kankava said. “Every foreigner stops at a hotel, eats out, buys souvenirs and spends money. That is tourism.”
Tourism Management Educational Center head at Ilia Chavchavadze State University Koba Arabuli does not agree with Kankava. He defines tourists as people “who arrives in the country for holidays, have leisure time, spend money, see the country and go back to the homeland for a week or two.”
“Individuals who have businesses, work officially or arrive for other reasons cannot be counted as tourists,” Arabuli said, adding that the presented figures are based on statistics from the Border Department, which count every individual crossing the border, including Georgians with foreign citizenship.
Meanwhile, tour agencies are voicing complaints about the fall in the number of customers.
Manana Tsiramua, director of the Georgian Holiday tour operator, works primarily on the Hong Kong, UK, Latvia and Ukraine markets. She said the four-month opposition protests have led to the downturn in addition to the August war.
“If last year we were serving 5-6 groups at the same time, now we have just one, and instead of 40-member groups, now we have just 6-10 tourists coming together,” Tsiramua said. “When foreigners were planning their vacations and booking tours, they read about the protests and unstable atmosphere in the country and opted against going to Georgia.”
Statistics aside, Gabriel Heim and Brigitta Monthey recently visited Tbilisi for an 8-day holiday from Berlin.
“Personally, I do not believe that the political situation is a reason to refuse going to the region, but foreigners should have more information about how easy, welcoming and friendly the country is,” Heim said.
Monthey added that they found information about the country on the Web. She also expressed a desire to learn more about politics in the country and cultural and tourist opportunities.
Kankava has launched activities to promote Georgia’s tourism opportunities abroad in light of the decreasing numbers of visitors to the country.
The department has opened the first modern tourist center in Tbilisi, equipped with new maps, booklets and guides. Five similar centers are pending to open in surrounding regions.
For international promotion, the government has allocated 180,000 euro to the department. Some funds will be spent on a film about Georgia travel opportunities, which will be produced and broadcast on Buzz TV and Spanish and English channels. The department will also participate in international exhibitions that Kankava hopes will attract more people.
“The war has strongly damaged our reputation and we are trying hard to correct it,” he said. “Europe started here.”
Arabuli disagrees, stating that Georgia has no strategy for tourism development — only a general concept.
“The president and economics minister publicly state that tourism is a priority issue, but I do not see what they are doing to prove this,” Arabuli said. “If they mean rebuilding cities, then this is not a tourism strategy. This sphere needs thorough planning and implementation, and all above more finances than there are now.”
Arabuli agrees that training and education are lacking in the department. He said the department holds periodic training for hotel owners, but realizes this is not enough.
“Prices are high and service is low,” Kankava said. “People do not understand that the hotel business is not just a matter of buying and selling. It requires working for years to achieve high quality and attract tourists. They do not understand that bad service damages the country’s image.”
Anna Chichinadze
31.07.2009