The Georgian National Committee of Blue Shield responds to election campaign banners of the ruling party of Georgia, which feature images of buildings damaged or destroyed during the war in Ukraine, including cultural heritage sites.
It is unacceptable to use these types of images to push political narrative, while the destroyed lives of thousands of innocent people are behind them. This kind of action is especially unacceptable in Georgia, where the same aggressor – the Russian Federation, bombed cities, and destroyed historical villages and cultural heritage monuments during and after the 1992-1993 and 2008 Russian-Georgian wars. These processes continue in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region to this day.
Damage or destruction of cultural heritage sites is a war crime. The use of such acts as advertising and connecting them with the parties participating in the 2024 parliamentary elections of Georgia endangers the issue of the aggressor’s responsibility for the committed crimes, as Russia has not yet taken responsibility for the actions committed in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region for decades, and on the territory of Ukraine since 2014.
The main goal of cultural heritage defenders from Georgia and Ukraine is to ensure that these crimes are investigated. They aim to achieve this by documenting the incidents, providing evidence, and raising awareness within the international community. Such actions complicate and endanger this work, within the framework of which we try to protect the monuments damaged by Russia during the war or occupation.
- The statement belongs to the Georgian National Committees of Blue Shield, it does not reflect the views of Blue Shield International, or the whole Blue Shield Movement.