The Kamani Massacre took place on July 9, 1993, during the
Georgian-Abkhaz conflict
The Abkhazia conflict is a territorial dispute over Abkhazia, a region on the eastern coast of the Black Sea in the South Caucasus, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. The conflict involves Georgia, the Russian Federation a ...
. It was perpetrated against Georgian inhabitants of
Kamani (a small village located north of
Sukhumi
Sukhumi or Sokhumi is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the Capital city, capital and largest city of Abkhazia, a partially recognised state that most countries consider a part of Georgia (country), Georgia. The ...
), mainly by militia forces of
Abkhaz separatists, and their North Caucasian and
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n allies. It became a part of the bloody campaign carried out by the separatists, which was known as the
ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia
The ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia, also known in Georgia as the genocide of Georgians in Abkhazia ( ka, ქართველთა გენოციდი აფხაზეთში, tr), was the ethnic cleansing, massacres, and fo ...
Events
Kamani was captured by Abkhaz separatists on 9 July as a result of the
Battle of Kamani. Soon after the Abkhaz and their allies started a violent rampage against the inhabitants of Kamani. Women, children, and the elderly were systematically tortured, raped and massacred during the two days of violence.
[Conflict in the Caucasus: Georgia, Abkhazia, and the Russian Shadow by S. A. Chervonnaia and Svetlana Mikhailovna Chervonnaia, p 51] The church and convent in Kamani became the scene of a blood bath.
The female nuns were raped and later killed in front of the orthodox priest father Yuri Anua and father Andria (the overseer of the convent). After witnessing the massacres of nuns the Georgian priests were taken outside of the church and while kneeling were interrogated.
“''They questioned father Andria on the ownership of land in Abkhazia. He refused to answer. They questioned him repeatedly and finally he gave up and said: Abkhazia, like the rest of the world, belongs to God. They shot him soon after. Before doing so, they forced a young Abkhaz priest to kill him. He resisted and was killed near the Georgian priest. They left their corpses near the church and left''".
[UN report on Human Rights violation during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, Video interview with the survivor of the Massacre, recorded by UNAMIG in Tbilisi, 1995]
After the July events of 1993, Kamani remains completely depopulated and all houses in the village are abandoned by the surviving inhabitants. After taking this strategic area, Abkhaz and their allies launched a large scale offensive on Sukhumi which by now was encircled by the separatist forces.
See also
*
Ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia
The ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia, also known in Georgia as the genocide of Georgians in Abkhazia ( ka, ქართველთა გენოციდი აფხაზეთში, tr), was the ethnic cleansing, massacres, and fo ...
*
Georgian-Abkhaz conflict
The Abkhazia conflict is a territorial dispute over Abkhazia, a region on the eastern coast of the Black Sea in the South Caucasus, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. The conflict involves Georgia, the Russian Federation a ...
*
Sukhumi Massacre
The Fall of Sukhumi took place on 27 September 1993, at the hands of the separatists, in the course of the War in Abkhazia (1992–93), War in Abkhazia. The taking of the city came with a massacre of hundreds of Georgians, and it became part of a ...
*
United Nations resolutions on Abkhazia
References
External links
Video file capturing Kamani tragedyVideo file, Father Anua before the massacre
Massacres in 1993
Abkhaz–Georgian conflict
Russian war crimes in Georgia (country)
Massacres in Georgia (country)
Ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia
1993 in Georgia (country)
1993 in Abkhazia
Anti-Georgian sentiment
July 1993 in Asia
1993 murders in Georgia (country)
Battles involving the Circassians
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