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In October 2008, the practice of hostage-taking was resumed in the South Caucasus conflict zone. The Georgian police arrested several Ossetians in the former buffer zone: the 41 year-old Avtandil Kelekhsaev and his 16 year-old son as well as Ibragim Laliev (born in 1974), Lavrenty Kaziev (born in 1974) and Goleri Toroshelidze were detained on October 7 in the vicinity of the of village of Artsevi.

Shota Sanakoev and Totrbek Bekoev were arrested near the village of Nikoz. Pavlik Tekhov was detained not far from the Ossetian village of Korkula. Alan Khachirov (born in 1992), Alan Khugaev (born in 1989), and Soltan Pliev (born in 1983), were arrested in the area between the villages of Dits and Eredvi.

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During a conversation with representatives of the HRC Memorial, Colonel Anatoly Tarasov, the Russian army commander in South Ossetia, said that some of them may have been detained for looting or unauthorized possession of firearms.

The Georgian state authorities kept silent. The detentions turned out to be abductions, as the detainees were not given any legal status. They should be regarded as hostages rather than arrested or detained persons.

From informal sources the relatives of the hostages have been able to find out that they were held in an investigative detention facility in Tbilisi. Among them were three minors, one of them suffers from asthma. The human rights defenders informed the Georgian authorities that taking the situation outside the framework of the law might lead to similar counter-measures of hostage-taking - which is what actually happened.

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On October 25, the Georgian police detained two residents from the village of Grom in the area between Khurvaleti and Dzukaty-kau: Erik Margiev (born in 1965) and Murat Kusraev (born in 1963). Their relatives were only informed of the abduction on October 28. In the evening of October 28, six residents of the village of Zerti (the Gori district) were taken hostage in the forest while collecting firewood. They were brought to the Grom gorge because it is closer to Tskinvali and put into prison. On October 29, one of them phoned his relatives and told them that they would be released in exchange for three Ossetians. However, as soon as on October 30 he managed to escape and came home. On November 2 another six persons, villagers from Kirbal (the Gori district), were taken hostage while collecting firewood in the nearby forest.

The hostage issue could have easily led to a new escalation in the conflict zone.

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However, last week brought a significant step forward in resolving this issue. On November 11, on the outskirts of Gori, the relatives of the six hostages from Kirbal blocked the main motorway which connects the east and the west of Georgia. By the end of the day, all the six had been handed over to the Russian forces and then to the Georgian side.

On November 11 it was reported that the Georgian side "legalized" at least some of the hostages. A lawyer appointed by the government contacted the Kelekhsaev family. Nevertheless, in a conversation with a “Kommersant” journalist, Shota Utiashvili, the head of the information and analysis unit of the Georgian Ministery of Internal Affairs, admitted that Laliev, Kaziev and Toroshelidze were held in detention accused of unauthorized possession of firearms and suspected of looting. He maintained that "there will be no exchange - criminals will be tried."

On November 12, Thomas Hammarberg, the Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe, intervened into the negotiation process upon his arrival to Georgia. Avtandil Kelekhsaev and his son were handed over to him as a "goodwill gesture", Hammarberg brought them from Tbilisi to Tskinvali and handed them over to the Ossetian side.

On November 12 , talks, resulting from Hammarberg's mediation efforts, were held on the border between South Ossetia and Georgia with participation of the representatives of each of the sides (Givi Targamadze and David Sanakoev).

The Georgian side admitted that it still had eight South Ossetians, who had been detained by the Georgian police in October and were now held in its detention facilities in Tbilisi. Six of them were going to face criminal prodecution as they were armed at the time of arrest. By contrast, Kursraev and Margiev could perhaps be released very soon.

The last issue was, however, resolved and the residents of the village of Grom, Erik Margiev and Murat Kursraev, were released on November 15. The Ossetian side asked about the fate of the eight South Ossetians who have been sentenced by Georgian courts for committing grave crimes. Georgia requested information about the remains of ten Georgian soldiers killed in combat in Tskinvali in early August.

Both sides agreed on the transfer of the remains, scheduled for November 16.

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Moreover, the fate of three other missing Ossetians - Khachirov, Khugaev and Pliev (two of which are minors) - remains unclear. In the meantime, it turned out that the Ossetian side is holding a Georgian soldier in detention. Arrested in the area of Avnevi and Zero, he was facing criminal proceedings; however, now he will be exchanged.