Bloody Sunday: Trauma in Tblisi

The Events of April 9, 1989 and Their Aftermath

On April 9, 1989, troops from the Soviet Ministries of Defense and Interior used entrenching spades and, it was alleged, toxic gas, to break up a peaceful demonstration of 8,000 to 10,000 people in Tbilisi, Soviet Georgia. Sixteen people were known to have been killed on the scene. Another four people later died from injuries sustained on that day. Hundreds of people were injured and admitted to hospitals. On April 10, in protest of the event, the city of Tbilisi went out on strike and a 40-day period of mourning was declared.

The tragedy of the events of Sunday, April 9, 1989 in Tbilisi, Soviet Georgia, demonstrates yet again the serious physical and psychological damage caused by the unwarranted use of force, including toxic chemical agents, against a civilian population.

In publishing this report of a fact-finding delegation to Tbilisi, Physicians for Human Rights hopes to help deter all governments from resorting to the excessive use of force and the use of toxic gas as a means of crowd control and the suppression of dissent.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Wave One
Wave Two
Wave Three
Conclusion

Full report - 3 MB (link below)

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