THE HAGUE, April 19. /TASS/. The International Court of Justice, which is the UN’s principal judicial body, has partially granted Ukraine’s request for indicating provisional measures versus Russia.
The relevant ruling was read out by Court President Ronny Abraham.
The Court has ruled, in particular, that with regard to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Russia must refrain from imposing limitations on the ability of the Crimean Tatar community to conserve its representative institutions and ensure the availability of education in the Ukrainian language.
With regard to the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, the Court has ruled that there is no need for indicating provisional measures against Russia.
Ukraine filed a lawsuit to the UN International Court on January 16, claiming that Russia was in breach of the Convention for the Suppression of Terrorism Financing and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
On the same day, the Ukrainian side sent a request for indicating provisional measures, demanding, in particular, that the Russian Federation "must refrain from any action, which might aggravate or extend the dispute" under the two Conventions or eventually make it "more difficult to resolve."
Ukraine’s lawsuit
The UN International Court in The Hague launched hearings on March 6 into Ukraine’s lawsuit against Russia. The Ukrainian side claims in its lawsuit that since 2014 Russia has intensified its interference in the Ukrainian affairs "by way of a military intrusion into Ukraine" and "the financing of terrorist acts," and also seized "a part of the Ukrainian sovereign territory" in Crimea "by the military force."
As the Ukrainian authorities assert, Russia "is carrying out a purposeful campaign for cultural cleansing" on these territories, thus violating the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
In view of this, Ukraine demands that Russia be recognized as a party guilty of "terrorism sponsoring" and be obliged to stop all forms of its support for the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.
The Ukrainian authorities also demand that Russia fully compensate for damage for the alleged downing of a Malaysian Boeing airliner over the Donbass region in 2014 and the alleged shelling of civilians in Donbass cities.
Moscow’s position
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said earlier that Russia "has always resolutely denounced any manifestations of terrorism and is actively fighting it."
In the opinion of the Russian Foreign Ministry, "Ukraine has not provided substantiations for its position that there are circumstances falling under the convention."
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, as Russia was trying to study the substance of Ukraine’s claims, it was confronted "with the strong unwillingness of the Ukrainian departments to hold a substantive dialogue and, in the final account, with the unilateral disruption of the consultations by the Ukrainian side."
In view of this, Russia’s Foreign Ministry has made a conclusion that "Ukraine’s basic, if not sole, aim from the very outset was to look for a cause for applying to the International Court against the Russian Federation rather than to settle any disagreements."
Kiev is not interested in the real protection of people or the observance of treaties and only pursues situational political interests, the Russian Foreign Ministry believes.