ICJ rejects most of Ukraine’s case against Russia

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has rejected much of the case filed by Ukraine against Russia, Aljazeera reported.

Ukraine accused Russia of funding separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine a decade ago, 2014.

The court said it only found that Moscow had failed to investigate alleged breaches.

Ukraine also accused Moscow of being a “terrorist state” whose support for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine led to the 2022 invasion.

Ukraine also wanted the court to ask Russia to compensate all civilians caught up in the conflict, as well as victims from Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014.

The court declined to rule specifically on alleged Russian responsibility for the shooting down of the plane.

The ICJ tossed out most of Ukraine’s pleas, ruling only that Russia was “failing to take measures to investigate facts … regarding persons who have allegedly committed an offence”.

The court added that only cash transfers could be considered as support for alleged “terrorist” groups under the terms of the international convention on terrorism financing.

This “does not include the means used to commit acts of terrorism, including weapons or training camps”, the court ruled on Wednesday.

“Consequently, the alleged supply of weapons to various armed groups operating in Ukraine … fall outside the material scope of the ICSFT convention,” the ICJ said.

The 16-member panel once again ordered Russia to investigate any plausible allegations of “terrorism” financing.

‘Russia trying to wipe us off the map’

Russia was also in the dock for alleged breaches of an international convention on racial discrimination due to its treatment of the Tatar minority and Ukrainian speakers in occupied Crimea.

Here, the court found that Russia had not taken sufficient measures to enable education in Ukrainian.

During hearings on the case, Alexander Shulgin, Russia’s ambassador to the Netherlands, accused Ukraine of “blatant lies and false accusations … even to this court.”

Top Ukrainian diplomat Anton Korynevych retorted that Russia was trying to “wipe us off the map”.

“Beginning in 2014, Russia illegally occupied Crimea and then engaged in a campaign of cultural erasure, taking aim at ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars,” said Mr Korynevych.

On Friday, the ICJ will rule in another case in which Kyiv has accused Moscow of falsely applying the UN’s 1948 Genocide Convention to justify its 24 February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.The court’s judgements are final and without appeal but it has no way to enforce its rulings.

Russia-Ukraine War

The war in Ukraine broke out on 24 February, 2022 when Russia said it was trying to “denazify” Ukraine amongst other things.

The war which will be two years in a few weeks has seen the destruction of lives and property in Ukraine as well as the displacement of residents.

Ukraine has continued to accuse Russia of committing war crimes in its territory.

No less than 10,000 people have died as a result of the war.