BY:
Kiev files case in U.N. court accusing Moscow of discrimination, terror financing in Crimea
Ukraine filed a lawsuit late Monday against Russia in
the United Nation’s highest court over its occupation of the Crimean Peninsula,
demanding Moscow immediately stop sending money and weapons to separatists in
Ukraine.
Ukraine filed the case in the
International Court of Justice, charging that the Russian Federation has
financed acts of terrorism and engaged in discrimination through its illegal
intervention in eastern Ukraine in violation of international law.
“Ukraine
alleges that the Russian Federation is violating the Terrorism Financing
Convention by supplying weapons and other forms of assistance to illegal armed
groups operating on Ukrainian territory,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Ukraine said in a statement announcing the case. “These groups have committed acts
of terrorism in Ukraine with weapons supplied by Russia, including the downing
of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17.”
“In addition, Ukraine alleges that
the Russian Federation is violating the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination by engaging in a campaign of discrimination
against non-Russian communities living in the occupied Crimean Peninsula,
including, in particular, the ethnic Ukrainian and Tatar communities,” the ministry
stated, accusing Russia of deliberately implementing a “policy of cultural
erasure” to suppress these communities.
The
International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, released more details on the case on Tuesday. Ukraine
has asked the court to implement provisional measures pending the ruling on the
case directing Russia to halt transfers of money, weapons, equipment, and
personnel from its territory to separatist groups engaging in terrorism against
Ukraine and to stop racial discrimination against groups in Ukrainian territory
occupied by Russia.
Russia’s
foreign ministry described the lawsuit as motivated by “political aims” and
said that Moscow would use “all means of legal protection available to it,” according to Russian-controlled TASS news agency.
“As part of its unlawful
aggression in Ukraine, the Russian Federation has displayed contempt for the
basic human rights of the people of Ukraine,” Pavlo Klimkin, Ukraine’s foreign
minister, said Monday.
“We have tried to resolve the
disputes through negotiation as required by Conventions for more than two
years, but the Russian Federation has been unwilling to cease its violations of
international law,” Klimkin explained. “Therefore, we have filed our case to
hold the Russian Federation accountable for these violations and to vindicate
the fundamental rights of the Ukrainian people under these treaties, to which
the Russian Federation is a signatory.”
Russia first
intervened in Ukraine in spring 2014 after a revolution toppled Russian-backed
Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, and annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
Since then, pro-Russian separatists have continued to fight Ukrainian forces in
the country’s eastern region. Violence in the conflict spiked in December, with at least seven
Ukrainian troops killed and dozens wounded over a four-day period.
The United States and European
Union have slapped sanctions on Russian individuals and entities for their
involvement in the nearly three-year conflict, and have refused to recognize
the referendum that Russia claims legitimizes its annexation of Crimea. NATO
has also bolstered its forces in the Baltic states and Poland to ward off
Russian aggression.
The Obama administration has been
criticized for not providing Ukrainian troops with lethal defensive weapons,
despite many in Congress supporting such a move.
The lawsuit comes as
President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on Friday, receives
continued scrutiny for his willingness to pursue better relations with Moscow
and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Relations between the United
States and Russia have eroded over the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, as well
as Moscow’s hacking campaign to undermine the U.S. presidential election
in November.
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