World court rejects bulk of Ukraine’s terrorism charges against Russia

By admin On Feb 1, 2024

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on Wednesday that Russia had violated global anti-terrorism and anti-racial discrimination treaties, but dismissed most of the charges Kyiv brought against Moscow stemming from its 2014 invasion of Ukraine.

The 117-page judgement contained rulings on seven matters in Ukraine’s case against Russia claiming that Moscow funded pro-Russian separatists in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions and the Crimean peninsula.

The court ruled that Russia had failed to investigate persons who allegedly breached parts of the Convention against Financing Terrorism.

In terms of Russia’s actions in Crimea after 2014, the world court decided that Russia violated the Convention to Eliminate Racial Discrimination in the way it implemented its educational system related to curricula in the Ukrainian language.

The ICJ also ruled that Russia violated its obligation under the court’s order for provisional measures issued in April 2017, including to refrain from any action that might aggravate the dispute or make it more difficult to resolve.

But, the world court rejected the rest of Ukraine’s related charges, including requests for compensation from Moscow for damages.

Ukraine had also claimed Russia was responsible for the downing of a Malaysian Airlines flight in 2014.

Read a summary of the judgement here.

World court to rule on Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine

On Friday, the world court is expected to issue a judgement on the preliminary objections of Russia in Ukraine’s case against it related to allegations of genocide.

Kyiv had filed the case two days after Russia’s full-scale invasion began on 24 February 2022.

While the court’s judgements are final, without opportunities for appeal, it is unable to enforce its decisions.

Learn more about what the ICJ does and why it matters in our explainer here.