IN a decision on Wednesday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found Russia in violation of a United Nation anti-terrorism treaty but refused to rule on Ukraine’s allegations that Moscow was responsible for the MH17 plane crash that happened about 10 years ago.
To recall, Ukraine brought the case to ICJ in 2017, accusing Russia of funding separatists including those it held responsible for shooting down Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 which crashed in Donetsk in 2014, killing all 298 people on board.
But the ICJ declined to rule on the MH17 downing, asserting that violations of funding terrorism only applied to monetary support, not supplying weapons or training, as alleged by Ukraine.
The court noted Ukraine’s claim that Russia supplied the missile system but did not allege financial support in that specific instance.
Meanwhile, the ICJ judges determined that Russia breached an anti-discrimination treaty by not supporting Ukrainian language education in Crimea after its annexation in 2014.
Three, by 13 votes to 2, finds that the Russian federation, by the way in which it has implemented its educational systems in Crimea after 2014 with regard to school education in the Ukrainian language, has violated its obligations under Articles 2, paragraph 1 (a), and 5 (e) of the international convention on the elimination of racial discrimination.
ICJ rules Russia violated UN anti-terrorism treaty but rejects Ukraine’s MH17 claims
However, the court denied Ukraine’s request for reparations for both violations and only ordered Russia to comply with the treaties.
The judges also rejected the majority of the cases put forward by Ukraine against Russia over financing terror, and claims of discrimination.
Four, by 10 votes to 5, rejects all other submissions made by Ukraine with respect to the international convention on the elimination of racial discrimination.
The court also found Moscow guilty of violating the UN’s anti-terrorism treaty by failing to investigate plausible allegations of funds sent from Russia to Ukraine for possible terrorist activities.
But although the judges ordered Russia to probe such allegations, they did not grant Ukraine’s requests for reparations.
A separate ICJ ruling will be held on Friday, wherein the judges will address Kyiv’s accusation of Moscow falsely applying the 1948 genocide convention to justify its 2022 invasion.
Russia has called on ICJ to dismiss this upcoming case, saying Ukraine’s arguments were flawed, and that it was a tactic to get a ruling on the overall legality of its military operation.
