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International Court of Justice requires Russia to suspend military operations in Ukraine The Hague.- The International Court of Justice (ICJ) demanded on Wednesday that Russia, by 13 votes to two, “immediately suspend military operations” in Ukraine.
“The Russian Federation must ensure that any military unit or irregular armed group that it supports (…) avoids taking steps that encourage military operations” in Ukrainesaid the president of the ICJ, Joan Donoghue, at the public reading of the judicial order issued by the highest court of the United Nations in The Hague.
Also, the judges unanimously decided to call on Moscow and Ukraine to “refrain from any action that might aggravate or extend the dispute before the court.”
To bring the armed conflict to the UN high court, kyiv argued that Russia has misinterpreted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, a 1948 treaty signed by both countries, because Moscow has justified the invasion of Ukraine on the basis of an alleged genocide of the Russian-speaking population in the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The court today sided with Ukraine’s hypothesis and ruled that it is “in principle” competent to try the case, although Russia will later have the right to file a motion to challenge the court’s jurisdiction.
Read also: “Russia’s military operation in Ukraine is a success,” says Vladimir Putin
The orders issued today by the judges are precautionary measures that, in theory, should be applied until the merits of the case are judged. That is, until the ICJ looks into whether Moscow has misinterpreted the genocide convention, a judicial process that would take years.
However, it remains to be seen whether Russia will obey the court’s order, because although its decisions are binding, the ICJ does not have a police force to enforce its sentences, but depends on the will of the States involved.
When a country ignores the orders of the ICJ, the affected State can resort to the Security Council of the United Nations to “make recommendations or decide what measures should be adopted to give effect to the sentence”, it is said in article 94 of the letter of the ONU.
However, Russia might use its veto power as a permanent member and block any initiative that comes before the UN Security Council.
Volodimir Zelensky calls the ruling “complete victory”
“Ukraine won a complete victory in its case once morest Russia in the International Court of Justice. The ICJ ordered an immediate stop to the invasion. The order is binding under international law. Russia must comply immediately. Ignoring the order will further isolate Ukraine. Russia“.
Ukraine gained a complete victory in its case once morest Russia at the International Court of Justice. The ICJ ordered to immediately stop the invasion. The order is binding under international law. Russia must comply immediately. Ignoring the order will isolate Russia even further
— (@ZelenskyyUa) March 16, 2022
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