Court To Rule On Georgian Claim Against Russia

UN World Court To Rule Next Week On Georgian Claim Against Russia

New York, Oct 7 2008 6:10PM

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will deliver a ruling next week on Georgia’s claim against Russia that it has breached a global pact against racial discrimination.

The ICJ, also known as the World Court, said it would give its order on the Georgian request for interim provisional measures against Russia on 15 October, according to a press release issued by The Hague-based institution yesterday.

In August, following fighting between Georgian, Russian and South Ossetian forces, Georgia filed an application with the World Court over the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

The Georgian Government asked the ICJ to impose provisional measures to preserve its right under the Convention to “protect its citizens against violent discriminatory acts by Russian armed forces, acting in concert with separatist militia and foreign mercenaries” on and around its territory.

In that application, Georgia said that since the early 1990s, Russia has “engaged in a systematic policy of ethnic discrimination directed against the ethnic Georgian population and other groups in those regions.”

Further, Georgia contends that despite the withdrawal of its troops and its declaration of a ceasefire, Russian military operations continued in territories in Georgia’s control.

Oral pleadings by both sides were held last month regarding the provisional measures, and the decision reached by the Court will be binding on the parties. Georgia has sought the interim measures pending the ICJ’s final decision on the merits of the case.

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