UN court ordered Russia to re-establish Mejlis and stop discrimination in the Crimea

The International Court of Justice has ordered Russia to resume activities of the Mejlis and stop discrimination against the residents of Crimea.

As reported by Evropeiska Pravda (European Truth), this was stated by Ronny Abraham, Chairman of the Court, at a public hearing in The Hague.

According to him, the UN court agreed to introduce measures on the suit “Ukraine vs. Russia” for the protection of national minorities in the Crimea.

The Court considered violations as a matter of violations the provisions of the Convention on the Prevention of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

The Court noted that violations of Articles 2 and 5, which are referred by the Ukrainian side, are aimed at protecting individuals from manifestations of discrimination. In order to introduce temporary measures, a party can file a claim only if there is evidence of manifestations of racial discrimination.

“Regarding the evidence provided to the court, some of it meets the definition of discrimination, for example, restricting the educational rights of ethnic Ukrainians. At the moment, the Court concluded that Crimean Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians in the Crimea remain vulnerable. In this regard, the Court takes note of recent reports concerning the human rights situation in Ukraine”, – said Abraham.

Among other things, the Court ordered the Russian Federation to:

– refrain from maintaining or imposing limitations on the ability of the Crimean Tatar community to conserve its representative institutions, including the Mejlis;

– ensure the availability of education in the Ukrainian language.

The Court also imposed an obligation on both parties to avoid violations of the Convention on the Prevention of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

“The Court notes that the requirements or parameters for the application of provisional measures in accordance with the Convention on Prevention of Racial Discrimination are valid and thus the Court decides that such measures should be specified and to be wholly or partly indicated by the articles, which are referred by the Ukrainian side”, – said Abraham.

As a reminder, on March 6, court hearings on Ukraine’s lawsuit against the Russian Federation began at the United Nations International Court in The Hague.

The process concerns Russia’s violations of the UN Convention on the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Ukraine submitted the materials to the court on January 16, 2017.

Court hearings were held from March 6 to March 9 in open mode at the Peace Palace.

Ukraine petitioned to apply measures of restraint to Russia while the case is considered. This should help with protecting people in the Crimea and the Donbass from deterioration of the situation.

The Russian authorities deny accusations of involvement in the conflict in the east of Ukraine and call the annexation of Crimea legal.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation promised that it uses “available legal remedies” regarding the Ukrainian lawsuit in the International Court of Justice.