International Court of Justice indicates measures against "Crimea discrimination"

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Wednesday indicated provisional measures that the Russia Federation must "refrain from maintaining or imposing limitations on the ability of the Crimean Tatar community to conserve its representative institutions including the Mejlis" and "ensure the availability of education in the Ukraine language" in Crimea.

These two provisional measures were indicated on the request submitted by Ukraine in January.

Ukraine had asked for many more measures as it accused Russia of violating both the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (ICSFT) and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discriminations (CERD).

"The conditions required for the indication of provisional measures in respects of the rights alleged by Ukraine on the basis of the ICSFT are not met," said the ICJ.

For the ICJ, the banning of Mejlis, a Crimean Tatar elected representative body considered as extremist organization by Moscow, and the alleged restrictions on the educational rights of ethnic Ukrainians fulfill the condition to request the indication of provisional measures.

In its release, the ICJ said that it is not called upon, for the purposes of its decision on the request for the indication of provisional measures, to establish the existence of breaches, but to determine whether the circumstances require the indication of provisional measures for the protection of rights.

"Both parties shall refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the court or make it more difficult to resolve," said the Court. Endit