Ukraine and Russia to face off at World Court over genocide claim

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ukraine will ask the United Nations& top court on Monday to issue an emergency ruling requiring Russia to stop its invasion, arguing that
Moscow&s justification for the attack is based on a faulty interpretation of genocide law, Reuters reported.Although the court&s rulings are
binding and countries generally follow them, it has no direct means of enforcing them.Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia&s
&special military action& is needed &to protect people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide& & meaning those whose first or only
language is Russian & in eastern Ukraine.Ukraine&s suit argues that the claim of genocide is untrue, and in any case does not provide legal
justification for invasion, read the report.According to Reuters the case it has lodged at the World Court, officially known as the
International Court of Justice (ICJ), centres on the interpretation of a 1948 treaty on the prevention of genocide, signed by both countries
The treaty names the ICJ as the forum for resolving disputes between signatories.Last week, the executive board of the International
Association of Genocide Scholars issued a statement saying that Putin was &misappropriating and misusing the term ‘genocide'&.&There is
absolutely no evidence that there is genocide going on in Ukraine,& the association&s president, Melanie O&Brien, told Reuters.The Russian
embassy in The Hague did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters about the case.The ICJ can order fast-track &provisional
measures& in a matter of days or weeks to prevent a situation from worsening before it looks at the merits of a case, or whether it has
jurisdiction.Ukraine sought provisional measures from the court in 2014 after Russia&s annexation of Crimea, and the ICJ ordered both sides
not to worsen the dispute, Reuters reported.The hearings start at 10 a.m
(0900 GMT) with Ukraine presenting its case
Russia is due to respond on Tuesday.The post Ukraine and Russia to face off at World Court over genocide claim first appeared on Ariana
News.