Current:Home > FinanceUkraine lawyers insist that UN’s top court has jurisdiction to hear Kyiv’s case against Russia -AssetPath
Ukraine lawyers insist that UN’s top court has jurisdiction to hear Kyiv’s case against Russia
View
Date:2025-04-20 07:17:17
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Ukraine insisted Tuesday that the United Nations’ highest court has jurisdiction to hear a case alleging that Moscow abused the genocide convention to justify launching its devastating invasion last year.
Kyiv wants judges at the International Court of Justice to order Russia to halt its attacks and pay reparations. But it appears unlikely Moscow would comply. Russia has flouted a binding interim order issued by the court in March last year to end its invasion.
“Russia’s defiance is also an attack on this court’s authority. Every missile that Russia fires at our cities, it fires in defiance of this court,” the leader of Ukraine’s legal team, Anton Korynevych, told the 16-judge panel.
Kyiv filed the case shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine. It argues that the attack was based on false claims of acts of genocide in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of eastern Ukraine.
“Russia is waging war against my country in the name of this terrible lie that Ukraine is committing genocide against its own people,” Korynevych said.
“This lie is Russia’s pretext for aggression and conquest. Russia has presented no credible evidence. It cannot. In reality, Russia has turned the Genocide Convention on its head.”
Russia outlined its objections to the case on Monday, with the leader of Moscow’s legal team, Gennady Kuzmin, calling it “hopelessly flawed and at odds with the longstanding jurisprudence of this court.”
Ukraine’s case is based on the 1948 Genocide Convention, which both Kyiv and Moscow have ratified. The convention includes a provision that nations which have a dispute based on its provisions can take that dispute to the World Court. Russia denies that there is a dispute, a position Ukraine rejects.
The International Court of Justice hears disputes between nations, unlike the International Criminal Court, also based in The Hague, which holds individuals criminally responsible for offenses including war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In March, the ICC issued a war crimes arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of responsibility for the abduction of Ukrainian children.
In an unprecedented show of international solidarity, 32 of Ukraine’s allies will make statements Wednesday in support of Kyiv’s legal arguments.
The court’s panel of international judges will likely take weeks or months to reach a decision on whether or not the case can proceed. If it does, a final ruling is likely years away.
In his opening statement, Korynevych outlined what is at stake for his country, telling judges that “573 days ago, Russia launched a brutal, full scale military assault on Ukraine. This is a war of annihilation. Russia denies the very existence of the Ukrainian people. And wants to wipe us off the map.”
___
Find AP’s stories about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
veryGood! (944)
Related
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Victoria Beckham Shares Why She Was “Pissed Off” With David Beckham Over Son Cruz’s Birth
- 2023 MLB playoffs: Phillies reach NLDS as every wild-card series ends in sweep
- Horoscopes Today, October 4, 2023
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- A man charged with voter fraud in Florida blames rivalry between Trump and DeSantis supporters
- A 53-year-old swam the entire length of the Hudson River as part of his life's work: The mission isn't complete
- Western countries want a UN team created to monitor rights violations and abuses in Sudan
- Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds
- Jersey Shore town sues to overturn toxic waste settlement where childhood cancer cases rose
Ranking
- Arkansas State Police probe death of woman found after officer
- 'Only Murders in the Building' renewed for Season 4 on Hulu: Here's what to know
- Costco is seeing a gold rush. What’s behind the demand for its 1-ounce gold bars?
- Simone Biles leads U.S. women to record 7th straight team title at gymnastics world championships
- Federal court filings allege official committed perjury in lawsuit tied to Louisiana grain terminal
- Dear Life Kit: Your most petty social dilemmas, answered
- From cradle to casket, life for Italians changes as Catholic faith loses relevance
- Future of Ohio’s education system is unclear after judge extends restraining order on K-12 overhaul
Recommendation
Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
Salma Hayek and Daughter Valentina Have the Ultimate Twinning Moment During Rare Appearance
EPA to investigate whether Alabama discriminated against Black residents in infrastructure funding
With pandemic relief money gone, child care centers face difficult cuts
What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
Australia holds historic Indigenous rights referendum
Highlights from AP-NORC poll about the religiously unaffiliated in the US
iCarly Revival Canceled After 3 Seasons on Paramount+