Georgia Sues Russia at the ICJ

Georgia has instituted proceedings [PDF] against Russia at the International Court of Justice. The action claims violations by Russia of the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), alleging, among other things, that Russia:

has practiced, sponsored and supported racial discrimination through attacks against, and mass-expulsion of, ethnic Georgians, as well as other ethnic groups, in the South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions of the Republic of Georgia.

Georgia is relying on article 22 of CERD to give the ICJ jurisdiction in this matter:

Any dispute between two or more States Parties with respect to the interpretation or application of this Convention, which is not settled by negotiation or by the procedures expressly provided for in this Convention, shall, at the request of any of the parties to the dispute, be referred to the International Court of Justice for decision, unless the disputants agree to another mode of settlement.

The substantive provisions of the convention on which Georgia relies, articles 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, direct themselves principally at the responsibility of signatories to condemn racism and to enact and support provisions in national laws that seek to prevent and proscribe its various forms.

As well, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said his office had received “communications” on the situation and that “It is a possibility,” that his office would investigate the situation.

[via The Hague Justice Portal; Bill Dimitroff]