People’s Gazette
Russia must immediately suspend its invasion of Ukraine, the International Court of Justice ruled on Wednesday in The Hague.
By a vote of 13 to two, with Vice-President Kirill Gevorgian of Russia and Judge Xue Hanqin of China dissenting, the ICJ ruled that Russia “shall immediately suspend the military operations that it commenced on February 24.”
The court’s ruling – the first such verdict handed down by the World Court since the Russian invasion began – is in response to a suit filed by Ukraine on February 27, accusing Russia of manipulating the concept of genocide to justify its military invasion.
Although the ICJ’s verdicts are binding, there are doubts whether President Vladimir Putin will abide by the ruling. The court has no direct means of enforcing its rulings.
In a tweet shortly after the ruling, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the majority decision “fully reinforces my repeated appeals for peace.
The court began by recalling that on February 26 Ukraine filed an application against Russia concerning “a dispute” on the interpretation, application and fulfillment of the Genocide Convention.
Ukraine contended that having falsely claimed acts of genocide against the people of the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, Russia declared and implemented a “special military operation” to prevent and punish the purported acts…
