On 16 January 2017, Ukraine and Costa Rica filed new cases at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Russia and Nicaragua respectively.
Ukraine instituted proceedings against Russia based on numerous alleged violations of the 1999 International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (Terrorism Financing Convention) and the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
Ukraine contends that Russia has increasingly interfered in Ukrainian affairs since 2014 by “intervening militarily in Ukraine, financing acts of terrorism, and violating the human rights of millions of Ukraine’s citizens”. It claims that these acts constitute a breach of fundamental principles of international law, including those enshrined in the Terrorism Financing Convention. It asserts that Russia should consequently bear “international responsibility […] for the acts of terrorism committed by its proxies in Ukraine”, including the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17.
Ukraine contends that Russia also violated the CERD by implementing a “campaign of cultural erasure” that started with the occupation of Crimea and the organisation of “an illegal ‘referendum’, which it rushed to implement amid a climate of violence and intimidation against non-Russian ethnic groups”.
On the same date, Ukraine also requested the ICJ to indicate provisional measures. Ukraine asked, inter alia, that Russia: “refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute”; “exercise appropriate control over its border to prevent further acts of terrorism financing”; and “refrain from any act of racial discrimination against persons, groups of persons, or institutions in the territory under its effective control, including the Crimean peninsula”.
Costa Rica’s case against Nicaragua concerns “the precise definition of the boundary in the area of Los Portillos/Harbor Head Lagoon and the establishment of a new military camp by Nicaragua”.
This is one of three disputes concerning the delimitation of the two countries’ borders that has been brought before the ICJ in the past six years. In a recent ruling regarding the dispute (Certain Activities Carried out by Nicaragua in the Border Area (Costa Rica v Nicaragua)), the ICJ granted Costa Rica sovereignty over a small area of wetlands near the San Juan River, called Isla Portillos by Costa Rica and Harbor Head by Nicaragua. According to Costa Rica, Nicaragua has installed a military post in a small strip of that Costa Rican territory.
Consequently, Costa Rica has asked the ICJ to “determine the precise location of the land boundary separating both ends of the Los Portillos/Harbor Head Lagoon sandbar from Isla Portillos …”. Once the boundaries have been demarcated, Costa Rica has asked the ICJ “ to adjudge and declare that, by establishing and maintaining a new military camp on the beach of Isla Portillos, Nicaragua has violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Costa Rica, and is in breach of the Judgment of the [ICJ] of 16 December 2015 in the Certain Activities case” and to “declare that Nicaragua must withdraw its military camp situated in Costa Rican territory and fully comply with the [ICJ’s] 2015 Judgment”.
For the ICJ press release in Ukraine v. Russia, click here; for Ukraine’s application, click here; for Ukraine’s request for the indication of provisional measures, click here
For the ICJ press release in Costa Rica v. Nicaragua, click here; for Costa Rica’s application, click here.