Latvia submitted to the International Court of Justice of the United Nations an application to join the case of Ukraine against Russia, which concerns accusations of genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
This was announced by the judge of the European Court of Human Rights from Ukraine, Hanna Yudkivska.
As the judge explained, according to the statute of the court, when it comes to the interpretation of the convention, the participants of which are other states than those participating in the case, each of these states has the right to enter the process. In this case, the interpretation provided by the court decision will be equally binding for them.
The Latvian government stated that the country "has a direct interest in the interpretation that may be included in this agreement in a court decision during the review." It was also stated that Latvia wishes to submit its explanations regarding the interpretation of the Convention, both substantively and in terms of jurisdiction. Currently, the governments of Ukraine and the Russian Federation have been asked to provide written comments on Latviaʼs statement.
- On February 26, 2022, Ukraine filed a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice of the United Nations regarding Russiaʼs violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Also, Ukraine immediately submitted a petition for preventive measures, in which it asked the UN court to order Russia to stop the war in Ukraine. It is the "genocide" of the population of occupied Donbas that Putin justifies the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- On March 16, the International Court of Justice of the United Nations obliged Russia to stop hostilities on the territory of Ukraine until a decision is made in the case of "genocide".