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THE HAGUE: Georgia takes its territorial showdown with Russia to the UN's highest court next week, seeking an end to alleged rights abuses in the military and political fight over South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague will from Monday hear three days of arguments in a Georgian bid for interim protection against "ethnic cleansing" it accuses Russia of committing on Georgian territory.
"The Russian Federation has now assumed control over all of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as well as adjacent areas within the territory of Georgia, following its invasion commencing on 8 August 2008," reads a Georgian court submission.
It says ethnic Georgians in these areas have been subjected to physical violence, resulting in civilian deaths and the terrorising and mass exodus of inhabitants.
"The manifest objective of this discriminatory campaign is the mass-expulsion of the ethnic Georgian population from South Ossetia, Abkhazia and other neighbouring areas of Georgia," states the application.
"It reflects a Russian policy, commencing in the 1990s, to consolidate the authority of ethnic separatists under Russia's direction and control over Georgia's territory through ethnic cleansing and denial of the right of return.
"There is compelling evidence that Russian forces are directly involved in using violence and other coercive measures to consolidate and make permanent the removal of ethnic Georgians from South Ossetia, Abkhazia and adjacent regions."
Russian troops entered Georgia last month to push back Georgian forces attempting to regain control of South Ossetia, the Moscow-backed region that broke away from Tbilisi in the early 1990s.
Russia later halted a five-day offensive, but has failed to withdraw all its troops from Georgian territory. It has since recognised South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another Georgian rebel region, as independent states.
Its actions have been denounced by Western governments.
Georgia instituted proceedings against Russia before the ICJ on August 12, accusing it of breaches of the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
As it can take months for the court to decide whether or not to entertain the case, Georgia brought another application two days later asking for interim protection measures.
It is this matter that will be argued from Monday, with a decision expected within a matter of weeks. Russia has not indicated on what grounds it intends to contest the application, or whether it will recognise the court's jurisdiction.
The ICJ was established by the 1945 Charter of the United Nations, by extension making all UN member states parties to the court statute. But respondent states before the court have to give consent on a case-by-case basis.
In its interim application, Georgia asks the court to order Russia to "take all necessary measures to ensure that no ethnic Georgians or any other persons are subject to violent or coercive acts of racial discrimination".
Russia must also allow the return of ethnic Georgians expelled from South Ossetia and Abkhazia, urged Georgia, which claims that 10 per cent of its total population of 4.5 million people were now internally displaced.
The ICJ has no power to enforce its judgments, which have on occasion simply been ignored by state parties.
- AFP/yb
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