- 34 81. The Respondent argues that the claims that it discriminated between citizens and
non-citizens are beyond the scope of CERD, in so far as they are incompatible with Article 1,
paragraphs 2 and 3, of the Convention, which expressly excludes from its scope “distinctions,
exclusions, restrictions or preferences made by a State Party to this Convention between citizens
and non-citizens”, and does not affect “in any way the legal provisions of States Parties concerning
nationality, citizenship or naturalization”.
82. The Russian Federation further contends that a number of rights invoked by Ukraine are
not protected under CERD. According to the Respondent, Ukraine’s argument that Article 5 of
CERD includes a right “to return to one’s country”, allegedly breached by Russian citizenship
laws, was only made to circumvent Article 1 of the Convention, since such a right is not protected
under CERD unless the person concerned is subject to racial discrimination within the meaning of
the Convention. On this basis, the Russian Federation argues that the alleged imposition of Russian
citizenship in Crimea could not be a breach of CERD.
83. In relation to the ban on the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, the Russian Federation
contends that the political right of the Crimean Tatars to retain their representative institutions is
not protected under Article 5, paragraphs (c) and (e), of CERD, as those provisions protect only
individual and not collective, political rights.
84. The Respondent also states that the right to education and training, to which Article 5,
paragraph (e) (v), of CERD refers, does not guarantee an absolute right to be educated in one’s
native language, since this provision only aims to ensure the right of everyone to have access to a
national educational system, irrespective of ethnic origin.
85. The Russian Federation contends that by claiming that Crimean Tatars have been
discriminated against because of their Muslim faith, Ukraine misconstrues the scope of CERD,
which does not include discrimination based on religious grounds.
86. According to the Russian Federation, a considerable part of the alleged violations of
CERD to which Ukraine refers is based on the assumption that the application of Russian laws in
Crimea amounts to a breach of certain rules of international humanitarian law, which, following
Ukraine’s logic, would in turn entail a breach of CERD. The Russian Federation contends that
Ukraine is seeking to challenge the application of Russian laws in Crimea, purportedly on the basis
of CERD, but actually by reference to certain rules of international humanitarian law.
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