Russia urges U.N. court to dismiss Georgia case

By Aaron Gray-Block

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Russia urged the U.N.'s highest court on Wednesday to dismiss a case brought by Georgia accusing Moscow of human rights violations in the breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

At the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which hears disputes between nations, Russia denied it could be held accountable for attacks on ethnic Georgians and its lawyers disputed the court's jurisdiction to hear the case.

"The Russian Federation requests the court to remove the case," Roman Kolodkin, director of the legal department at the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

On Monday, the ICJ launched three days of emergency hearings after Georgia claimed Russia breached a 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination during three interventions in South Ossetia and Abkhazia from 1990 to August 2008.

It called on the court to order Russia to take urgent measures to protect ethnic Georgians and other people from violence and to allow the safe return of Georgian refugees to their homes.

Russia fought a brief war with Georgia last month after its southern neighbour tried to retake South Ossetia by force and drew western condemnation for extending into Georgia proper.

Georgia says 150,000 Georgians have been forcibly displaced in the past month by Russian forces and separatist militias under their control and has shown the Hague court a map depicting destroyed Georgian villages.

Russia said it sent troops into Georgia to stop Tbilisi committing "genocide" against the South Ossetian and Abkhazia separatists.