After 10 years 9 months of the deadly accident, also in a first, a UN body has released its statement after it found that Russia was responsible for the 17 July 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine that killed all 298 people on board.
The council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) voted on Monday that Russia failed to uphold its obligations under international air law which requires that States “refrain from resorting to the use of weapons against civil aircraft in flight.”
The case was brought by the Netherlands and Australia.
“This represents the first time in ICAO’s history that its Council has made a determination on the merits of a dispute between Member States under the Organization’s dispute settlement mechanism,” the UN agency said.
Worth noting here, in the year 2023, international investigators suspended their investigations, believing that there was not enough evidence to prosecute more suspects.
Flight MH17 was heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down over eastern Ukraine amid the armed conflict between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian military forces.
All 283 passengers and 15 crew members were killed. They represented some 17 nationalities and included 196 Dutch citizens, 43 Malaysians and 38 Australian citizens or residents.
ICAO develops and implements global aviation strategies and technical standards and the council is its governing body. The UN agency created a special task force on risks to civil aviation arising from conflict zones in the weeks following the crash.
The Netherlands established a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) in August 2014 together with Australia, Malaysia and Belgium, as well as Ukraine.
The JIT determined that flight MH17 was shot down by a missile launched from a Buk TELAR installation that was transported from Russia to a farm field in eastern Ukraine in an area controlled by separatists.
In November 2022, a Dutch court convicted three men – two Russians and a Ukrainian – for murder. They were tried in absentia and sentenced to life in prison. Another Russian man was acquitted.
That same year, Australia and the Netherlands had filed complaints with ICAO over the downing of flight MH17 with a surface-to-air missile while flying over Ukraine in 2014, where list of deaths included Dutch and Australians.
It centered on allegations that Russia’s conduct in the downing of the aircraft by a surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine constituted a breach of the Convention on International Civil AviationOpens in new window.
The Australian government calls for swift action to address this violation. "We call on Russia to finally take responsibility for this horrific act of violence and to repair its blatant conduct, as required by international law."
For his part, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp welcomed the decision, saying it could not
"erase the grief and suffering" of the victims' relatives but that it was "an important step towards truth and justice".
Russia, which has consistently denied its involvement, has rejected the ICAO decision and described it as "biased".
In another development, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's aide Kamil Abdul Munim has urged against “exploiting” the International Civil Aviation Organisation's (ICAO) finding that Russia was responsible for the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014, and not to be politicised. He said,
"Therefore, what is important is that the report should not be exploited and ridden by parties who are shady and shallow about the issue.
"Let us not be easily dragged into the game of the great powers by helping to direct the enemy's bullets towards us. Politicizing the MH17 tragedy is the lowest level to seed and make cheap political profits," Kamil said in a statement at X today.
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