MH17: One year on

(by Vladimir Malygin, Ambassador of Russia to Malta, The Malta Independent, July 29, 2015)

This month the world remembered the first anniversary of a terrible tragedy – the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, which occurred in the airspace over Ukraine on 17 July, 2014.

Taking this opportunity I would like to offer my deepest condolences to all the relatives of the passengers and crew members, who became victims of this criminal act.

Immediately after the crash, Russia condemned the downing and called for an independent international investigation under ICAO and the UN aegis while offering all necessary assistance. Unlike some other states, which claimed they had ”important evidence”, but up to this moment failed to produce it, our country was quick to make public its military monitoring data pertaining to the tragedy.

It was also upon Russia’s initiative that the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2166 concerning this horrible event was adopted on 21 July, 2014. The Resolution expressed support for the “efforts to establish a full, thorough and independent international investigation into the accident in accordance with international civil aviation guidelines” and called on all UN member states “to provide any requested assistance to civil and criminal investigations”.

However, one year later the Resolution, which set out clear requirements for investigating the MH17 catastrophe, has not been implemented.

There are many serious questions regarding the organisation of the investigation. For example, it is being conducted without due observance of international aviation standards and without recognition of the key role of ICAO in such matters. Our numerous calls for making use of the UN Security Council to monitor the implementation of Resolution 2166 have been consistently ignored. It is also worth mentioning that Russia has been barred from any substantive participation in the investigation.

In these circumstances the recent proposal of a number of countries to adopt – literally within a number of days and without discussing their plans with other concerned parties – a decision, which would establish “as soon as possible” an international tribunal on the MH17 tragedy, looks premature and counterproductive to say the least.

Firstly, the authors of this idea are trying to depict the MH17 crash as a “threat to international peace and security” thus putting it under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. However, no such definition can be found in UNSC Resolution 2166. The shooting down of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing, though horrifying and tragic, was an isolated act of a criminal nature. That is why the matter of organising a trial does not fall within the Security Council’s mandate.

Secondly, UNSC practice shows that the mere principle of establishing international judicial mechanisms by a decision of the Council has become a subject of serious criticism. The activities of two existing international tribunals – the ICTY (former Yugoslavia) and ICTR (Rwanda) have been costly, inefficient and slow. Their decisions are highly politicised and they have not been able to finish their work – for over two decades – with acceptable results.

Thirdly, history has never seen precedents of creating an international tribunal for bringing to justice those who were accused of perpetrating an act of violence against a civilian airliner: Not when a Russian passenger aircraft was shot down in 2001 by Ukrainian armed forces over the Black Sea; not when the American Navy destroyed an Iranian liner over the Persian Gulf in 1988; not after the terrorist act over Lockerbie in 1988; nor in other similar circumstances.

And finally, according to a recent statement by the spokesman of the Dutch Public Prosecutor, the investigators are yet to identify the individuals responsible for the crash while the final results of the effort might be published only next year. This raises the question: Is there any sense in putting the cart before the horse?

We firmly believe that before taking decisions on judicial mechanisms and punishing those guilty of this crime, there must be first active work to conclude the ongoing international investigation, which should be thorough, objective, independent and comprehensive.

With this in mind Russia has come forward with a proposal to strengthen the role of the UN in this investigation, to build its capacity and to fully utilize the potential of Resolution 2166. It is also important to ensure that all states concerned have access to the results of the investigation without any discrimination.

Russia will continue closely watching everything that can clarify the causes of the MH17 disaster and find those who are to be blamed for it. We believe that all facts and versions without exception are to be considered objectively and professionally.

Truth must be revealed.