Australia And The Netherlands Launch UN Action Against Russia Over MH17

SYDNEY/AMSTERDAM, March 14 – Australia and the Netherlands said on Monday they have launched a joint lawsuit against Russia at the UN aviation agency over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 eight years ago.

A Boeing 777 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, when it was hit over rebel-held eastern Ukraine by a surface-to-air missile that international investigators and prosecutors say was Russian-made, killing all 298 people on board. .

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Russia was responsible under international law and that referring the matter to the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization would be a step forward in the fight for the victims, including 38 Australians.

The Dutch government said the UN Security Council was also informed of the move.

“The death of 298 civilians, including 196 Dutch, cannot and must not remain without consequences. The current events in Ukraine highlight the vital importance of this,” Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said in a statement.

This rare procedure falls under an article of the ICAO Chicago Convention designed to protect civilian aircraft from weapons fire. It was added in 1984 after Soviet fighter jets shot down a South Korean airliner a year earlier.

The UN move is separate from the Dutch trial over the murder of the four suspects due to their individual criminal liability.

REFUND

Australia has said it is demanding full reparations from Russia for the damage caused and the suspension of Russia’s voting rights in ICAO, which sets standards for civil air travel.

Although it does not have regulatory authority, ICAO, headquartered in Montreal, is at the center of a global aviation safety system that operates despite political barriers. According to the agency’s website, its dispute resolution procedure has only been used five times.

Morrison said Russia’s “unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine” that began last month underlined the need to hold Russia accountable for what he called “a flagrant violation of international law.”

Australia and the Netherlands said they would rely on evidence that MH17 was shot down by a Russian anti-aircraft missile system brought in from Russia under the control of pro-Russian separatists and returned to Russia after the downing.

Moscow, which describes its actions in Ukraine as a “special operation”, has always denied involvement in MH17 and has promoted a number of alternative theories that international investigators have dismissed as unsupported by evidence.

NEGOTIATION

While the outcome of the case at ICAO is unclear, experts said the move could be seen as yet another way to force Russia into negotiations over the incident, even as Russia continues to deny involvement.

In past cases, a formal discussion in ICAO has also been seen as a step towards filing a claim with the International Court of Justice in The Hague, as Iran v. the United States did in 1989 in connection with the 1988 shooting down of IranAir Flight 655.

Australian Foreign Minister Maris Payne said on Monday that Australia and the Netherlands had been negotiating with Russia in good faith, but that Russia unilaterally withdrew from them in 2020.

Last year, the Netherlands said it wanted to bring Russia back to the negotiating table, but did not rule out a lawsuit.

The Russian Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment.

The verdict in the case of the murder of three Russians and a Ukrainian, who remain at large, is expected at the end of this year. None of the defendants appeared before the Dutch court.

Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Additional reporting by Stephanie van den Berg and Tim Hefer; Edited by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Hugh Lawson

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