Russia responsible for downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, European court rules
In a unanimous decision on Wednesday, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found that Russia had carried out 'indiscriminate military attacks,' 'summary executions of civilians,' and acts of torture, including the use of rape as a weapon of war. The court also said Moscow was guilty of the unjustified displacement and transfer of civilians, among other serious violations.
The ECHR, which is based in Strasbourg, is the judicial arm of the Council of Europe. Russia was expelled from the Council in 2022 following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The following year, Russia's parliament voted to withdraw from the ECHR's jurisdiction.
Ahead of the ruling, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the court's authority, saying: 'We consider them null and void.'
In its ruling, the ECHR said: "Taken as a whole, the vast volume of evidence before the Court presented a picture of interconnected practices of manifestly unlawful conduct by agents of the Russian State (Russian armed forces and other authorities, occupying administrations, and separatist armed groups and entities) on a massive scale across Ukraine."
The ruling concerned four consolidated cases, one of which involved Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, which departed Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur in July 2014 and was shot down over eastern Ukraine amid fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists. All 298 people on board the plane died.
Moscow denies any responsibility for MH17's downing and in 2014 denied any presence in Ukraine.
The ECHR ruled that Russia had failed to conduct an adequate investigation into the incident, to cooperate with requests for information or provide legal remedies for survivors. Its lack of cooperation and continued denial of any involvement has caused additional suffering for the victims' relatives, the court said.
Responding to the ruling, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said: "Nothing can take away this suffering and grief, but I hope the verdict offers a sense of justice and recognition." A majority of those on the airliner were Dutch.
The other three cases covered by Wednesday's ruling were brought by Ukraine, over pro-Russian separatists accused of abducting groups of Ukrainian children and transferring them to Russia, and over alleged patterns of human rights violations during Russia's war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year.
Ukraine's Justice Ministry, in a statement on the Telegram messaging app, hailed the ECHR ruling as "one of the most important in the practice of interstate cases".
The court is expected to rule in due course on possible damages and compensation but it has no way of enforcing its rulings, especially on a country that no longer recognises its jurisdiction, meaning Wednesday's verdict is mainly symbolic.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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