Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution yesterday that would have established an international criminal tribunal for the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 last year over Ukraine.
The binding resolution would have formed a court to prosecute those responsible for the destruction of the airliner and would have required all countries to cooperate with the process.
Russia vetoed the resolution because the matter did not fall under the Security Council’s mandate to uphold international peace and security, said Vitaly Churkin, Russian ambassador to the UN.
“We have repeatedly stated that we do not back the creation of a tribunal... There are no grounds for this,” Churkin said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a phone call earlier yesterday that he opposed the creation of a tribunal because Russia has questions about the Dutch-led investigation.
“Many questions remain regarding the investigation, including with respect to the evidence collected so far and to Russia’s not being allowed to participate in much of the investigation,” Putin told Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, according to a Kremlin statement.
With abstentions from Angola, China and Venezuela, the resolution got 11 affirmative votes from the 15-member Security Council, but Russia’s veto prevented the text from being passed.
The resolution was brought to the council by the five countries participating in a joint investigation team - Australia, Belgium, Ukraine, the Netherlands and Malaysia, which were most affected by the crash.
Bert Koenders, foreign minister of the Netherlands, which lost 196 citizens in the disaster, said it was “incomprehensible” that a Security Council member would obstruct justice.
“My thoughts go out to the families of the victims who had placed their hope on the resolve of this council by setting up this tribunal,” Koenders said.
Australia, which lost 39 citizens, condemned Russia's veto as an “affront to the memory” of the victims.
“Those responsible may believe that they can now hide behind the Russian Federation’s veto,” Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said. “They will not be allowed to evade justice.”
Malaysia ‘deeply disappointed’
Malaysia was “deeply disappointed” by the vote, Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said, declaring that the Security Council’s failure to adopt the resolution sends a “dangerous message
of impunity” to the perpetrators.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said Russia’s role in supporting pro-Moscow Ukrainian rebels, who are suspected to shooting down the plane, was “absolutely clear”.
“When I look at the Russian delegation today, I feel pity - it dared to let down the aspiration of the whole world and especially the families of the victims,” Klimkin said. “If you are afraid of truth, you are definitely on the wrong side - you are alone here.”
The five joint investigation team countries will now likely move forward with an alternative plan to ensure accountability, a senior Security Council diplomat said yesterday on condition of anonymity.
Setting up a tribunal through the Security Council would have been the “absolutely gold-plated” option because it would have required all countries to cooperate, the diplomat said.
Other possibilities include a ‘Lockerbie-style’ tribunal or a hybrid court, which would combine elements of international and domestic justice.
During the Lockerbie trial, two Libyans were tried in a court in The Hague operating under Scottish law on charges of blowing up Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 over Scotland.
The Netherlands ended up being the venue for the trial because, while Britain and the United States insisted that the suspects be tried in Scotland or the US, Libya did not want to extradite the two men unless the trial was held in a neutral country.
In the MH17 crash, Ukrainian and Western officials suspect that Russian-backed separatists used a Russian-made missile system to shoot down the airliner, killing all 298 people aboard.
Russian federal investigators have alleged that the airliner was shot down by the Ukrainian military.
- Reuters
