European Court of Rights Moves MH17 Case Forward

Photo: Molly Quell

The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Wednesday that three lawsuits brought against Russia by Ukraine and the Netherlands were partially admissible, including a complaint about the downing of Flight MH17.

A Strasbourg-based court has ruled that it has jurisdiction over three complaints arising from disputes in eastern Ukraine since 2014. Dutch and Ukrainians want the court to hold Moscow accountable for human rights violations that occurred in the Donbass region, which borders Russia. .

Violations include shooting down a jet airliner that passed through the area on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. last year, The Hague District Court Convicted It crashed a Boeing 777, killing all 298 people on board.

“The court ruled that the downing of Flight MH17 occurred entirely within the territory at the hands of the separatists,” the court said. in a press release.

The ruling also praised the work of the Joint Investigation Team, an international organization led by the Netherlands, that investigated the causes of the disaster. The discovery “provides great clarity about the circumstances of the downing of Flight MH17,” the court said.

The Dutch government said it was happy with the decision and vowed to continue fighting for the victims. “Today’s decision is an important next step if the Netherlands files a lawsuit against Russia,” Foreign Minister Wobke Hekstra said on Twitter.

Russia was expelled from the court’s watchdog body, the Council of Europe, last year after its all-out invasion of Ukraine. The expulsion also removed the country from the courts, but continued the lawsuits filed before its departure.

No person from the Russian Federation appeared in court to read the verdict.

The ECHR will now proceed to review the case, and a final decision will be awaited for several months.