Rules of the European Court of Justice behind Russia’s landing of MH17 in 2014 – Country
The top European court of human rights issued two rulings on Russia on Wednesday, noting that in the first ruling, Russia violated international law during the conflict in Ukraine, the first time that the International Court of Justice has ruled that Moscow has involved human rights violations since its full invasion in 2022.
The court also ruled that Russia was behind the collapse of flight MH17, and Moscow was named for the 2014 tragedy by the International Court of Justice, claiming 298 lives.
Ukraine and the Netherlands ruled against Russia in four cases filed by Russia, with judges of the European Court of Human Rights ruled four cases against Russia, including numerous alleged human rights violations during the full invasion since the beginning of the war, including Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and the landing of children kidnapped in Ukraine.
Any decision is largely symbolic. The complaint was filed in 2022 after a full-scale invasion, with the court’s governing body expelling Moscow in 2022.
The families of victims of the MH17 disaster see this decision as an important milestone in the 11-year search for justice.
“It’s a step to understand who is really responsible,” Thomas Schansman, who lost his 18-year-old son Quinn in the tragedy, told the Associated Press.
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Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down on July 17, 2014, using Buk missiles made by Russia in eastern Ukraine, controlled by rebels in eastern Ukraine. All 298 passengers and crew were killed, including 196 Dutch citizens.
In May, the United Nations aviation agency discovered that Russia was responsible for the disaster.
The ECHR is an important part of the European Commission, the most important human rights institution on the mainland. Russia was expelled from the Council for Moscow’s invasion and war in Ukraine. However, the court can still handle cases against Russia’s deportation.
In 2023, the judges stood aside in Ukraine and the Netherlands’ challenges to jurisdiction and found sufficient evidence that the region of Ukraine, controlled by separatist insurgents, was “under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation”, including the provision of weapons and political and economic support.
Wednesday’s ruling will not be the last item for EHCR to handle the war. There are other cases against Russia in Kiev, and there are nearly 10,000 cases against the Kremlin.
Strasbourg’s decision was separated from the Dutch criminal prosecution, with two Russians and Ukrainian insurgents convicted of absent from multiple murders for their role in landing in the MH17 flight.
In 2022, the United Nations Supreme Court ordered Russia to stop military operations in Ukraine when hearing the case, a process that would take years. Russia has violated the order by the International Court of Justice.
Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy formally approved a plan to develop a new international court to prosecute senior Russian officials to fully invade Ukraine.
Schansman also filed a personal case for ECHR, and he had no plans to stop the lawsuit, more than a decade after his son died. “The worst thing we have is to stop fighting,” he told the Associated Press. “MH17 is not a case of Russia disappearing.”
& Copy 2025 Canadian Press
