The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Wednesday ruled that Russia is responsible for the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, in addition to engaging in a range of serious human rights violations in Ukraine.
The unanimous ruling announced in Strasbourg found that Russia had carried out reckless military actions, including torture, forced relocation, the use of rape as a weapon of war and the abduction of Ukrainian children to bring them to Russia.
The MH17 tragedy, which claimed the lives of all 298 passengers and crew, including 196 Dutch nationals, was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur before being shot down in eastern Ukraine.
The court also said that Russia had failed to conduct a fair investigation, refused to cooperate with international investigations, and denied justice to the victims' families.
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said the ruling may not be able to erase the grief felt by the victims' families, but it provides relief and official recognition of their suffering.
Russia, however, rejected the decision and described it as “legally invalid.”
Finally, all the mysteries about the mastermind behind the MH17 tragedy have now been answered, but the world faces a difficult choice: either let justice be buried with the victims, or rise up to demand real accountability.
