This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.
On 17 July 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH 17 was shot down
over eastern Ukraine. All 298 people on board died. On 21 July 2014,
the United Stations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2166 (2014) demanding
that those responsible be held to account and that all States co-operate
to establish accountability.
The air safety investigation under the Montreal Convention
delegated to the Dutch OVV was hampered by a refusal of the Russian
Federation to make all relevant radar data available. The remains
of the victims and other evidence were not immediately handed over
after the crash. Recently, the public prosecutor in the Netherlands, based
on the work of the Joint Investigation Team, announced that he would
prosecute four suspects: Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinski, Oleg Pulato
and Leonid Kharchenko.
It is of utmost importance that justice be done and that all
member States fully co-operate with the efforts in this respect
by those States that have jurisdiction. Under Article 2 of the European
Convention on Human Rights, all States Parties have the duty to
carry out effective investigations to identify and punish those responsible
for the loss of life that occurred under their jurisdiction. Suspects
for serious crimes should be either extradited on the request of
the State undertaking the investigation and prosecution or prosecuted
in their home State, if this State does not extradite its own nationals.
The Parliamentary Assembly should therefore inquire about
the extent to which countries have carried out investigations required
under the European Convention on Human Rights and co-operated with
one another as instructed by the United Stations Security Council
and to make appropriate recommendations.
