By Guido Lanfranchi.
On May 24th, United States State Department voiced its support for the actions undertaken by the Dutch and Australian governments, which have called Russia “to account for its role in the July 2014 downing of Malaysia Fight #17.”
On July 17th, 2014, the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH-17) took off from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and headed towards Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. At around 16:20 local time, the aircraft was flying over eastern Ukraine, theater of a conflict between the government and separatist rebels, when it was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. All the 298 people on board, both crew and passengers, died.
In the aftermath of the accident, the different factions fighting in eastern Ukraine started trading accusations. The matter was swiftly referred to the United Nations Security Council. On July 21st, the Council passed Resolution 2166, expressing support for the “efforts to establish a full, thorough and independent international investigation into the incident,” and calling all UN member states to “provide any requested assistance to civil and criminal investigations.” Since then, several investigations have been held, with the Dutch government playing a pivotal role in many of them.
On May 24th, the Dutch Public Prosecutor exposed the findings of the most recent investigation, conducted by the so-called Joint Investigation Team. According to the JIT results, the surface-to-air BUK missile that hit the MH-17 was shot from a launcher belonging to the Russian 53rd anti-aircraft brigade. After the publication of these information, the Dutch and Australian government decided to hold the Russian government legally responsible for the incident, in which 193 Dutch nationals and 27 Australian citizens lost their lives.
In its press communique, the United States State Department declared its “complete confidence in the findings of the JIT.” In the document, USSD Spokesperson Ms. Heather Nauert stressed that the launcher used to down the MH-17 “was brought into sovereign Ukrainian territory from Russia, was fired from territory controlled by Russia and Russia-led forces in eastern Ukraine, and was then returned to Russian territory.”
The US State Department thus expressed strong support for the “decisions by the Netherlands and Australia to call Russia to account,” and urged Russia to “cease its lies” and to “adhere to UNSCR 2166 and respond to Australia’s and the Netherlands’ legitimate requests.”
The State Department also offered its condolences to the families and friends of the 298 innocent victims, pledging to “call for justice” on their behalf. In the conclusive remarks, the Department highlighted that it remains “confident in the ability of the Dutch criminal justice system to prosecute those responsible in a manner that is fair and just.”
