Years after Iranian missiles downed a passenger jet, a suit seeks answers
On a clear January morning in 2020, Ukraine Airlines Flight 752 was struck by two Iranian missiles just three minutes after leaving an airport in Tehran, killing all 176 passengers. Ever since, families of the victims have asked for a credible explanation but have been rebuffed by the Iranian authorities. On Wednesday, four of the countries whose citizens perished in the disaster filed suit at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, requesting Iran provide a full account, to acknowledge its responsibility and pay “full compensation” for the material and moral damages. The four parties to the suit — Britain, Canada, Sweden and Ukraine — contend that Iran has failed “to conduct an impartial, transparent and fair criminal investigation” but instead has “withheld or destroyed evidence” and “threatened and harassed the families of the victims.” Iran had no immediate response to the lawsuit. For the family members, who have long complained that the case was being ignored, the filing meant a symbolic first day in court; or, rather, in the highest judicial forum of the United Nations, based in The Hague, which settles disputes between nations and is not a criminal court. The families have received no response to a complaint they filed earlier at the International Criminal Court, also in The Hague, which is currently dealing with war crimes investigations in Ukraine. “We need to find the whole truth, first and foremost,” said Kourosh Doustshenas, who lost his fiancée in the crash and heads an association of Flight 752 victims’ families. “This is the only way the families can find closure,” he said by telephone from Winnipeg, Canada. “We want no discussion about money, about compensation until the Tehran regime admits the truth about shooting down the plane.” Under international law, the investigation of an air disaster is conducted by the nation where the aircraft crashed. That has left the Iranian military in a position to examine its own actions, an evident conflict of interest that has drawn wide criticism. Story has more. <br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2023-07-06/general/years-after-iranian-missiles-downed-a-passenger-jet-a-suit-seeks-answers
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/logo.png
Years after Iranian missiles downed a passenger jet, a suit seeks answers
On a clear January morning in 2020, Ukraine Airlines Flight 752 was struck by two Iranian missiles just three minutes after leaving an airport in Tehran, killing all 176 passengers. Ever since, families of the victims have asked for a credible explanation but have been rebuffed by the Iranian authorities. On Wednesday, four of the countries whose citizens perished in the disaster filed suit at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, requesting Iran provide a full account, to acknowledge its responsibility and pay “full compensation” for the material and moral damages. The four parties to the suit — Britain, Canada, Sweden and Ukraine — contend that Iran has failed “to conduct an impartial, transparent and fair criminal investigation” but instead has “withheld or destroyed evidence” and “threatened and harassed the families of the victims.” Iran had no immediate response to the lawsuit. For the family members, who have long complained that the case was being ignored, the filing meant a symbolic first day in court; or, rather, in the highest judicial forum of the United Nations, based in The Hague, which settles disputes between nations and is not a criminal court. The families have received no response to a complaint they filed earlier at the International Criminal Court, also in The Hague, which is currently dealing with war crimes investigations in Ukraine. “We need to find the whole truth, first and foremost,” said Kourosh Doustshenas, who lost his fiancée in the crash and heads an association of Flight 752 victims’ families. “This is the only way the families can find closure,” he said by telephone from Winnipeg, Canada. “We want no discussion about money, about compensation until the Tehran regime admits the truth about shooting down the plane.” Under international law, the investigation of an air disaster is conducted by the nation where the aircraft crashed. That has left the Iranian military in a position to examine its own actions, an evident conflict of interest that has drawn wide criticism. Story has more. <br/>
