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Activities of international tribunals ineffective — Russian Foreign Ministry

The haste in advancing the resolution gives a reason to think individual countries are trying to find an excuse for using the MH17 tragedy to exert pressure on Russia, a senior Russian diplomat says
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov ITAR-TASS / Anton Novoderezhkin
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov
© ITAR-TASS / Anton Novoderezhkin

MOSCOW, July 14. /TASS/. The establishment of the international tribunal on the MH17 crash in eastern Ukraine under the UN Security Council’s resolution is not an adequate mechanism for holding those responsible liable, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday following meeting of Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov with the heads of diplomatic missions of Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Malaysia and Ukraine. The ambassadors spoke in favor of establishing of the international tribunal on the plane’s crash and passing a Security Council resolution on the basis of Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

"It’s surprising that the member of the Joint Investigation Team, which comprises representatives of the aforementioned countries, without discussing the concept of their further actions with other parties concerned, immediately presented the far-reaching draft resolution under Chapter VII of the UN Charter (even though Resolution 2166 doesn’t qualify the plane’s crash as a threat to international peace and security), which is to be passed within a matter of days," the statement says.

"Questionable is the mere principle of the establishment of international judicial mechanisms under the UN Security Council decisions, which gives rise to serious criticism on the part of many countries and the expert community," the Russian Foreign Ministry says. ‘The existing examples of the international tribunals — for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda — attest to the validity of such skepticism. Their activities are ineffective, costly, they are protracted and highly politicized."

"Until now there have been no precedents of establishing international tribunals to prosecute those responsible for acts against civil aviation," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "No one proposed to set up such a tribunal in 1988 after the Iranian passenger plane was shot down over the Persian Gulf or in 2001 — after the Russian passenger plane of Siberia Airlines was brought down. The haste in advancing the resolution and its expanded coverage give one reason to think that individual countries are trying to find an excuse for using the MH17 tragedy to exert pressure on Russia."