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The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Russia is responsible for
the downing of flight MH17 and has thus violated human rights. Among other
things, the right to life, enshrined in the European Convention on Human
Rights, has been violated, according to the Court.
 
This is the first time an international court has ruled on Russia's role in
the downing of the passenger plane in 2014, which killed 298 people, including
196 Dutch nationals. The Court considers the suffering of the bereaved
families after the crash and the loss of their loved ones to also constitute
human rights violations.
 
The Netherlands appealed to the international court to establish Russian
responsibility for shooting down the plane. The fact that it is not known
exactly who fired the missile does not prevent the Court from holding the
Russians accountable. It is established that a Russian soldier or a
pro-Russian separatist fired the missile. According to the Court, Russia
failed to take action to prevent human suffering as a result of the missile
launch.
 
Furthermore, the Court criticizes the Russians' failure to cooperate with the
investigation into the circumstances. The Netherlands requested information
several times, but did not receive it. Russia still denies involvement in the
downing of the passenger plane.
 
The Court merged the MH17 case with several complaints from Ukraine concerning
human rights violations during the annexation of Crimea, in the east of the
country, and during the invasion three years ago.
 
Russia was a party to the human rights convention until September 2022, but
withdrew. The country can still be held responsible for actions that occurred
before then. However, the Human Rights Court, which monitors the convention on
behalf of the Council of Europe, cannot compel a convicted state to comply
with its judgments. It must rely on its moral authority.
 
The Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization, which falls
under the United Nations, previously ruled that Russia is guilty of the MH17
crash. That ruling was rejected by the Kremlin. The three men sentenced to
life imprisonment by the court in The Hague for their involvement have also
not been extradited by Russia.
 
The ECtHR and the Council of Europe are separate from the EU. The Council, of
which almost all European countries are members, has protected human rights
since World War II.

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