The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights says the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in rebel-held eastern Ukraine could be ruled a “war crime.”
Navi Pillay said Monday in a statement “the horrendous shooting down” of the aircraft was a violation of international law that “may amount to a war crime.” She called for a “prompt, thorough, effective, independent and impartial investigation” into the downing of the plane.
Pillay said every effort will be made to ensure that anyone committing serious violations of international law in the Ukraine conflict, “including war crimes,” will be brought to justice, “no matter who they are.”
U.S. analysts say the Malaysian airliner was shot down by a missile near the Russian border on July 17. U.S. experts have concluded that a Russian SA-11 “Buk” missile downed the aircraft and that ill-trained rebels likely fired the missile, believing the aircraft belonged to Ukraine’s military. Rebels have dismissed the charge.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian official said that analysis of the black boxes retrieved from the crash site showed it was destroyed by shrapnel from a missile blast causing a “massive explosive decompression.” Investigators in Britain, who downloaded the data, had have not commented. They said they had passed information to the international crash investigation led by the Netherlands.
Fighting in the area where the plane crashed has forced a team of international investigators to abandon plans to gain access to the site for a second straight day. The team of Dutch and Australian experts said earlier Monday the group was renewing efforts to reach the site.
Source-VOA
