The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has delivered damning judgments against Russia on Wednesday, finding it responsible for human rights violations during its invasion of Ukraine and the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.
Judges at the ECHR in Strasbourg, Europe’s top human rights court, ruled on four cases in what is the first instance of an international court adjudicating Russian culpability for the wider conflict in Ukraine dating from 2014. The cases were brought by Ukraine and the Netherlands against Russia.
They include the murder, torture, rape, and destruction of civilian infrastructure and kidnapping of Ukrainian children.
The ECHR ruling against Russia is largely symbolic, since the cases were brought before the court’s governing body expelled Moscow in 2022, following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The 501-page ruling by the Strasbourg court combined four complaints – three stemming from the separatist conflict that broke out in eastern Ukraine in 2014, and one linked to alleged violations of international law following the invasion.
In all four cases, the court’s 17 judges unanimously found Russian forces breached international humanitarian law.
One of the complaints was brought by the Netherlands in connection with the downing of MH17 over separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine. It is the first time an international court has held Russia responsible for the tragedy in which 298 people died.
The Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down on 17 July 2014, using a Russian-made Buk missile fired from territory in eastern Ukraine controlled by separatist rebels loyal to Moscow. Among the victims were 196 Dutch citizens.
For the families of the victims of the MH17 disaster, it is an important milestone in their 11-year quest for justice.
The ECHR judges found that Russia’s refusal to acknowledge its involvement in the disaster also violated international law. Russia’s failure to properly investigate it “significantly aggravated the suffering” of the relatives and friends of the dead.
In 2022, a criminal court in the Netherlands convicted two Russians and a Ukrainian rebel in absentia of multiple murders for their roles in the downing of Flight MH17 in a separate case.
The court will rule on financial compensation at a later date, but Russia’s expulsion leaves little hope that damages will ever be collected.
“It's a real step in understanding who was really responsible,” Thomas Schansman, who lost his 18-year-old son Quinn in the tragedy, told the Associated Press ahead of the ruling.
The Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down on July 17, 2014, using a Russian-made Buk missile fired from territory in eastern Ukraine controlled by separatist rebels. All 298 passengers and crew were killed, including 196 Dutch citizens.
In May, the UN’s aviation agency found Russia responsible for the disaster.
The ECHR is an important part of the Council of Europe, which is the continent’s foremost human rights institution.
Founded in 1949 and headquartered in Strasbourg, France, the Council of Europe is an international organisation dedicated to promoting human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. It has 46 member states.
Russia was expelled from the council over Moscow’s invasion and war in Ukraine. However, the court can still deal with cases against Russia dating from before its expulsion.
In 2023, the judges sided with Ukraine and the Netherlands in a challenge over jurisdiction, finding there was sufficient evidence to show areas in eastern Ukraine controlled by separatist rebels were “under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation,” including providing weapons, and giving political and economic support.
Wednesday’s ruling won’t be the last from the EHCR dealing with the war. Kyiv has other cases pending against Russia and there are nearly 10,000 cases brought by individuals against the Kremlin.
The decisions in Strasbourg are separate from a criminal prosecution in the Netherlands in which two Russians and a Ukrainian rebel were convicted in absentia of multiple murders for their roles in the downing of Flight MH17.
Meanwhile, in 2022, the United Nations' top court ordered Russia to stop military operations in Ukraine while a case is heard, a process that takes years. Russia has flouted the order by the International Court of Justice.
Last month, Ukrainian [resident Volodymyr Zelensky formally approved plans to set up a new international court to prosecute senior Russian officials for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The special tribunal will be created through an agreement between Ukraine and the Council of Europe. It aims to target senior Russian leaders for the “crime of aggression,” which underpins the countless war crimes Ukraine accuses Russian forces of committing since the start of the war.
Existing international courts, including the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, lack the jurisdiction to prosecute Russian nationals for that specific offense.
The ICC has multiple outstanding arrest warrants for Russian officials for war crimes. They include President Vladimir Putin, who is accused of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine.
Mr Schansman, who has also brought an individual case to the ECHR, has no plans to stop pursuing justice, more than a decade after his son's death. “The worst thing we could to is stop fighting,” he told AP. “MH17 is not a case that will disappear for Russia.”
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