Canada joins forces to issue notice of claim to Iran

June 7, 2021 · 0 Comments

By Mark Pavilons
Editor

Iran will be formally served with a notice of claim for the downing of Ukrainian Flight 752.
Foreign ministers from Canada, Ukraine, the UK and Sweden met last week and issued a joint statement.
The International Coordination and Response Group noted the “Republic’s actions and omissions amount to breaches of international law. Our claim states that our respective countries, nationals and residents on board flight PS752 were seriously and irreversibly harmed by the tragedy and Iran must fulfill its legal responsibility to make full reparations to the group of states.
“We have made a series of demands that include, but is not limited to, an acknowledgement of wrongdoing and a full accounting of events that led to the downing, a public apology, the return of missing and stolen belongings of the victims, assurances of non-repetition in the most concrete terms, transparency in the criminal prosecutions in accordance with the rule of law, and equitable compensation for material and moral damages suffered by the victims and their families regardless of nationality and in an amount consistent with its obligations under international law.
“We now call on Iran to work with us to set a date to formally begin negotiations on reparations.
“As always, we stand in solidarity with the loved ones of the victims of PS752, who continue to grieve their profound loss.”
The ministers called on Iran to set a date to begin talks on the issue.
Ottawa has been relatively quiet in publicly commenting on the issue.
A team of experts is putting the finishing touches on its forensic examination of the Flight 752 disaster.
Hopes are the report will out in a matter of weeks and this will aid the federal government in its
According to John Babcock spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, Canada’s Forensic Examination and Assessment Team was established to analyze every available piece of information, evidence, and intelligence on the Flight PS752 disaster to advise the government on its “credibility and probative value.”
They are carefully reviewing the contents of Iran’s Accident Investigation Final Report to compare and contrast its findings with what they have learned over the course of their evaluation.
“The Forensic Team is working to piece together a reliable description of what happened and why. A report will be released in the coming weeks to outline their findings.
“Iran has committed a number of deeply troubling human rights violations with respect to the shoot-down of PS752.”
On March 9 Canada led a statement at the Human Rights Council to highlight Iran’s deeply troubling actions and to call upon Iran to engage with the international community to address the violations.
In that statement, and joined by Ukraine, Sweden and the UK, Canada made it clear that Iran must be held accountable for this tragedy.
Babcock noted that Canada has repeatedly called for a comprehensive and transparent investigation into Flight PS752 in order to answer all the critical outstanding questions.
“The families and loved ones of the victims deserve answers from Iran. We remain deeply concerned about the lack of convincing information and evidence, despite the publication of Iran’s investigation report.”
While Canada’s report will examine the evidence, it’s noted that only Iran has full access to the evidence, the crash site, witnesses, and those ultimately responsible.
“It is therefore incumbent upon Iran to provide a transparent and credible explanation of the downing and provide facts to back-up its assertions. Without this information and evidence, Iran risks the loss of international confidence in its ability to maintain a safe airspace.
“Canada remains committed to seeking answers and justice by holding Iran accountable by ensuring it takes full responsibility and makes full reparations for the harm caused to the families and loved ones of the victims of Flight PS752.”
The Ukrainian government announced May 25 they are looking forward to cooperation.
“Ukraine, like Canada, seeks to establish the truth about the events of January 8, 2020, with the sole purpose: restoring victims’ rights and ensuring the inevitability of punishment.”