MH17: UN Security Council backs Australian resolution condemning Malaysia Airlines plane's downing

Updated

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously backed an Australian-sponsored resolution over the downing of MH17, with Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop condemning the "grotesque violations" at the crash site.

Russia backed the resolution at the eleventh hour after some changes were made to the text, including the characterisation of the incident as "the downing" of Malaysia Airlines MH17 rather than the "shooting down".

The resolution puts in place an international, independent investigation into the plane crash and puts more pressure on Moscow to use its influence over the separatists.

The vote came as a train carrying the remains of most of the 298 victims of the tragedy left the crash site en route to the Ukrainian city of Kharkov, and pro-Russian separatists handed the aircraft's black boxes over to Malaysian investigators in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk.

A ceasefire has also been declared within a 10-kilometre radius around the crash site, to allow international investigators to safely access the area.

The message from this council to those who were responsible for this atrocity is definitive: you will be held to account for your actions. Julie Bishop

Ms Bishop told the UN Security Council that the jet's downing was an "outrage", and described the vote as "an unambiguous response from the international community to an utterly deplorable act".

"Our nation mourns the death of all the victims. I cannot begin to fathom the pain and anguish their families feel," Ms Bishop said.

She said that rebels hampering recovery efforts at the crash site "demanded a response".

"This is why Australia has brought this resolution to the Security Council. The Security Council has responded," she said.

"The victims must be treated with dignity."

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Julie Bishop and Frans Timmermans press conference (ABC News)

The UN resolution demands that "safe, secure, full and unrestricted access to the crash site be provided so the investigating authorities can carry out their work".

"It is despicable that this access is not being provided. It is an affront to the victims and their families," Ms Bishop said.

"All states, armed groups - everyone must cooperate with the investigation.

"The message from this council to those who were responsible for this atrocity is definitive: you will be held to account for your actions.

"We have an overriding objective, to ensure dignity, respect, and justice for those killed on MH17."

Russia accuses Ukraine of trying to garner international sympathy

Russia's representative to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, hit out at Ukraine after the vote.

"It seems that Kiev is attempting to draw on the shock of the international community, [using] the downing of MH17 to step up its punitive operations in the east of the country. Indiscriminate artillery and air strikes are hitting cities and killing civilians," he told the council.

"We would like to ask those members of the council: who, in this room, can confirm that Kiev will be acting with restraint? I'm wondering what strange significance you give to this word."

Mr Churkin told reporters on his way into the meeting: "We were able to improve the text sufficiently for us to be able to support it".

However, the council did not grant Moscow's request that references to armed groups be removed from the resolution.

The resolution "demands that the armed groups in control of the crash site and the surrounding area refrain from any actions that may compromise the integrity of the crash site, including by refraining from destroying, moving, or disturbing wreckage, equipment, debris, personal belongings, or remains".

It "supports efforts to establish a full, thorough and independent international investigation into the incident in accordance with international civil aviation guidelines" and "demands that all states and other actors refrain from acts of violence directed against civilian aircraft".

Further muddying the waters, senior Russian military officials held a media briefing in Moscow, claiming to have evidence a Ukrainian fighter jet armed with air-to-air missiles was detected in the immediate vicinity of MH17 when it was shot down.

"Russian air control systems detected a Ukrainian air force plane, presumably an SU-25, scrambling in the direction of the Malaysian Boeing," Russian air force chief Igor Yakushev said.

The claims drew an immediate denial from Ukraine's president Petro Poroshenko.

"This is [an] irresponsible and false statement of [the] Russian minister, and unfortunately, this is [demonstrating a] very bad trend. I am very disappointed [about] that," Mr Poroshenko told CNN.

Dutch minister calls MH17 political games 'despicable'

Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans also made a statement to the council, saying the loss of almost 200 of his compatriots had "left a hole in the hearts of the Dutch nation".

"To my dying day, I will not understand [why] it took so much time for the rescue workers to be allowed to do their difficult jobs, and that human remains should be used in a political game," he said.

"If somebody here around the table talks about a political game, this is the political game that has been played with human remains and it is despicable.

"I hope the world will not have to witness this again any time in the future."

He said his country would "not rest" until justice was served.

"We demand unimpeded access to the terrain. We demand respectful treatment of the crash site," he said.

"We demand dignity for the victims and the multitudes who mourn their loss."

US president Barack Obama says it is Russian president Vladimir Putin's responsibility to ensure a transparent investigation into the downing of flight MH17.

Mr Obama has denounced the handling of the crash site, saying it has been an insult to those killed.

He said the burden was on Mr Putin to use his influence over the separatists to ensure a proper investigation.

"President Putin says that he supports a full and fair investigation and I appreciate those words but they have to be supported by action," he said.

Mr Obama did not specifically mention any new sanctions, but warned Russia would only further isolate itself if it continued to back the separatists blamed for the crash.

Bodies begin 12-hour journey to Kharkov

Meanwhile, a train carrying the remains of the majority of the victims has left the crash site, after the Malaysian prime minister reached a deal with the leader of pro-Russian separatists controlling the area.

For days the bodies have been kept in refrigerated railway wagons at a small station 15 kilometres from the crash site, prompting fury from nations demanding the bodies be repatriated.

In Donetsk, Malaysian authorities received the aircraft's black boxes from the separatists.

The flight date recorders could hold information about the crash in rebel-held eastern Ukraine, but would not pinpoint who did it, Malaysia's prime minister Najib Razak said.

Both sides signed a document at the headquarters of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, which senior separatist leader Alexander Borodai said was a protocol to finalise the procedure.

Colonel Mohamed Sakri, from the Malaysian National Security Council, said at the meeting the two black boxes were "in good condition".

The Malaysian leader said he had reached an agreement with the separatists for recovered bodies to be handed over to the authorities in the Netherlands, where the largest number of victims came from.

Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte told a news conference that the train carrying around 200 body bags was on its way to Donetsk and then to Kharkov, which is in Ukrainian government hands.

From there Dutch aircraft will fly the bodies to the Netherlands, where the forensic identification process will begin.

The Malaysians have agreed all the victims' remains should go to the Netherlands but want the possessions of their nationals recovered and returned as soon as possible.

ABC/wires

Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, air-and-space, accidents, disasters-and-accidents, world-politics, ukraine, russian-federation, australia

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