Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop (left) shakes hands with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ahead of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, September 24, 2015. — Reuters pic

NEW YORK, Sept 25 — Some countries whose nationals were killed in the MH17 air disaster, may create their own prosecution tribunal to seek criminal accountability, according to Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop currently in New York for the United Nations General Assembly session.

This view, which was expressed by Bishop in an interview with the New York Times, suggests that the establishment of such a tribunal was one of the very few options now being considered by the group of nations spearheading the effort to seek justice for those who died in the fatal Malaysia Airline aircraft, which was shot down in Eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014.

On July 29, Russia has used its veto at the United Nations (UN) to block a draft resolution to set up an international tribunal into the MH17 air disaster.

It was the only nation at the 15-member UN Security Council (UNSC) to oppose the move, triggering widespread condemnation.

While Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman has confirmed on Thursday in a press briefing at the Malaysian mission that a meeting would be held on the MH17 issue with counterparts from other nations including Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands and Ukraine, Bishop indicated in the interview that the ministers would meet at the United Nations next Tuesday for further discussions.

She was also quoted as saying in the interview that “I can assure you there are a number of international criminal lawyers who are working on this”.

Although there were nationals of over a dozen countries among the 298 passengers and crew, the passengers who perished on the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur were nationals, mostly, from Netherlands, Malaysia and Australia.

The blame for the MH17 shooting down is being laid with Russia-backed separatists in Eastern Ukraine who are being held responsible by many countries, including the US, Ukraine and Australia, for the air disaster.

Moscow has dismissed such allegations as “politically motivated” and passed on the blame to Ukrainian forces for the shooting down.

Along with Bert Koenders, the Dutch foreign minister, who attended the UNSC meeting on July 29, Australia had sharply criticised the Russian veto, warning then that the group of nations would consider their next steps.

Bishop spoke about establishing a special court to look into the downing of the MH17 aircraft.

Technically speaking, legal experts say that the establishment of such a court does not need UN approval; one way to establish it is through a treaty to be signed between all the affected nations.

Bishop has been referring to a precedence in the establishment of the Scottish panel set up in the Netherlands to bring to justice Libyan suspects involved in the explosion in the PanAm Flight 103 in Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec 21, 1988, killing 259 passengers on board and 11 on the ground.

But in the interview Bishop did not rule other options, including separate prosecutions in each of the nations involved.

One Dutch official, insisting on anonymity, told Bernama that one could re-open the case before the UNSC by re-submitting the resolution after completion of the investigations later this year into the cause of the MH17 downing. Bishop also raised such a prospect. One report ruling out any mechanical failure on the aircraft has already been in circulation, according to Bishop, even though the enquiry into the exact cause of the aircraft’s downing was proceeding apace.

But she said in the interview that “nothing over the last 15 months has changed Australia’s official view that it was brought down by a surface-to-air missile operated by Russia-backed separatists inside Ukraine territory”. — Bernama