Iran committed 'multiple' human rights violations in Ukrainian Airlines attack: UN experts

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iran committed multiple human rights violations in shooting down a Ukrainian civilian airline last January and in the aftermath of the attack, UN experts said on Tuesday. 

"The inconsistencies in the official explanations seem designed to create a maximum of confusion and a minimum of clarity. They seem contrived to mislead and bewilder," Agnes Callamard, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said in a 45-page official letter to Iran published on Tuesday. 

Callamard said the mistakes admitted by Iran since shooting down the plane, which officials claim was accidental, “suggest at minimum a reckless disregard” for standard procedures and precaution given the missile unit’s proximity to civilian airspace. 

Iran has yet to respond to the letter, which was sent to Tehran in December. 

A total of 176 people were killed when Ukrainian Airlines flight PS752, bound for Kiev, was shot down by two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) missiles shortly after take-off on the morning of January 8, 2020. Iran claims the airliner was mistakenly targeted amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington after the US assassinated top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani days earlier. 

Relatives of the victims have previously told Rudaw English of intimidation and harassment by Iranian authorities following the crash, including monitoring families visiting the crash site on the anniversary of the tragedy.

Tehran was accused of dragging its feet in assisting investigations into the crash.

“Iran is trying to wash the blood from his hands and run from the crime,” Armin Morattab, who lost his brother and sister-in-law in the crash, told Rudaw English. 

Iran’s account of what happened that morning are also inconsistent, Callamard added.

"The explanations provided by the Iranian authorities as to how the IRGC TOR Unit struck the civilian flight present many inconsistencies,"  she said. “Simply put, they do not add up."