Demonstrators demand justice for victims of Flight PS752 ahead of 3-year anniversary

Family members who lost loved ones in the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 are calling for government action through protest.

Since Thursday, dozens of demonstrators have staged a demonstration on the steps of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) office in Montreal.

Protesters are condemning the United Nation body’s decision to hand over the investigation into the deadly flight to the Iranian government, responsible for the launching of military missiles killing 176 people, including 55 Canadians.

“This has never been condemned by the ICAO organization and this is our demand to ask them to condemn this act, this crime,” demonstrator Marjan Madani said.

Madani and others claim the United Nations organization responsible for civil aviation has not held those responsible to account.

“We are looking for tangible action from ICAO and we ask the government to put pressure on them. What we want is justice for this horrible event,” demonstrator Mohammad Abdalreza Zadeh said.

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In a written statement, a spokesperson from the ICAO said they “welcome peaceful activism that can encourage progress in these areas, and as a UN agency, we also welcome peaceful activism in the pursuit of social justice.”

The statement goes on to say the organization has consistently urged Iran to respect its commitments as a signatory to the Convention on International Civil Aviation.

“ICAO is however not an international aviation regulator, and nor does it have authority over its member states. We are therefore unable to comment on matters under national jurisdiction, or to speculate on individual States’ diplomatic positions and outcomes,” William Raillant-Clark, communications officer for the ICAO, said.

Canada, Britain, Sweden and Ukraine in December 2022 called on Tehran to settle a dispute over accountability and reparations for the downing of the airliner by Iranian forces through arbitration under the rules of the 1971 Montreal Convention.

All four countries as well as Iran are signatories of the convention, an international treaty that requires states to prevent and punish offences against civil aviation.

If the countries cannot settle their dispute within six months, Iran can be taken to the International Court of Justice.

Most of the 176 people killed when Iran shot down the Ukrainian jet near Tehran in January 2020 were citizens from those four countries, which created a co-ordination group that seeks to hold Iran to account.

Ottawa has said a special Canadian forensic team charged with examining all available information about the incident found no evidence that the downing of the plane had been premeditated.

Demonstrators plan on continuing their peaceful protest into the weekend.

Hundreds are expected to join in on a march beginning at McGill University planned for Sunday, marking the three-year anniversary of the tragedy.

— with files from Reuters