Downing of MH17 a crime against humanity

THE nation has been plunged into mourning over the deaths of 28 Australians on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

THE nation has been plunged into mourning over the deaths of 28 Australians in a missile attack by Russian-backed rebels in Ukraine on a packed Malaysia Airlines flight, an attack that Tony Abbott condemned as a crime against Australia and the world.

The victims from Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, NSW and the ACT were among 298 ­people killed when Flight MH17 was blown out of the sky near the border with Russia, transforming its regional conflict with Ukraine into a global crisis.

The Prime Minister said last night there was no doubt the airliner had been shot down by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, probably with sophisticated weaponry supplied by the Russian military.

He slammed Russian ambassador to Australia Vladimir Morozov for trying to shift the blame to Ukraine when he was called in yesterday to provide a “categoric assurance’’ that Moscow would not impede an international investigation into the disaster. “I have to say that is deeply, deeply unsatisfactory,’’ Mr Abbott said of the ambassador’s initial response.

He left open the possibility Russian President Vladimir Putin could be excluded from November’s G20 summit of world leaders in Brisbane. “We all know there are problems in Ukraine … but the idea that Russia could somehow say that none of this has anything to do with them because it happened in Ukrainian airspace, frankly does not stand up to any serious scrutiny,’’ Mr Abbott said.

“I want to say to the Australian people that as far as I am concerned, when you have a situation where Russian-backed rebels appear to have killed Australians, using, it may well turn out to be, Russian-supplied heavy weaponry, Australia takes a very dim view indeed and we want the fullest possible investigation.’’

Reflecting the outrage of world leaders at the downing of the plane, Mr Abbott said the destruction of MH17 was no accident. The dramatic developments came as the US slapped fresh sanctions on Russian companies over Russia’s backing of the Ukrainian rebels, prompting Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to accuse Washington of driving the relationship between the two countries “back to the 1980s’’.

The UN Security Council, which Australia chairs, will be asked to impose a binding resolution on Russia to co-operate with international investigators.

US President Barack Obama immediately offered assistance to “help determine what happened and why’’.

The air disaster is the worst involving Australians overseas, with the death toll just short of that of the nation’s deadliest domestic civil aviation crash: the 1960 loss of a then Trans Australian Airlines Fokker Friendship turboprop in the sea off Mackay, north Queensland, which killed 29 people.

The nation hardest hit in yesterday’s tragedy, however, was The Netherlands, which lost 154 citizens.

US spy satellites reportedly tracked the surface-to-air missile slamming into MH17 as it cruised 10km above the rebel-controlled territory, late on Thursday Australian time, on the heavily flown air route between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur.

Pentagon officials are convinced the high-altitude strike could have been achieved only by sophisticated Russian military hardware, most likely a Buk seeker missile.

Bodies and body parts littered the muddy fields near the coal mining town of Grabovo in a gruesome tableau of death and ­destruction.

Australian passports fluttered in the debris that showered to earth after the Boeing 777 disintegrated. Hoping in vain to find survivors, locals who rushed to the crash scene were horrified that so many children were among the dead. A boy of about 10 perished in a red T-shirt that read: “Don’t Panic’’.

Mr Putin immediately denied any involvement by his country in bringing down the plane, a position echoed by Mr Morozov when he met Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in Sydney yesterday.

Separatists in the self-­proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic of eastern Ukraine claimed the airliner split in two after being attacked by a Ukrainian jet — which was then shot down in turn.

This scenario was rejected by Ukraine, which released intercepted conversations between rebel leaders discussing how the airliner had been brought down after being mistaken for a Ukrainian military transport aircraft.

Bill Shorten underlined how many families would be affected by the MH17 tragedy, revealing that one of his friends had an aunt on the doomed flight. ­Describing the missile attack as a “violation of the rules of civilisation’’, the Opposition Leader said Labor would support the government in framing a response.

Addressing a hushed parliament earlier, Mr Abbott said it was a “grim day’’ for Australia and the world.

The UN Security Council resolution would force the Russians to secure the crash site and turn over the plane’s black box flight recorders and other evidence to independent foreign experts conducting a “full and impartial’’ investigation.

Mr Abbott said Russia should not be allowed by the international community to stand in the way.

More than half of those killed were from The Netherlands, with the flight connecting to services to Australia through Kuala Lumpur. Malaysians, Indonesians, Britons, Germans, Belgians, Filipinos and a Canadian were also numbered among the dead, many of them delegates to the 20th International AIDS Conference to open tomorrow in Melbourne.

Ten of the Australian victims are from Victoria, seven from each of Queensland and Western Australia, three from NSW and one from the ACT. Queensland Premier Campbell Newman choked back tears as he described his personal connection to the tragedy. The eldest of his two daughters, Rebecca, 22, had flown recently with Malaysia Airlines to Amsterdam, while her sister, Sarah, 19, had landed home in Brisbane on Thursday after her Thai Airways flight tracked over Ukraine.

“People my age have kids that travel to and from Europe — it’s a rite of passage,’’ Mr Newman said. “All parents would be thinking of their kids now, if they’re overseas. It brings it home to you. The shock, the tragedy, the whole thing.’’

Asked if Mr Putin’s invitation to the G20 should be rescinded, Mr Newman said: “I really can’t go into that today.’’

Mr Abbott acknowledged it was a “legitimate question’’, but said he would not pre-empt any action against the Russian leader.

Mr Shorten told parliament the opposition would work with the government, “whether or not that involves anything to do with the G20’’.

The loss of MH17 is a hammer blow to Malaysia Airlines, coming four months after the disappearance of Flight 370 in still unexplained circumstances with 239 people on board. That Boeing 777 is suspected to have gone down in the Indian Ocean off Western Australia.

Shares in the state-owned carrier slumped yesterday.

“This is a tragic day in what has already been a tragic year for Malaysia,’’ said the country’s Prime Minister, Najib Razak. “Today, regardless of nationality, we are all united in grief.’’

Additional reporting: The Times, agencies