Almost a year after the tragedy of the downed Ukraine International Airlines flight near Tehran, Iran, a report laments the fact that this country is leading the investigation into an accident for which it is partly responsible.
This is one of the observations made by Ralph Goodale, appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to examine the lessons to be learned from this disaster.
As a reminder, flight PS752 was shot down by mistake on January 8, 2020 by an Iranian surface-to-air missile shortly after takeoff from Tehran. A total of 176 people died, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents. This civilian plane was shot down by Iranian forces.
“The responsible party is investigating itself, mainly in secret, which does not inspire confidence,” said the former Liberal minister and special adviser to the government.
“The world has been informed that up to six Iranians have been charged with certain offenses related to the destruction of flight PS752 and the 176 deaths, but nothing has been said about the identity of these people, which they are said to have. fact, their level of responsibility, the evidence used against them, the nature of their defense and the exact judicial process by which their guilt or innocence is or will be determined, ”the report emphasizes.
“This situation raises obvious concerns about credibility, conflicts of interest and a lack of transparency and accountability, particularly in light of Iran’s admission that it was its own military who fired the missiles that brought it down. dejected, ”he said.
“Iranian officials initially denied any wrongdoing, but when confronted with compelling evidence they belatedly admitted responsibility for this deadly sham,” Goodale said.
Three teams are investigating this aerial tragedy: the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and a Canadian forensic review and assessment team is gathering and analyzing the information.
Ralph Goodale also points to gaps in Canada’s response to the needs of the families of victims. For the future, he also recommends that Canada’s intervention “should[ve] be quick, thorough and generous, and [qu’elle] doi[ve] be shaped by the realities of the situation [qui seront différentes dans tous les cas] and the wishes of the families ”.