In the 32 months since, they have faced obstruction and hostility from Iranian authorities, who initially tried to deny responsibility for their forces. When the bodies were eventually returned, they were often mixed with the remains of other victims, the dead’s personal belongings were looted, and in some cases their funerals were run by the Tehran regime for propaganda purposes. Grieving relatives have been attacked, harassed and threatened. Unlike in the case of MH17, the Malaysian airliner that was shot down by Russian missiles in July 2014, there has been no independent international investigation into what happened to Flight 752, which was shot down by two missiles six minutes after taking off from Imam International Airport Khomeini of Tehran. , transporting mostly Iranian and diaspora families back to their adopted nations after a visit to their homeland. Their families feel forgotten by their governments and are now seeking to hold accountable those responsible for the deaths of their loved ones. On Wednesday they are submitting a request to the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor to open an investigation to strike down PS752 as a possible war crime and crime against humanity. It is an innovative approach, born from the lack of alternatives. The MH17 case was the subject of a criminal investigation led by the Netherlands, which lost 193 citizens of the flight, supported by Malaysia and other affected countries. But there was no corresponding research on PS752. Among the 176 victims (plus one unborn child) were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, ten Swedes, four Afghans and three British. As the nation whose flag the aircraft flew, Ukraine initially took the lead, but progress was first hampered by Covid and then overwhelmed by the outbreak of war in February. Iran conducted an investigation that blamed the disaster on low-level human error, but the investigation had little credibility in a country where the regime controls the courts. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police refused to open its own criminal investigation or accept Kiev’s proposal for a joint investigation, reportedly telling the families that the matter was too complicated and that the evidence was inaccessible in Iran. Instead, the RCMP said it would support Ukrainian investigative efforts, but the families said the Canadians failed to share their testimony and other evidence with Kyiv, even before the Russian invasion. Canada, Ukraine, Sweden and the United Kingdom have formed an International Coordination and Response Team to negotiate with Iran on justice and reparations, with little effect so far. The group is expected to refer Iran to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), but it would be a very slow process and the ICJ does not deal with individual criminal responsibility. Asked about a possible move by the ICJ, Marilyne Guèvremont, spokeswoman for Global Affairs Canada, said “the Coordination Group has decided that further attempts to negotiate with Iran are futile at this time.” “We are now focused on the next steps to resolve this matter in accordance with international law,” Guèvremont added. “We will not rest until the families get the justice, transparency and accountability from Iran that they deserve.” The families, however, have run out of patience. Hamed Esmaeilion, president and spokesman for the Association of Families of Flight Victims PS752, said: “It was so slow and bureaucratic that after two years we said: We have to try another way.” Hamed Esmaeilion’s wife Parisa was killed in the crash, along with their nine-year-old daughter Reera, pictured here as an infant in 2011. Photo: www.ps752justice.com The families’ legal strategy uses Article 15 of the ICC’s founding statute in Rome, which allows “any person, group or organization” to inform the prosecution of suspected crimes. Ukraine has already given the ICC jurisdiction to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity on its territory since November 2013, and legally the Ukrainian aircraft counts as national territory. The downing of the plane followed a US drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani on January 3, 2020, and a retaliatory Iranian missile strike against US bases in Iraq five days later. Therefore, the application to the ICC argues that there was an international armed conflict at the time and that the downing of the aircraft was therefore a war crime. The families argue in their case that PS752 was deliberately shot down despite indications of its civil status and that the Iranian government made a high-level decision to keep the skies open and not warn airlines of the dangers. The motive, the brief argues, was to deter US attacks and therefore Tehran used civilian passengers and crew as human shields. The report also accuses Iran of “outraging personal dignity and looting”, failing to secure the crash site, bulldozing debris, looting valuables and carelessly mixing the repatriated remains of victims. Navaz Ebrahim lost her sister, Niloufar, her only sibling, who had gone to Iran from her home in London to celebrate her wedding. She and her son-in-law, Saeed Tahmasebi Khademasadi, both went missing in PS752 on their way to London to start a new life. Saeed Tahmasebi Khademasadi and Niloufar Ebrahim were newlyweds returning to London. Photo: www.ps752justice.com Niloufar’s luggage was returned, but without any of the jewelry she took for her wedding or the couple’s wedding gifts, or the wedding photos that were visible in news reports of the crash site. Much worse, when Niloufar and Said’s remains were finally sent back to Britain, DNA tests revealed that there were body parts of other passengers inside the caskets. “I can’t even put into words how much this has affected our family,” said her sister, Navaz. “It completely destroyed us. Our lives have been completely destroyed.” After the crash, Javad Soleimani went to Iran to bury his wife, Elnaz Nabighi, in Zanjan province. They were living in Canada and working on their management doctorates together, planning careers and family. Elnaz had returned to Iran for a short trip to visit relatives. Elnaz Nabiyi lived in Canada with her husband, Javad Soleimani. Photo: www.ps752justice.com The funeral was to be a strictly family affair, but when he arrived he found members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and a mullah representing the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. They proceeded to undertake the funeral. When the coffin arrived it had a plate on it that said “Congratulations on your martyrdom”. The family had to fight to keep her from being buried in the martyrs’ cemetery, as if she had died fighting for the Islamic Republic. After Soleimani confronted the IRGC provincial commander and accused him of hijacking Elnaz’s funeral, he received a call from the intelligence agency. He did not attend and left Iran soon after. “After 32 months, we still don’t know the truth about what exactly happened that night, and without closure and justice, it will be very difficult for the families to move forward,” Soleimani said. Esmaelion, the president of the family association, lost his wife, Parisa, and their nine-year-old daughter Riera, their only child. They had moved to Canada when Reera was six months old to start a new life and pursue careers as dentists. Parisa had taken Rira back to Iran for her sister’s wedding and was on her way back home. Iran did not return any of Rira’s belongings, but seven months after her death, a stranger approached him while walking in a park near his home in Richmond Hill, Ontario, and told him he had her health insurance card. He had been sent to the wrong family. Reera Eghbalian on her birthday. Photo: www.ps752justice.com Since becoming the club’s voice pushing for accountability, Esmaelion has had repeated anonymous death threats and a call from a stranger who said: “Let’s talk about the last moments of your wife and daughter.” Canadian police have launched an investigation into the harassment of the victims’ families. For Esmaeilion and the other families, the ultimate goal is for the International Criminal Court prosecutor, British lawyer Karim Khan, to include PS572 in his investigation into war crimes in Ukraine. “I know he has a lot of cases on his table and I understand that it’s a complicated case,” Esmaelion said. “But this was a war crime and this was a crime against humanity, so we expect them to open an investigation.”
