A Malaysia Airlines jet flying from Amsterdam--
All 298 passengers--
And the launcher used to shoot down the aircraft--
A Russian military unit.
Deny, deny, deny,
even in the face of extremely compelling...
My daughter was 17 years old.
She was nice and quiet and enjoying her life.
I wished her a very good holiday.
I said, "Take care of yourself."
And then she said,
"You don't have to tell me that 10 times, dad."
She was gonna make a beautiful trip to Malaysia.
On July 17th, 2014,
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17
flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur
was shot down over Ukraine.
Almost 300 passengers were killed.
196 were Dutch.
Immediately I saw there was only one plane
flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur,
an that was her plane.
So then breathing stops and the floor was gone.
And there were 30 casualties,
the next hour 60, the next 80.
But the whole plane was of course gone.
The Netherlands and Australia
now call on the Russian Federation
to engage seriously and accept this responsibility.
In May 2018, after a four-year investigation,
a Dutch-led inquiry concluded that the plane was shot down
by a Russian missile.
The Netherlands says it will now hold Russia accountable.
But the Kremlin denies responsibility
and refuses to cooperate.
The Russians deny everything,
that makes it very difficult.
And then they help the world forgets
and is not interested in the truth.
Now we are very much interested in the truth.
Does it bring back our families?
No, it doesn't.
But it shows that the rest of the world doesn't accept it.
In international law, it is very hard to get jurisdiction
of an international court
and we don't really know what the Netherlands will choose
of its options.
The Hague is the global capital of international justice,
and if there's one country that truly believes
in international law, it's The Netherlands.
Behind me is the International Court of Justice,
also known as the World Court.
So you would think that The Netherlands would seek justice
for the downing of MH17 by taking Russia to court,
but it's not that simple.
The International Court of Justice,
in the Peace Palace in The Hague,
adjudicates disputes between states.
However, the International Court of Justice
only has jurisdiction over this case
if both parties consent.
So, obviously, this is really hard.
International law is made up of treaties.
The challenge in bringing a case
is to find a violation of a treaty
that both states have agreed to,
and then find a court that administers that treaty.
That can be complicated.
The Chicago Convention is the main treaty
that governs civil aviation.
Its Article 3 bis provides that states must refrain
from using force against civil aircraft.
So if Russia was actually involved in launching the missile
that brought down MH17,
they may have well violated the Chicago Convention,
which would allow a dispute to be settled
by the international Court of Justice.
But that really depends on the extent of the involvement
of Russian state agents in bringing down MH17.
The evidence against Russia is overwhelming.
Photos and video gathered from social media
track the missiles exact route
from an Army base in Russia to the border in Ukraine.
They have definitive proof
the airliner was shot down by a Russian Army missile system.
That same Russian mobile missile launcher in Ukraine
headed yesterday for the Russian border
with two of its launch tubes empty.
And then a day later,
the vehicle disappeared back in Russia.
And Russia's alternative theories
have been repeatedly exposed as fakes,
using falsified radar data and forged records.
Are you saying this was not a Russian missile?
This was not a Russian Army missile?
The Dutch might find it easier
to bring the case to the European Court of Human Rights
in Strasbourg.
The European Court of Human Rights
actually looks a lot stronger in terms of jurisdiction
because both Russia and the Netherlands,
as well as Ukraine,
are members of the Council of Europe.
Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights
provides for the right to life,
and that entails that Russia cannot be involved
in bringing down a civilian aircraft.
The obligations of Russia under this Convention
are not only more detailed but also clearer,
and therefore maybe easier to uphold in a court of law.
Though a successful prosecution of Russia
in any court would not guarantee action.
The court's decisions are binding
but if states refuse to act on them,
there is very little in international law
that we can do about it.
We do not have an international army or police force
that can then enter Russia in order to make them pay.
That's holding Russia as a country to account,
but what about prosecuting the individuals
who fired the missile?
That would be a criminal matter,
and the International Criminal Court
is also here in The Hague.
It does have jurisdiction
because Ukraine invited it onto its territory,
and it prosecutes individuals
but only when the countries involved are unwilling to.
And the Dutch say they want to take this case.
With MH17, it is very likely
that individuals will not be extradited by Russia.
A big benefit in the Dutch system
is that it allows for in absentia prosecutions,
which means that under certain criteria
it's possible to prosecute people
even if they are not in custody.
But the Netherlands would have to prove
exactly which officers were there and who did what,
and the Russians are not telling.
Last year, we decided to place this bench here
with some relatives of flight MH17 victims.
You can sit here all day waiting
opposite the Russian Embassy to get some answers.
The best was taken from me, my only child, Elsemiek,
who meant so much for me.
And our families who perished can't talk anymore
but we can talk for them.
We keep on trying, keep on fighting for some justice.