‘Endless pain’: Families of victims killed in civilian plane crashes call for action

The families of the victims of Air India Flight 182, Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 and Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752, are calling on the international community to prosecute those responsible for the deaths of their loved ones.

The Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims issued a statement on Sunday — the International Day for Commemorating Air Crash Victims and their Families

The statement was also signed by the families of the victims of both Air India and Malaysian Airlines crashes.

While aviation incidents have decreased in the last few years, the statement said aviation crimes “continue to be committed and much too often with impunity.”

“In the face of the heedless conduct of perpetrators, it is incumbent upon the relevant international organizations such as the International Civil Aviation Organization Council to act strongly and with full attention,” the statement reads.

“If governments and international bodies would have reacted effectively to terrorist organizations or criminal states who assaulted civilian aircrafts, we would not be mourning the loss of so many dear lives.”

The association said the families of the victims “lost our loved ones due to the criminal actions of terrorist groups or rogue states.”

“We believe that it is still not too late to act,” the statement said.

The families are calling on the international community, and the affected countries to “act swiftly to punish those” responsible for the crashes, to “stop similar tragedies in the future.”

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“We the families of the victims stand resolutely together to reveal the truth and bring justice to the perpetrators,” the statement reads. “Today, we honour all those victims who lost their lives to such heinous crimes against civilian aviation passengers.”

Hamed Esmaeilion is a spokesperson for The Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims. He lost both his wife and young daughter in the plane crash in Tehran in 2020.

He told Global News that it is “very important for affected countries and the international community to react on time to atrocities like this.”

“We believe if Air India was treated perfectly (and) if MS17 had a different fate, I think this wouldn’t have happened to PS752,” he said.

Esmaeilion said the families of the victims have come together in unity to issue the statement.

“We came together and we think unity is very important to have a stronger voice,” he said. “Especially to affected countries and to the to the international organizations.”

Esmaeilion said ultimately, the families of the victims of Ukrainian Airlines flight PS752 are “not satisfied about where we are.”

“We want to know the truth,” he said. “And we want to see justice, but so far most of the questions that we had are unanswered, and the process for justice is not clear for us.”

He said the families of the victims of the crash are suffering from “endless pain.”

“It’s very important for them to have closure to know what really happened on on the morning of January 8, 2020 in Tehran,” he said. “We haven’t shown teeth to Iran to tell the truth.”

Esmaeilion also said the families are concerned about the situation between Russia and Ukraine.

“We are very worried that what’s going to happen if Ukraine falls or if there is an invasion from Russia,” he said.

Esmaeilion said the families worry that their “only chance for a criminal case in Ukraine will vanish” if something happens in the country.