Europe

New Reports Seem to Confirm Russian Rocket Responsible for Downing MH17 over Ukraine

By Kyle Herda

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KIEV, Ukraine – A fragment found at the crash site of MH17 has been tested and appears to have come from a Russian BUK missile.

A piece of flight MH17 being removed from the crash site. (Photo courtesy of Reuters)

A Dutch journalist recovered a fragment from the July 17 crash that killed 298 people. The fragment was later tested by international forensic experts, which included defense analyst HIS Jane’s in London. Tests on the fragment show that it appears to have come from the Russian BUK missile, an anti-aircraft missile that fires from a truck to engage aircraft up to 13 miles off the ground.

Testing on fragments has revealed a low-grade steel alloy consistent with BUK missiles, and a fragment believed to have come from a warhead includes numbers that seem consistent with a serial number and a Russian alphabet letter. IHS Jane reports the warhead came from a BUK-9M317, which is the newer version of a BUK 1-2. German rocket scientists Marksu Schiller and Robert Schmucker also believe the IHS Jane report, claiming “only a Buk missile can take out the aircraft at such a height, in such a short time, and cause so much damage.”

Until this new report came out, reports merely claimed “high velocity projectiles” hit the plane but could confirm no more. Both sides continue to blame the other; Kiev and Western nations believe it was fired either by Russia or more likely pro-Russian rebels armed with a Russian missile, while Russia and pro-Russian rebels tend to claim Kiev is responsible.

Ukraine has been more stable as of late given a cease-fire that has created more peace in the country’s East than has been seen in months. There is one problem, however, as the cease-fire is contingent on both sides pulling away heavy weapons 15 to 45 miles from the front, yet reports show that both sides have failed to do so, and are actively moving heavy weapons near the front. On Wednesday, reports claim Kiev transported a tank and large-caliber gun in Avdiivka, near the front, and reports from Friday claim that two tanks and two 120mm guns were taken to the front in rebel territory near Donetsk. Lack of willingness by both sides to honor the cease-fire terms, along with reports officially linking Russia to the MH17 crash, create concerns that the cease-fire may again fall apart to renewed fighting that has already killed 6,000.

For more information, please see:

Yahoo – Confidence in Ukraine’s cease-fire hurt by arms violations – 21 March 2015

Business Insider – More proof that a Russian BUK missile shot down passenger plane MH17 – 19 March 2015

NL Times – Russian BUK Missile Took Out MH17: Dutch Forensic Researcher – 19 March 2015

Reuters – Fragment from MH17 crash site supports missile theory: Dutch TV – 19 March 2015

U.N. Rights Chief Warns Nations Not to Lose Focus on Guarding Human Rights

By Kyle Herda

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

PARIS, France – U.N. Human Rights Chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein recently spoke out against not only terrorism, but also against nations who lowered themselves to the level of the terrorists by employing tactics that violate human rights. “The fight against terror is a struggle to uphold the values of democracy and human rights, not undermine them,” Hussein said. He believes nations fighting terrorism are also restricting and violating the rights of people in the name of ‘national security.’

Hussein criticized terrorism, but also criticized the way that some nations have handled fighting it. (Photo courtesy of Mail & Guardian)

Hussein worries that employing questionable tactics in the fight against terrorism may actually be assisting terrorists. For example, ISIS has already successfully used human rights violations by the US at Guantanamo Bay as a propaganda tool to recruit more members. “Counter-terrorist operations that are non-specific, disproportionate, brutal and inadequately supervised violate the very norms that we seek to defend,” Hussein claimed. Hussein also criticized the US for its use of torture in the name of ‘national security,’ including torture sites throughout Europe.

Hussein was also quick to criticize the terrorists employing brutal tactics to begin with. While world powers may be acting in ways that fuel terrorism, “experiences of humiliation, inequality and discrimination … may drive, though they do not excuse, the urge to destroy.” Many of these violations have occurred over the past year at the hands of ISIS or affiliates of, including at least two terrorist attacks on European targets (Charlie Hebdo in Paris and a Jewish Museum in Brussels).

Also targeted by Hussein was the silencing of opposition to the Kremlin, Boris Nemtsov. First, Nemtsov was killed in Moscow, sparking international demand for an international investigation to ensure Putin is not involved and to bring the right people to jusitce. Since then, detained suspects claimed to be responsible for the killing have been showing signs of torture after being detained, with one, Rustam Yusupov, reportedly missing since detention.

It is precisely the injustices around the world in some leading nations that Hussein believes is fueling terrorism and allowing extreme human rights violations to occur. By eliminating torture, racial insensitivity and inequality, and wrongful silencing of the opposition, Hussein believes leading nations can better preserve human rights while also properly combatting terrorism.

For more information, please see:

Reuters – Suspects in Nemtsov killing probably tortured – Russian rights activist – 11 March 2015

The New York Times – U.N. Rights Chief Criticizes World Powers – 5 March 2015

Mail & Guardian – UN calls on countries to ‘root out’ injustices that fuel extremism – 5 March 2015

UN News Centre – Member States must enforce human rights amid rising tide of extremism – UN rights chief – 5 March 2015

Although Ceasefire in Ukraine Holds, War Games Continue

By Kyle Herda

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KIEV, Ukraine – Tensions between Russia and NATO nations remains high despite the ceasefire still holding in Ukraine, and unfortunately this is keeping Ukraine in the spotlight between the two forces. The United States will be sending troops to help train Kiev’s military, much against the demands by Russia to avoid involvement with the United States.

Russian Su-30 jets were used in practice attack runs on NATO ships in the Black Sea. (Photo courtesy of Business Insider)

United States’s senior envoy to Europe claims that there are still “thousands and thousands” of Russian troops deployed in Eastern Ukraine, along with “hundreds of pieces of military equipment, including tanks, armored vehicles, rocket systems, heavy artillery.” US Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges estimates that there are 12,000 Russian troops in eastern Ukraine, along with another 29,000 in Crimea. Further, the senior envoy claims that “[t]he Russian military has its own robust command structure in eastern Ukraine … they are funding this war, they are fueling it and commanding and controlling it.”

In response, the United States intends to carry out its plan to send roughly 300 troops to western Ukraine to train Kiev’s troops in fighting the pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine. Further, under the fiscal 2015 budget to help train and equip the armed forces of allies around the world, the US has already set aside $19 million to assist the Ukrainian National Guard. On top of this, the US has still failed to rule out sending lethal aid to Kiev. Additionally, German Chancellor Angela Merkel says that more sanctions may be pressed onto Russia if the ceasefire fails, as it would likely be the result of instability caused at least partially by Russian involvement.

Russia has been active in trying to denounce the involvement of NATO nations in the Ukrainian conflict. Recently, Russian Su-30s and Su-24 aircraft from Russia’s new Black Sea Fleet in Crimea have run mock attacks on NATO warships in the Black Sea.

For more information, please see:

Yahoo – EU ready with sanctions if Ukraine ceasefire violated, Merkel says – 4 March 2015

Yahoo – ‘Thousands’ of Russian troops in east Ukraine: US envoy – 4 March 2015

Business Insider – Report: Russia is practicing attack runs against NATO warships in the Black Sea – 4 March 2015

Defense News – US Soldiers Readying for Ukraine Deployment – 3 March 2015

ABC – US Commander: Arming Ukraine Increases Pressure on Putin – 3 March 2015

Global Research – Despite Russian Warnings, US Will Deploy a Battalion to Ukraine by the End of the Week – 3 March 2015

Fragile Truce Tested in Ukraine

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

KIEV, Ukraine – The ceasefire between pro-Russian forces and the Ukrainian military, brokered by France and Germany, is broadly holding at the front line in eastern Ukraine, but the events of the last several days have put new strained on the fragile truce. Pro-Russian fighters in the separatist stronghold of Donetsk are reportedly training for another round of clashes against Ukraine’s government troops. Under the watch of rebel commanders, fighters have fired automatic assault rifles, grenade launchers and even an anti-tank missile at targets propped against refuse discarded by a local mine on Sunday. The training operations came just a day after the murder of Boris Nemtsov, a Putin critic and opponent of the war in Ukraine, who was gunned down in Moscow on Saturday night. Nemtsov was reportedly planning to publish evidence of Russia’s presence in eastern Ukraine.

Volunteers of the separatist self-proclaimed Donetsk People”s Republican guard fire their weapons during training in Donetsk on Sunday March 1, 2015.

“We don’t want this war”, said Yegor, a commander of the rebels, who claim to be serving the new Republican Guard created by the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Zacharchenko. “But when we see what’s happening on the other (Ukrainian) side we’re preparing for the worst.”

On Monday the Ukrainian military reported that one Ukrainian serviceman was killed and four more wounded in separatist eastern territories in the past 24 hours. The Ukrainian government reported a sharp drop in attacks from pro-Russian separatists over weekend but warned that rebels may be using the ceasefire as a means of repositioning for future combat. Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko also claimed that pro-Russian rebels continue to receive a “significant” amount of military equipment from neighboring Russia, a claim continually denied by the Putin regime.  “The enemy is moving heavy weapons and military equipment, primarily in the area of Mariupol,” Lysenko said in a televised briefing. “If the situation doesn’t worsen, then the Ukrainian side will continue to pull back weapons. For now the process of withdrawal is ongoing,” Lysenko said.

The United Nations announced on Monday that a sharp escalation in the fighting in eastern Ukraine from mid­-January to mid-February led to the death of at least 842 people and left more than 3,400 people wounded, with hundreds missing and many buried without their deaths being recorded. Ivan Simonovic, the United Nations assistant secretary general, reported that in total more than 6,000 people had been killed since the conflict began last April. “Credible reports indicate a continuing influx of heavy and sophisticated weaponry to armed groups in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as foreign fighters, including from the Russian Federation,” the United Nations Said.

For More Information Please See:

The New York Times – Fighting In Ukraine Has Killed Over 840 since Mid-January, U.N. Says – 2 March 2015

Reuters UK – Pro-Russian Rebels Train For More Fighting Despite Ukraine Truce – 2 March 2015

Reuters – Ukraine’s Military Says One Ukrainian Serviceman Killed In Past 24 Hours – 2 March 2015

Forbes – Nemtsov and the Crisis in Ukraine – 1 March 2015

Assassination of Putin Critic Draws World’s Attention

By Kyle Herda

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia – As multiple theories continue to float up about the assassination of Boris Nemtsov, Vladimir Putin wrote a letter to Nemtsov’s Mother promising to find and bring to justice the murderer. Theories currently range anywhere from Putin ordering the assassination of Nemtsov, a strong opponent of Putin’s, to rumors that perhaps an ally of Nemtsov killed him to make him a martyr. Internationally, reactions have been skeptical that Putin is entirely clean from involvement.

A crowd gathers at the site of Nemtsov’s death to create a memorial. (Photo courtesy of The New York Times)

Vladimir Milov, a former deputy minister of energy and co-author of pamphlets created by Nemtsov, believes that Putin was behind the murder “to revive a culture of fear in Moscow.” The Kremlin disagrees, however, stating that they have “half a dozen” leads, and that perhaps Islamic extremists are responsible for the killing.

French president Francois Hollande, British prime minister David Cameron, and European Union foreign policy chief Frederica Mogherini all spoke out today to voice disapproval of the killing and demanding a transparent investigation into the murder. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the killing “cowardly,” and Obama asked the Russian government to be “prompt, impartial and transparent” in investigating the murder. Finally, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko commented on the impact Nemtsov had, calling him a “bridge between Ukraine and Russia.”

Other Russian opposition has been fairly outspoken, stating that the killing is clearly a politically motivated move by an increasingly militaristic state, particularly in regards to how Russia has handled the situation in Ukraine. Given that Nemtsov blogged two weeks ago in an interview that he was worried Putin would kill him, and that Putin has subsequently ordered the investigation into Nemtsov’s murder be taken over by Putin’s men rather than the police, many are skeptical that the Kremlin has had no part in the what is being called a “contract killing”.

For more information, please see:

The New York Times – Fear Envelops Russia After Killing of Putin Critic Boris Nemtsov – 28 February 2015

ABC (Australia) – Boris Nemtsov assassination: Russian president Vladimir Putin vows to bring those responsible for ‘vile’ murder to justice – 28 February 2015

BBC – Reaction to death of Boris Nemtsov – 28 February 2015

USA Today – Anti-Putin leader Boris Nemtsov fatally shot in Moscow – 27 February 2015