The downing of Flight 752 by the Islamic Republic and the unfulfilled justice must not be forgotten.
Erwin Cutler, international director of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights and former Canadian Minister of Justice, and Amanda Ghahraman, international human rights lawyer and research fellow at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute at Concordia University in Montreal, wrote in Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper that the downing of Flight PS-752 by Iran and the justice that has not yet been served should not be forgotten.
In this article, published on Wednesday, October 27, the two said that although foreign policy has not played a major role in Canadian elections in terms of history, in this year's election, the Afghan crisis, issues related to China, including the cases of Michael Kourig and Michael Spier, who have now returned to Canada, and the Chinese government's genocide against the Uyghurs were raised.
The article continued: “But that was all. Nothing was raised about the situation in Iran, which is a major foreign policy issue for Canada, particularly in relation to the downing of Ukrainian airliner 752 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on January 8, 2020 at Tehran airport.”
Irwin Cutler and Amanda Ghahraman said: "The impact of the downing of PS-752 on Canada was profound. Of the 176 victims, 55 were Canadian citizens and 83 were either permanent residents or had close ties to Canada. Most of these passengers were en route to Canada and were traveling to Kyiv to change flights there."
It added that families and friends of victims across Canada “demand truth and accountability for this horrific crime, and while asserting their right to compensation, they want assurances that such an event will never happen again.”
The article says that although the Canadian government has acted decisively since then, more than 20 months after the tragedy, the families of the victims have still not received any answers.
The authors of this article urge the next Canadian foreign minister to make this case a priority. “Given the lack of fair and just trials for what happened in Iran, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police [Canada’s national police force] should open a criminal investigation into what happened,” they write. “The results of this investigation should be shared with Ukrainian authorities, who are considering possible prosecution.”
At the end of this article, while expressing regret that the PS-752 flight was not addressed more in this election, it is stated: "We must now witness the implementation of concrete and decisive measures in an effort to achieve justice."
Source: Voice of America
