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	Families seek justice for victims of Malaysian airliner shot down in eastern Ukraine in 2014 by AFP, Reuters, agencies Netherlands   28 Sep 2016   A Malaysian airliner shot down in eastern Ukraine in July 2014 was hit by a Russian built Buk missile launched from a village held by rebels fighting Ukrainian government forces, international prosecutors in the Netherlands say.   All 298 people on board the flight, most of them Dutch citizens, were killed.   The prosecutors cannot file charges but victims'' relatives have been seeking details of who shot the plane down in the hope that it may lead eventually to prosecutions over the incident.   The Buk missile system used to shoot down the plane fired one missile from the village of Pervomaysk and was later returned to Russia, said the prosecutors, who are from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine.   They told a news conference in the central Dutch city of Nieuwegein that the investigative team had identified 100 people who were described as being of interest to them but had not yet formally identified individual suspects.   But Dutch prosecutors later released the names of two men heard speaking Russian in a wiretapped conversation, saying they wanted more information about them.   Over the past two years, up to 200 investigators have studied half a million photos, videos, some 200 witness statements and 150,000 tapped telephone conversations.   They have also assessed 5 billion internet pages to painstakingly retrace the route taken by the convoy which brought the Russian missile system into eastern Ukraine.   In one wiretapped phone conversation from July 16, 2014 played to reporters, one man believed to be a Russian-speaking military commander asks another if he can "receive a BUK in the morning" saying his forces are under pressure from air strikes and he doesn''t know if "they can hold on".   It was not clear whether an order had been given for fighters to launch the missile or whether they had acted independently, the prosecutors said.   A civilian investigation by the Dutch Safety Board also concluded last year that MH17 was hit by a Buk missile fired from eastern Ukraine, but Russian officals denied that pro-Russian rebels were responsible.   On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "First-hand radar data identified all flying objects which could have been launched or were in the air over the territory controlled by rebels at that moment."   "The data is clear-cut.. there is no rocket. If there was a rocket, it could only have been fired from elsewhere," he said.   The investigators said they had not had access to the new radar images on which Moscow was basing its latest statements.   Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called the preliminary findings "an important step on the road to the ultimate goal: finding and prosecuting the perpetrators".   Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said his country sought "firm action" so that those responsible "will be brought to justice".   "It is essential the international community continue to support the criminal investigation," Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said. "We call on those states that can assist to fully cooperate with the investigation and prosecution."   Victims'' families were informed of the findings shortly before the prosecutors news conference.   At the time of the incident on July 17, 2014, pro-Russian separatists were fighting Ukrainian government forces in the region.   The Boeing 777 broke apart in mid-air, flinging wreckage over several kilometres of fields in rebel-held territory.   Prosecutors cannot file charges because there is no international agreement on what court a case would be heard in.   Speaking before the news conference, Silene Fredriksz, whose 23-year-old son Bryce was on the airplane with his girlfriend, Daisy Oehlers, said the victims'' families wanted justice.   "As a family we are impatient. We want to know what happened, how it happened and why. We want those responsible to face justice," she said.   The downing of the plane played a significant part in a decision by the European Union and United States to impose sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine conflict.   Ukrainian and Western officials, citing intelligence intercepts, have blamed pro-Russian rebels for the incident. Russia has always denied direct involvement in the Ukraine conflict and rejects any responsibility for the destruction of MH17.   Prosecutors have sought legal assistance from Moscow since October 2014, and visited in person for a week in July.   "Russian authorities have offered information in the past, but have not answered all questions," they said in a statement at the time. Visit the related web page
	Guinea: Waiting for Justice by International Federation for Human Rights   Sep 2016   More than 150 people were killed at Conakry’s football stadium in Guinea when a peaceful opposition protest was attacked by the ruling junta’s elite police in 2009. Over 100 women were raped and hundreds of people were seriously injured.   Many people are still living with the trauma of the events and are fighting for justice and are calling on the government to admit liability for what happened.   Since that day, we have accompanied some 500 victims and their families in their quest for justice. Hundreds of victims have filed complaints with the Guinean courts.   This year, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its member organisation in Guinea, OGDH, want to pay tribute and listen to the thousands of victims of the Guinea state violence.   The two organisations invited the English photographer Tommy Trenchard to meet with the victims who they have been supporting in their quest for justice since 2009.   Tommy Trenchard took photos of them in the street at night, usually on the scene of the crimes, where, in one day their lives were turned upside down.   His portraits show the vacant but determined look of people who, in their quest for justice, were able to surpass their personal fears and plunge back into story of their past. Painful tales that they agreed to tell, so that they may never happen again.   Tommy’s work led to the creation of the exhibit Guinea: waiting for justice that is presented at the Franco-Guinean Cultural Centre in Conakry from 27 September to 28 October 2016 and a book of photos with a preface by Fatou Bensouda, the ICC Chief Prosecutor.   * Access the photo exhibition via the link below. Visit the related web page
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