The downing of Malaysian airliner MH17 may constitute a war crime, the UN said yesterday, as explosions and fighting blocked a new attempt by Dutch and Australian police to reach the crash site in insurgent-held east Ukraine.
The unarmed international mission was forced to turn around as heavy bombardment rocked towns close to the site, where the remains of some of the 298 victims still lie more than 10 days after the disaster.
Ukraine’s military confirmed that its forces were engaged in fierce battles against rebels nearby, saying its troops had entered into towns including Shakhtarsk, just 10km away.
Photo: EPA
More than 1,100 people have been killed in the violence engulfing east Ukraine in the past three months, the UN said, a toll that does not include the nearly 300 crash victims.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay condemned the “horrendous shooting down” of the Malaysian passenger jet in rebel-held territory, and demanded a “thorough, effective, independent and impartial investigation.”
“This violation of international law, given the prevailing circumstances, may amount to a war crime,” she said.
The Red Cross has said Ukraine is now in civil war — a classification that would make parties in the conflict liable to prosecution for war crimes.
The West has accused rebels of shooting down the plane using a missile system that Washington believes was supplied by Russia.
However, a Dutch-led investigation into the crash has made little headway due to the intensifying fighting in the insurgent-held zone.
A reporter in Shakhtarsk said artillery fire could be heard in the town and plumes of black smoke billowed into the sky, while a car was seen driving away with the sign “children” written in red on its front and back.
A couple was also seen leaving the town on foot with a young boy, as the woman shouted: “Let’s go, let’s go.”
The Ukrainian military confirmed that its forces “had entered into” Shakhtarsk and nearby Torez, and that “battles were continuing for the complete liberation” of the town of Snizhne.
If Kiev regains control of these locations, it could cut off access to the main rebel bastion Donetsk from the border with Russia, which stands accused by the West of funneling arms to the insurgents.
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
RSS