C-MIN 137/15
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Government and people for the expressions of condolences and sympathy once again extended to the bereaved families. On behalf of his Delegation, he expressed condolences and sympathy to the Canadian families who were in attendance this morning.
15.
The Representative of the Russian Federation also expressed his Delegation's sincere sorrow with respect to the tragic event which had taken place in 1983, and extended words of sympathy to all of the families of the victims. He drew attention to the fact that the initiative now under consideration had originated with President Boris Yeltsin. In Moscow in October of 1992, when reviewing material regarding this tragic event, President Yeltsin had stated that it was the Russian Federation's duty to bring to light the truth behind this tragic event. This had given rise to a number of initiatives adopted by the Government of the Russian Federation. In particular, President Yeltsin, when visiting the Republic of Korea, had entrusted the Korean Government with the recordings. The Russian Government had then adopted the initiative to embark on a joint meeting in Moscow which had included an Observer from ICAO. At that meeting, the four Governments had adopted the joint resolution attached to Memorandum PRES AK/333. The four States which had participated at the meeting in Moscow and drafted the joint resolution had expressed the wish to participate in a commission of investigation regarding the decoding of all the tapes. The Government of the Russian Federation would apply every effort to the investigation and would participate in all the aspects of the investigation. The Representative of the Russian Federation drew attention to the fact that his country had, in 1990, ratified the amendment to Article 3 bis of the Chicago Convention. He agreed with those Representatives who had spoken in favour of proceeding quickly but not in haste, and expressed his gratitude to all States who had supported the initiative of the four Governments who had presented the joint resolution.
16.
The Representatives of Kenya and Saudi Arabia requested clarification on the reference made, in the joint resolution, to the rules and procedures of Annex 13 to the Chicago Convention. The Representative of the Russian Federation explained that the resolution had, as its basic premise, the wish of the four States to complete the investigation into this incident. In light of the fact that almost all of the practical aspects of organizing such an investigation would be looked into once the initial decision was adopted by the Council, any reference to the provisions of Annex 13 had been made by the four States first and foremost in order to offer their own services in assisting in the completion of the investigation.
17.
The Representative of Japan added the following explanations to provide clarifications to the points raised by the Representatives of Kenya and Saudi Arabia regarding the specific paragraph in the joint resolution by four States as to the participation of experts of the States to the ICAO investigation if they considered it necessary, and the rules and procedures of Annex 13 to the Chicago Convention which were considered by the four States as the guidance to follow in the investigation.
17.1
The text of the joint resolution, drafted in Moscow to express the strong wish of the four States for the prompt completion of the investigation initiated by ICAO in 1983 with the newly available materials, had been attached to the letters from the Representatives/Consul General of the four States requesting the completion of the ICAO investigation for purely background information purposes only. The text was not the basis for the current discussions in the Council. The content of the specific request was contained in the individual letters of request from the Representatives of four States. The letters addressed to ICAO did not mention the rules and procedures of Annex 13.
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