Canada brings home first plane crash victim, pushes Iran to respect families

Nations renew push for release of black boxes

OTTAWA • The first body of a Canadian who died in the Tehran plane crash has come home, Foreign Affairs Minister François-philippe Champagne said Tuesday, as the government pushed Iran to respect the wishes of family members who want their loved ones buried in Canada.

Champagne confirmed the repatriation of a Canadian killed in the crash of the Ukraine International Airlines jet near Tehran almost two weeks ago, but he offered no other details because of the family’s request for privacy.

The minister said other families would also be bringing their loved ones’ remains back to Canada, but he did not give specifics, citing their privacy wishes.

Champagne said a number of victims have already had their remains buried in Iran, according to the wishes of their families. The repatriation of Canadian remains has emerged as an issue because Iran does not recognize dual citizenships and claims anyone born in Iran as Iranian.

“Every time that I receive an allegation that the wishes of the family will not have been respected we are taking these allegations seriously,” Champagne said in Winnipeg.

He also said Iranian authorities have assured Canada they would respect families’ wishes.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that by respecting the wishes of families, Iran would also be respecting the principles of Islam.

“Respecting the wishes of the families lines up not with a question of citizenship, but it lines up also with international laws and practice and with principles around Islam for burials,” Trudeau said.

All 176 people on Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 were killed when it crashed outside Tehran earlier this month after being shot at by two Iranian surface-to-air missiles.

Ottawa has confirmed that included 57 Canadian citizens and 29 permanent residents of Canada.

Iran’s aviation authority said Monday that based on passports the jetliner was carrying only five Canadian nationals.

That has raised concerns the bodies won’t be allowed out of the country for those families wishing for burials in Canada.

Dennis Horak, Canada’s last ambassador to Iran, said “Iranians are trying to make a political point that Canada really doesn’t have a big political interest in this since it was mostly ‘Iranians’ who were killed.

“It’s sickening for them to play this card in these circumstances when families are grieving, but it’s what they do,” he said.

Bessma Momani, a Middle East expert with the University of Waterloo, said the locations where bodies are buried could have legal implications later when Canada pushes Iran for financial compensation for the crash victims.

“If they’re buried in Iran, it’s only going to strengthen the Iranian’s argument that they’re really just Iranian citizens and the they’re not dual citizens,” said Momani.

In Islam, she said, “not burying the body is considered torture of the soul.

“For some families, they may be stuck with the pressure to please bury the body because to retrieve it to Canada may take more hurdles, and that’s not good for the soul of the deceased person.”

Meanwhile, Canada and its allies renewed their calls for Iran to release the black boxes from the Ukrainian jetliner to another country so flight data can be downloaded. The request emerged from Champagne’s Monday conference call with Britain, Sweden, Afghanistan and Ukraine, all of which lost citizens in the crash.

Trudeau has suggested sending the data recorders to France.

However, Iran said it had asked authorities in the United States and France for equipment to download information from black boxes.

A delay in sending them abroad is likely to increase pressure on Iran, whose military has said it shot the plane down by mistake while on high alert.

“If the appropriate supplies and equipment are provided, the information can be taken out and reconstructed in a short period of time,” Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization said in its second preliminary report on the disaster released late on Monday.

IT’S SICKENING FOR THEM TO PLAY THIS CARD ... WHEN FAMILIES ARE GRIEVING, BUT IT’S WHAT THEY DO.