US refuses to reveal details of cooperation with Dutch investigators over MH17

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20 months after the shot down of MH17 the public still does not know what happened and who is responsible for the downing which killed 298 innocent people.

Member of Dutch Parliament Pieter Omtzigt asked about satellite and radar data as early as July 25 2014. (full transcript)

At July 20 2014 Kerry made many statements about convoys entering Ukraine from Russia, separatists trained in operating the SA-11 BUK and intel about the trajectory of the missile

US Minister of Foreign Affairs John Kerry repeated in August 2014 his statements  that :

We saw the (off mic) we saw the trajectory, we saw the hit, we saw this airplane disappear from a radar screen. So there’s really no mystery about where it came from and where these weapons have come from..
See the statement of Kerry in the video below.

In  on December 12, 2014 with Ukraine president Poroshenko on Australian  ABC Television, Poroshenko states at minute 00:35

We have a satellite photo of the rocket launch

In an interview in December 2014 Secretary Nuland stated

ASSISTANT SECRETARY NULAND: Andrei, first to your point with regard to U.S. intelligence at the time of the Malaysian airliner’s tragic shoot down, first, just to say to you that – just to remind you that Secretary Kerry on I believe it was July 21st, it was the Saturday after the shoot down, gave a very detailed discussion of what we knew from our own assets, including providing considerable detail with regard to the trajectory of the firing, et cetera.

And he made clear at that time that we believed it was shot down by a Buk missile from separatist-held territory. We stand by that. We have given all of our information, including our classified information, to the Dutch, who are the investigators, and to ICAO.

Fast forward to February 2016. In a letter to the relatives, the Dutch prosecutor explains the status of the investigation. The letter states the following on satellite data.

There are also satellite data on the situation on the ground. To date the JIT has no satellite images of the launch of the missile. Because of clouds  usable images are not available from the firing location at the time of day when the MH17 was shot down.  However, there are images available just before and after July 17, 2014 that contribute to the investigation.

The US authorities have data generated by their own security forces, which could potentially provide information on a rocket trajectory. These data have been confidentially shared with the Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD). MIVD and Prosecutor (OM/JIT) are now investigating in what form the US state secret information can be used in the criminal investigation and what will be provided in a so-called official report to the Public Prosecution. That official report can be used as evidence by the JIT.

So what happened to the satellite photo Poroshenko was talking about? Maybe he meant the SBIRS data?

In this blog post I explain the various type of data which can be captured by satellites. There are satellites equiped with camera’s which makes photos. And there are so called SBIRS satellites. These monitor high energy infra red sources like missiles. It seems the second paragraph of the JIT letter refers to SBIRS data.

However the US does not want to tell what data they provided to the Dutch, if any.

At a press briefing on March 3 2016 by the United States ,Russia Today reporter  Gayane Chichakyan asked spokesman  Mark Toner :

Has the US provided the Dutch investigation team the data that US secretary John Kerry said the US had?

The answer of Toner was that he does not have the details of what data was provided. There has been collaboration with the Dutch. He had to look into it. There was also a question if the the Dutch actually requested the US to share data. The spokesman also stated he will look into that.

More news on Russia Today.

At March 3 there is another press briefing in Washington. The full transcript of the briefing is here.

Russia Today reporter  Gayane Chichakyan again asks about what data was provided by the US to the Netherlands.

State Department spokesman John Kirby referred reporters to the Dutch government, insisting only that the US was “working together” with the investigators

“What kind of data has the US shared with Dutch investigators on the downing of MH-17?” asked RT’s Gayane Chichakyan.

“I’m actually not going to be able to give you a lot of information on that,” Kirby replied. “There’s still an active review going on and I’d refer you to the Dutch government. I’m not going to be able to give you much more detail on that.”

“You haven’t given us any detail, at all. Not ‘much more,’ – there’s none,” objected AP’s diplomatic correspondent Matt Lee.

“We’ve continued to communicate,” Kirby persisted.

“We’re continuing to communicate right now, but I’m not getting any answers, and no one else is here,” Lee shot back. “So what does that mean?”

“It means that we’re cooperating with them and assisting them in their efforts. I’m not going to get into the details of what that is,” Kirby was adamant.

“But that answer means nothing!” Lee said.

“I’ve answered the question,” Kirby replied, referring all further question on the subject to the Dutch government.

Russia Today has the story.

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