Protesters rally across North America on the third anniversary of Iran's downing of Flight PS752 - CNN

CNN  — 

Protesters crossed North America rallied unneurotic Sunday to people the 3rd day of Iran’s downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 (PS752) and request justness for the victims and their families.

The Kyiv-bound Boeing 737 level crashed soon aft takeoff from Tehran connected January 8, 2020, sidesplitting each 176 passengers and unit connected board. Iranian authorities admitted that its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force shot the level down by mistake aft it was misidentified arsenic a cruise rocket by an aerial defence operator.

Of those killed, 138 were traveling to Canada, according to the CBC. Among the victims were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, 4 Afghans, 3 Germans and 3 Brits.

Protesters gathered Sunday successful Washington, DC; Portland, Oregon; San Diego, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and different cities crossed the United States. They besides rallied successful Canadian cities, including Toronto, Kingston, Halifax and Regina. Globally, protests were held successful Australia, Belgium, Turkey, Portugal, Germany and other countries.

The protests were organized by The Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims, an planetary radical seeking justness for those killed. “We are determined to uncover the information and find retired wherefore a commercialized formation was changeable down by IRGC’s missiles. We volition staunchly question justness until the culprits, perpetrators and commanders of this atrocious transgression are identified and brought to justness earlier an impartial and autarkic court,” the relation says connected its website.

On January 10, 2020, then-Iranian President Hassan Rouhani tweeted that an interior probe had concluded the clang was owed to “human error” aft missiles were fired astatine PS752. “Investigations proceed to place & prosecute this large calamity & unforgivable mistake,” helium said.

In a play furniture gathering Sunday, existent President Ebrahim Raisi commemorated those who died aboard formation PS752 and said the probe into the calamity is ongoing, according to state-aligned paper Hamshahri daily.

However, victims’ families accidental they don’t judge Iran volition bring justness connected its own.

In December, a conjugation of 4 countries – Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom – called connected Iran to taxable to binding arbitration of the quality related to the downing of Flight PS752. The coalition, called the International Coordination and Response Group, wants “a full, transparent and credible mentation of the downing.”

Hamed Esmaeilion, a Toronto-based dentist who spearheaded the victims’ relation aft losing his woman and girl who were aboard PS752, says he’s hopeful the conjugation volition succeed. “The families of the victims usually are not successful forefront for determination making and this is simply a large problem,” helium told CNN. Esmaeilion said lone governments tin successfully clasp Iran accountable for its actions.

Iran has six months from the clip of the filing to respond to the petition for arbitration, according to a report from Global Affairs Canada that outlines planetary ineligible protocol connected the matter. “At the extremity of these six months, which cannot beryllium extended, the 4 governments tin officially notation the lawsuit to the International Court of Justice successful the Hague,” Esmaeilion said successful a video posted to The Association of Families of Flight PS752’s Instagram page.

Esmaeilion precocious partnered with Iranian-Canadian filmmaker Babak Payami to chronicle his hunt for justness successful the movie “752 is Not a Number.” It offers a “window into the monument of injustice and inhumanity that exists successful Iran by the Islamic Republic regime,” Payami told CNN.

Esmaeilion says helium hopes Sunday’s protests volition propulsion guardant the combat for justice.

Speaking to a radical of protesters gathered astatine his woman and daughter’s gravesite, Esmaeilion said: “This record volition beryllium registered astatine The Hague, this transgression volition beryllium reviewed by members of The Hague and we volition stay hopeful that this tribunal volition held beryllium successful a escaped Iran. We volition combat for that day, and we volition not hide nor volition we forgive.”