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Timmermans: "Imagine that you first get the news that your husband was killed..."

Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Frans Timmermans spoke to the United Nations Security Council about the 'downing' of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 carrying a total of 298 innocent men, women and children, 193 of whom were Dutch.

Parts of Mr. Timmermans' speech were shown on Dutch television news (NOS Nieuws) such as the statement I transcribed below in order to share it with readers of this blog. Minister Timmermans' speech can be viewed here on YouTube. Any transcription errors are mine.

"Just for one minute, I'm not addressing you as representatives of your countries... But as husbands and wives, fathers and mothers. 
Just imagine that you first get the news that your husband was killed. And then within two or three days you see images of some thug removing a wedding band from their hands. Just imagine that this could be your spouse. 
To my dying day I will not understand that it took so much time for the rescue workers to be allowed to do their difficult jobs and that human remains should be used in a political game. If somebody here around the table talks about a political game, this is the political game that has been played with human remains and it is despicable. 
I hope the world will not have to witness this again any time in the future. Images of children's' toys being tossed around... Luggage being opened and passports, including passports of children, being shown on television. 
They are turning our grief and mourning into anger of a whole nation. We demand unimpeded access to the terrain. We demand respectful treatment of the crash site. We demand dignity for the victims and the multitudes who mourn their loss. I call on the international community, on this Security Council, on anyone with influence on the situation on the ground: Allow us to bring the victims' remains home to their loved ones without any further delay. They deserve to be home."

We are indeed grieving and mourning. Yet our Foreign Minister is right - We are also becoming angry. Very much so.

We see the photos and the video footage.

We see pro-Russian rebels, reporters, men who look like rescue workers, photographers and camera crews all walking through the debris field, all poking through the personal possessions of the victims. We see footage of rebels moving bodies without any regard for the fact that what they are carrying are human remains.

We see the disrespect. We see and we will remember.
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