The UN aviation council on May 12 found that Russia was responsible for the downing of a Malaysian commercial jet over Ukraine that killed all 298 passengers and crew, a ruling Moscow criticized as being "biased."
The Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) said in a statement that Russia “failed to uphold its obligations under international air law” in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 on July 17, 2014.
The council agreed that claims brought to the ICAO by Australia and the Netherlands as a result of the shooting down of the airliner were “well founded in fact and in law.”
The ICAO added it was the first time in its history that the council had made a determination on the merits of a dispute between member states.
Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 departed from Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur and was hit by a surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine as fighting raged between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces. Among the people killed were 196 Dutch citizens and 38 Australian citizens or residents.
Dutch judges in November 2022 convicted two Russian men and a Ukrainian man in absentia of murder for their role in the downing of the aircraft. Moscow called the ruling "scandalous" and said it would not extradite its citizens.
SEE ALSO: Dutch Court Sentences Two Russians, One Ukrainian To Life In Prison In MH17 Shoot-DownDutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said the vote of the ICAO Council “is an important step towards establishing the truth and achieving justice and accountability for all victims of Flight MH17, and their families and loved ones."
The decision also sends a clear message to the international community that states cannot violate international law with impunity, Veldkamp said in a Dutch government statement.
Australia Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her government welcomed the decision, calling it a "historic moment in the pursuit of truth, justice and accountability for the victims" and urged ICAO to move swiftly to determine remedies.
"In reaching its decision, the ICAO Council has upheld the fundamental principle that weapons should not be used against civil aircraft," she said in a statement.
"We call upon Russia to finally face up to its responsibility for this horrific act of violence and make reparations for its egregious conduct, as required under international law," Wong said.
That call was rejected by the Kremlin, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov that since Russia was not a member of the team that investigated the incident, "we do not accept any biased conclusions."
Moscow has called the conviction of the two Russians and the Ukrainian "scandalous" and has refused to extradite them.
The Montreal-based ICAO will consider what form of reparation is in order in the coming weeks, the Dutch government statement said.
The Netherlands and Australia want the ICAO Council to order Russia to enter into negotiations over reparations, Veldkamp said.
ICAO is a UN body with 193 member states that decides whether countries have violated the Convention on International Civil Aviation, which requires that member states "refrain from resorting to the use of weapons against civil aircraft in flight."
A large majority of the council voted in favor of the Netherlands’ and Australia’s position in the decision reached on May 12, the Dutch government statement said, but it did not provide a breakdown of the vote.