In rapid sequence, WSWS article on AI's charges against NATO, 2 AI press releases, and part of HRW report on NATO's bombing:
Amnesty International charges NATO with war crimes
By Julie Hyland
19 June 2000The human rights organisation Amnesty International (AI) has accused the NATO alliance of committing war crimes during its bombing campaign against Yugoslavia last year. Its report, “ Collateral Damage” or Unlawful Killings? Violations of the Laws of War by NATO During Operation Allied Force, concludes that NATO violated international laws governing warfare during the campaign, resulting in the deaths of Yugoslav civilians. The NATO action, led by the United States, involved the use of long-range cruise missiles, cluster bombs and depleted uranium munitions.
The AI document was released on June 7, almost one year after NATO ended its bombardment. AI reports that during the 78-day campaign, NATO aircraft flew over 38,000 combat sorties against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Although NATO has not released official estimates of the numbers killed during the campaign, detailed accounts by the Serbian government range from 400 to 600 Yugoslav civilians. The New York-based organisation Human Rights Watch has estimated that 527 civilians were killed. No NATO forces died in combat during the air war.
AI explains that the laws of war, particularly Protocol I (dating from 1977) to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, prohibit direct attacks against civilians or civilian objects, as well as attacks that do not distinguish between military and civilian targets. The latter are unlawful even if, while aimed at a legitimate military target, they have a disproportionate impact on civilians.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/jun2000/nato-j19.shtmlJune 7 2000
YUGOSLAVIA
New Amnesty International Report Says NATO Committed War Crime During Kosovo Conflict
(Washington) NATO forces violated the laws of war leading to cases of unlawful killing of civilians during the Kosovo conflict last year, Amnesty International said in a new report released today, one year after the end of Operation Allied Force against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY).
In the report, "'Collateral Damage'" or Unlawful Killings? Violations of the Laws of War by NATO during Operation Allied Force", Amnesty International examines a number of attacks indicating that NATO did not always meet its legal obligations in selecting targets and in choosing means and methods of attack.
"The bombing of the headquarters of Serbian state radio and television, which left 16 civilians dead, was a deliberate attack on a civilian object and as such constitutes a war crime," said William F. Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA (AIUSA). "Civilian deaths could have been significantly reduced if NATO forces had fully adhered to the laws of war during Operation Allied Force."
The laws of war include prohibitions on any direct attacks against civilians or civilian objects, and on attacks that do not attempt to distinguish between military and civilian targets or which, although aimed at a legitimate military target, have a disproportionate impact on civilians or civilian objects.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/2000/fry06072000.html"Collateral Damage" or Unlawful Killings?Violations of the Laws of War by NATO during Operation Allied Force
From 24 March to 10 June 1999 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) conducted an air campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), codenamed Operation Allied Force. NATO aircraft conducted over 38,000 combat sorties, including 10,484 strike sorties, against targets in the provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina, Serbia proper and the Republic of Montenegro. Yugoslav media have stated that thousands of civilians were killed in NATO air raids. However, the civilian death tolls given in detailed FRY government accounts range from 400 to 600. NATO has not released official estimates of civilians or FRY combatants killed. No NATO forces were killed in hostile action during the air campaign. (07 May 2000)
http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/intcam/kosovo/index.htmlWith respect to NATO violations of international humanitarian law, Human Rights Watch was concerned about a number of cases in which NATO forces:
· conducted air attacks using cluster bombs near populated areas;
· attacked targets of questionable military legitimacy, including Serb Radio and Television, heating plants, and bridges;
· did not take adequate precautions in warning civilians of attacks;
· took insufficient precautions identifying the presence of civilians when attacking convoys and mobile targets; and
· caused excessive civilian casualties by not taking sufficient measures to verify that military targets did not have concentrations of civilians (such as at Korisa).
One disturbing aspect of the matter of civilian deaths is how starkly the number of incidents and deaths contrasts with official U.S. and Yugoslav statements. U.S. officials, including Secretary of Defense William Cohen, Deputy Secretary of Defense John Hamre, and
Gen. Wesley Clark, have testified before Congress and stated publicly that there were only twenty to thirty incidents of "collateral damage" in the entire war. The number of incidents Human Rights Watch has been able to authenticate is three to four times this number.
The seemingly cavalier U.S. statements regarding the civilian toll suggest a resistance to acknowledging the actual civilian effects and an indifference to evaluating their causes.
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/nato/Natbm200.htm#P39_994
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