NATO BOMBING OF YUGOSLAVIA - VIOLATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW?.pdf (original) (raw)

2015, International Scientific Conference “Ambassadors of the peace”

From March 24th to June 10th 1999 the NATO conducted an air campaign against the FRY, codenamed Operation “Allied Force”. 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. NATO has claimed that its air campaign against the FRY was the most precise and lowest-collateral damage air campaign in history. However, there has been serious concerns about the extent to which NATO forces participating in Operation Allied Force adhered to the rules of international humanitarian law on the conduct of hostilities, specifically those laid down to protect civilians and civilian objects. On the basis of available evidence, including NATO’s own statements and accounts of specific incidents, there is a belief that NATO forces did commit serious violations of the laws of war leading in a number of cases to the unlawful killings of civilian. NATO did not always meet its legal obligations in selecting targets and in choosing means and methods of attack. In one instance, the attack on the headquarters of Serbian state radio and television (RTS), NATO launched a direct attack on a civilian object, killing 16 civilians. Such attack breached article 52 (I) of Protocol I (Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts) and therefore constitutes a war crime. In other attacks, including the Grdelica railroad bridge, the automobile bridge in Lužane, and Varvarin bridge, NATO forces failed to suspend their attack after it was evident that they had struck civilians, in contravention of Article 57 (2) (b) of Protocol I. In other cases, including the attacks on displaced civilians in Djakovica and Koriša, insufficient precautions were taken to minimize civilian casualties. The purpose of the paper is to revise and also analyse the claims that during the NATO bombing of FRY in 1999, there were serious violations of the international humanitarian law. In doing so, two particular cases will be analysed: the attack on Grdelica railroad bridge and the attack on the RTS. Keywords: International humanitarian law, violation, war crime, civilian, collateral damage