war crimes
Chapter 7. Destruction of Educational Facilities in Yugoslavia
By Malcolm Cannon (Washington DC)
This evidence demonstrates that the US and NATO have acted criminally in destroying educational facilities during their war against Yugoslavia.
International law prohibits attacks on civilian populations and civilian objects during any time of war. Article 51 of the Geneva Conventions, Protection of the Civilian Population, states that "[a]cts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population are prohibited." It also prohibits indiscriminate attacks, which include "those that are not directed at a specific military objective [and] those which employ a method or means of combat which cannot be directed at a specific military objective." Article 52, General Protection of Civilian Objects, states that "[I]n case of doubt whether an object which is normally dedicated to civilian purposes, such as a place of worship, a house or other dwelling or a school, is being used to make an effective contribution to a military action, it shall be presumed not to be so used." In summary, civilians and civilian objects cannot be attacked directly or in an indiscriminate manner. Schools are clearly civilian objects. If there is any doubt whether a school is being used for a military purpose, it cannot be attacked because one must presumes it is not being so used.
The US and NATO have attacked numerous educational facilities during their bombing campaign against Yugoslavia. The effects of these attacks take their toll on the people, in particular the children, of the country. Many buildings have been destroyed and many damaged. Children are unable to enroll in school. Worse yet, the children are being mentally scarred and developmentally hindered by these attacks.
Over 300 schools and facilities for students and children have been damaged or destroyed. This includes more than 20 faculties, 6 colleges, 40 secondary schools, 300 elementary schools, 6 student dormitories, and more than 50 pre-school facilities. The list of schools and educational facilities which have been bombed includes the following: (1)
a) Elementary schools "16. oktobar" and "Vladimir Rolovic" in Belgrade;
b) Day-care center in settlement Petlovo Brdo in Belgrade;
c) Elementary school and Engineering secondary school center in Rakovica;
d) Two secondary schools in the territory of Nis;
e) Faculty for construction and architecture in Nis;
f) Faculty for machine-technical studies in Nis;
g) Faculty for electro-technical studies in Nis;
h) Faculties of Law and Economics in Nis;
i) Elementary school "Radoje Domanovic" in Nis;
j) Elementary schools "Toza Markovic", "Djordje Natosevic", "Veljko Vlahovic", "Sangaj" and "Djuro Danicic" in Novi Sad;
k) Day-care center "Duga" in Novi Sad;
l) Creches in Visarionova Street and in the neighborhood of Sangaj;
m)Traffic School Center;
n) Faculty of Philosophy;
o) Four elementary schools and a Medical high school in the territory of Leskovac;
p) Elementary school in Lucane, as well as a larger number of education facilities in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija;
q) Elementary schools in Kraljevo and the villages of Cvetka, Aketa and Ladjevci;
r) Sombor: elementary schools "Ivo Lola Ribar", "A. Mrazovic", "N. Vukicevic" and "Nikola Tesla" in Kljajicevo;
s) School center in Kula;
t) Agricultural school in Valjevo;
u) Elementary school "Svetozar Markovic - Toza" in Novi Sad (6.05.1999); (2)
v) Secondary music school "Stanislav Binicki" in Belgrade (7.5.1999);
w) Building of the Faculty of arts in Belgrade (7.5.1999);
x) Elementary school in the village of Nabrdje, near Pec (11.5.1999);
y) Elementary schools "Laza Lazarevic" and "Kosta Abrasevic" in Sabac (11. & 18.5.1999.);
z) Vladicin Han: elementary school "Branko Radicevic", high school "Jovan Skerlija" and two kindergartens (11.5.1999.);
aa) Elementary school in the township of Leposavic (11.5.1999);
bb) Elementary school "Miladin Popovic" in Pec (21.5.1999);
cc) Elementary school "Marija Bursac" in Belgrade (31.5.1999);
dd) Kindergarten at Prijepolje.(3)
The extent to which the educational facilities of Yugoslavia have been bombed clearly demonstrates that the US and NATO systematically targeted institutions of learning in their bombing strategy. The attackers cannot reasonably defend their actions with a claim that these facilities were merely collateral damage. The sheer numbers speak otherwise. Schools and facilities for children and students were targeted so as to demoralize the Yugoslav population and further weaken the country.
Three million children have been directly endangered by the indiscriminate bombardment of the US and NATO. Since the onset of the aggression, many children have been killed and wounded. Almost 250,000 children-refugees from the former Yugoslav republics of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, who have found safe heaven in the FR Yugoslavia, have once again been exposed to the horrors of war. Since the commencement of the aggression, children have not been able to attend school classes. It has been estimated that in the fall almost 100,000 pupils will not be able to enroll as many pre-school institutions and elementary schools have been demolished by NATO bombs.
Incessant bombing by the US and NATO has taken a psychological, as well as physical, toll on the children of Yugoslavia. The director of a mental health clinic, for example, has a young daughter who began to stutter during the 78 days of NATO bombing. For weeks, anxious parents wrapped their children in blankets, gathered up some toys and took them down into damp, dark bomb shelters. As the electricity flickered on and off above their heads, many parents struggled to explain what was happening. Aleksa Djilas, a prominent historian and son of a famous dissident during Yugoslavia's Communist era, confessed how he walked around Belgrade during the bombings with a "mental map" in his head, trying to imagine what NATO targets to avoid as he took his children to the park, to maintain, as he put it, "some semblance of normal life." He said his young son, age 4, began to discuss with his grandmother the difference between hydrogen and atomic bombs. Today, kids in parks still play a game where imaginary NATO bombs fall on them. Some lay pretending to be dead, while others run around in circles above them, their arms outstretched, pretending they are airplanes loaded with bombs.
"What is the psychological effect?" asked Col. Radoslav Svicevic, a psychologist and deputy director of the large military hospital here. He reached across his desk and turned around a photograph of his two grandchildren, boys age 4 years and 10 months. "The older one, he bites his nails now. He is silent. He is afraid his house will be bombed," the military doctor said. "The younger just wakes up every night screaming and crying. This was a quiet baby before."
According to a World Health Organization report released the week of July 12th, about 80 people have been killed or injured over the past month in accidents involving unexploded bombs in Kosovo. The deaths mostly result from children playing with unexploded cluster bombs. The bombs are bright yellow in color and are described by the Washington Post as "tantalizing to children."
The US and NATO have violated international laws, namely Chapters 2 and 3 of the Geneva Convention, by attacking schools, facilities for children and students, as well as other institutions for learning. These attacks clearly amount to War Crimes as defined in Principle VI of the Nuremberg Tribunal.
Notes
- PROVISIONAL ASSESSMENT OF CIVILIAN CASUALTIES AND DESTRUCTION IN THE TERRITORY OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA FROM 24 MARCH TO 08 JUNE 1999
- Seen in NATO Targets video.
- Uzice emergency center reported this attack.
Commission of Inquiry
c/o International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
email: iacenter@iacenter.org
http://www.iacenter.org
phone: 212 633-6646
fax: 212 633-2889
Table of Contents: Selected Research Findings
