war crimes
In this summary, we examine the evidence gathered by the International
Commission of Inquiry as to whether there was a deliberate effort by the NATO forces to
target civilians during the bombing campaign of March 24 to June 11, 1999.
Our investigators were able to gather considerable documentary evidence of civilian
casualties during the bombings of Yugoslavia, compiling a long list of names, places, and
dates of innocent people killed. Refugee columns, buses, trains, bridges, markets, and
apartment buildings were hit by NATO bombs, causing extensive casualties.
Investigators also looked more broadly at the war, and asked questions about the long-term
impact of the bombing on Yugoslav civilians. This included the impact of the environmental
devastation caused by the bombings and the targeting of civilian infrastructure, which
will cause even more suffering, illness and deaths among the civilian population in the
years to come.
We also looked at the actions of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which deliberately targeted
civilians of all nationalities in a campaign of terror waged in Kosovo before, during and
after the bombing campaign.
The extensive nature of the civilian targets would be enough to raise questions in
anyone’s mind about the intent of the bombing campaign. In addition, virtually the
entire press in the United States has noted the lack of damage to military targets in
Yugoslavia during the bombing.
Finally, a letter from Human Rights Watch to NATO Secretary General Solana virtually
accusing NATO of deliberately targeting civilians provided a useful legal reference for
our work, and raised many questions about the illegal bombing campaign.
SUMMARY
In a May 12, 1999, letter to NATO Secretary General Javier Solana, the New York-based
Human Rights Watch expressed "growing concern about NATO violating the laws of
war." The letter cited "NATO’s apparent failure to provide clear advance
warning of the attacks on civilians whenever possible, as required by Article 57(2) of
Protocol I."
The letter continues "Article 51 of the Protocol I forbids attacks ‘by
bombardment by any methods or means which treats as a single military objective a number
of clearly separated and distinct military objectives located in a city, town, village or
other area containing a similar concentration of civilians or civilian objects.’ In
addition, Article 57 requires that, in launching an attack, all feasible precautions be
taken to avoid, or at least minimize, civilian deaths, injuries and losses, including the
choice of weapons and the time of attack.
"These rules raise questions about the conduct of NATO’s bombing in light of its
decision to have most of its pilots fly at high altitudes (above 15,000 feet) to avoid
anti-aircraft missiles and fire. NATO could appropriately conclude that, because of its
desire to avoid additional risks to its pilots, it would refrain from attacking certain
targets because it could not adequately verify that they were appropriate military targets
or take adequate steps to avoid endangering civilians. But it is troubling that in some
cases NATO has apparently decided to elevate the protection of its pilots over all
consideration of the potential harm to civilians, such as when it appears to have launched
attacks even when its high-flying pilots have been unable to verify the military nature of
a target or to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm. Examples include the
April 12 bombing of a civilian passenger train that was crossing a bridge and the April 14
attack on civilian refugee vehicles on the road between Djakovica and Decani.
"The May 7 decision to target an airfield in Nis with cluster bombs that resulted in
an attack on a hospital and marketplace is an example. NATO should take concrete steps,
including internal disciplinary measures, to prevent violations of humanitarian law
through negligence.
"Finally, we are concerned regarding NATO’s choice of weaponry, particularly
since the announcement by the U.S. Department of Defense at the end of April of a move
toward the use of more ‘area weapons’ in Operation Allied Force, including
cluster bombs. Cluster bombs each disperse hundreds of submunitions over large areas; the
high percentage of these ‘bomblets’ that do not explode on impact, but remain
‘live’ long afterwards, creates a grave lingering danger for the civilian
population. The U.S. and Britain have acknowledged the use of cluster bombs in a number of
attacks, including in a recent strike on the Nis airfield which went off target, hitting a
hospital complex, market place and adjoining civilian areas. In an earlier incident, five
children playing with colorful unexploded submunitions were reported killed and two
injured on April 24, near Doganovic in southern Kosovo. Human Rights Watch condemns
NATO’s use of cluster bombs in Yugoslavia, given the high proven dud rate of the
submunitions employed, as indiscriminate in effect and the equivalent of using
antipersonnel land mines."
SUMMARY OF CIVILIAN TARGETS
More than 20,000 laser or satellite-guided weapons were launched and over 79,000 tons of
explosives were dropped, including at least 152 containers with 35,450 cluster bombs (over
3000 cluster bombs were dropped in Pristina alone; over 150 containers of cluster bombs
were dropped on the targets in Kosovo and Metohija), thermo-visual and graphite bombs,
which are prohibited under international conventions. The destructive power of the fired
explosives is several times stronger than the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki at the end of World War II. Some of the bombs weighed almost five tons, so that
the devastation they caused in residential areas can be compared with the destruction
caused by an earthquake.
NATO committed over 30 serious criminal acts (war crimes against the sick and wounded) by
bombing civilian medical institutions all over Serbia. Air raid sirens were activated over
280 times in Belgrade itself. Some cities were targeted continuously 24 hours a day,
during weekends and holidays. Many of the 10 million residents of Serbia experienced
months of sleep deprivation—staying awake at night during the bombings, and trying to
sleep by day. People lived under a state of permanent stress with severe consequences on
their physical and mental stress. The fear will remain and its consequences will be felt
for many years: children born under air raid alarms, patients in the bombed hospitals.
The power outages were aimed at breaking down the spirit of the nation, making it
especially difficult for the most vulnerable segments of the population—children,
elderly, sick and disabled. NATO aggression caused serious difficulties and suffering to
the invalids and persons with muscular dystrophy who cannot move without the assistance of
other persons. Those who suffer from epilepsy (60,000) were particularly endangered as
well as persons who have cardiovascular problems, suffer from high pressure, asthma or
mental health patients.
One can hardly imagine a more difficult situation than to be a paralyzed or a seriously
ill patient in a hospital without electricity and targeted by NATO war planes—new
born babies in incubators, life supporting apparatus not working. These conditions, along
with the shortage of medicines due to imposed economic sanctions, aggravated the health
situation in the country.
The Yugoslav government reported that during the three months following the start of
NATO’s bombings, 96 residents of Belgrade took their lives; another 19 attempted
suicide. "Everyone lost weight," Djilas said. "No matter how much they
ate." Many Belgrade residents say they still have trouble sleeping and confess to a
kind of lethargic semi-depression. A lot of people, especially the elderly, spent much of
the war sitting in their cramped apartments, waiting for the "Big One." There
were not enough tranquilizers to go around, and many private and state-run pharmacies said
their shelves were empty. (William Booth, Washington Post Staff Writer, Saturday, July 17,
1999; Page A13)
Thousands of civilians were killed and more than 6,000 sustained serious injuries. A large
number will remain crippled for life. Children make up 30 percent of all casualties as
well as 40 percent of the total number of the injured, while 10 percent of all Yugoslav
children (approximately 300,000) have suffered severe psychological traumas and will
require continuous medical monitoring, care and treatment. For the most part, it has been
the children who have been the victims of the sprinkle cluster bombs, with delayed effect.
The following are just some of the shocking examples of the civilian targets.
EXAMPLES
Surdulica
Attack on a rural town, 20 civilians were killed, including 12 children, and over 100
wounded of which 24 critically (4/27/99); 20 civilians were killed and 88 injured in the
attack on a Retirement Home and a Sanatorium (5/31/99). This was the only home for the
aged people and hospital for lung diseases and was marked in all geographic maps. That was
a legitimate military target for NATO as the spokesperson Jamie Shea stated.
Korisa
At least 87 civilians killed and over 70 injured (10 babies and 26 children) in the attack
on a convoy of Albanian refugees returning to their homes (5/14/99). NATO used
thermovisual bombs that raise temperatures up to 2000 degrees.
Djakovica
Djakovica-Prizren road: in the attack on two refugee columns, with four cruise missiles,
75 killed and 100 wounded, 26 critically (4/14/99). In an attack on a refugee settlement
housing Serb refugees from the Republika Srpska Krajina (Croatia), 10 refugees were killed
and 16 wounded (4/21/99).
Grdelicka gorge
In the attack on an international passenger train, 55 passengers were killed, including
one child and 16 were wounded (4/12/99).
Village Luzani
At least 60 passengers were killed and 13 injured in an attack on the road bridge during
which a passenger bus, the "Nis Expres" on the Pristina-Podujevo route, was hit.
At the same time, a first-aid doctor was injured during a consecutive attack on the bridge
in which an ambulance giving help to injured was destroyed (5/1/99).
Istok
100 killed and 200 injured in several attacks, in consecutive days, on the Istok
Penitentiary (5/19/99 to 5/24/99).
Varvarin
17 civilians have been killed, seven are missing and 74 wounded in the attack on a road
bridge, on a busy market day (5/30/99). The bridge was at first hit with missiles, and
when people rushed to help the victims a few minutes later, the bridge was struck even
more fiercely.
Belgrade
In the attack on the Radio Television of Serbia office building, 16 employees were killed
and 19 wounded (4/23/99). The national TV station was bombed intentionally since the
aggressor proclaimed it as their legitimate target since, in short, they were not
satisfied with the quality of its programming and news. Four civilians (three patients and
a caretaker) have been killed and several injured on the hospital "Dragisa
Misovic" (5/20/99). A great part of the building for Neurology was destroyed or
burned down.
Nis
At least 16 civilians were killed and more than 80 injured in repeated attacks on housing
flats in central Nis (4/19/99, 5/7/99, 5/12/99) during which NATO planes dropped cluster
bombs.
Savine Vode
Twenty civilians were killed and 43 injured, out of which 24 sustained heavy injuries in
an attack on the "Djakovica Prevoz" passenger bus on the Pec-Kula-Rozaje route
(5/4/99).
Aleksinac
Twelve civilians were killed and more than 40 wounded in an attack on housing blocks,
commercial premises and administrative buildings in central Aleksinac.
Kragujevac
More than 120 workers, forming a live shield, were wounded in a deliberate attack on the
car factory Zastava (4/9/99, 4/12/99).
Krk Bunar
One civilian was killed and three injured (French philosopher Daniel Schiffer, Times
reporter Eve-Ann Prentis, and "Corriera della Sera" Renzo Cianfanelli) in an
attack on a foreign journalist convoy on the Prizren-Brezovica road (5/31/99).
Mijatovac
Four Romanian humanitarian workers were wounded in an attack on the bridge near Mijatovac
(5/8/99).
CONCLUSION
The death and mutilation caused by the NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia are not
accidents but the inevitable result of a deliberate and cruel campaign against the people
of that country. International law bans indiscriminate attacks in which no distinction is
made in respect to targets so that both military and civilian targets could equally be
hit. The international law does not recognize the term "collateral damage" and
similar cynical explanations of the civilian casualties by NATO representatives. The above
cases and all other crimes in which targets and victims were exclusively civilians and
civilian structures confirm that NATO waged an immoral, senseless and merciless war
against the entire population. Those who planned and waged this unprecedented war at the
end of the twentieth century selected and hit targets cynically and sadistically,
unburdened by any moral dilemma or humane concerns.
The media justified the campaign against civilians with such comments as that of Thomas
Friedman, columnist for The New York Times, who advocated that all Serbs be punished,
without mercy, because they have "tacitly sanctioned" the deeds of their
leaders. Former U.S. Ambassador Eagleburger (The New York Times, Op-Ed, April 4, 1999)
wrote "The Serbs are tough and highly nationalistic. Although Mr. Milosevic is the
prime mover behind the murder and agony that have filled our television screens for the
better part of a decade, he has not acted alone. He may plan the strategy, but the Serbian
people are the willing instruments of his terror. There are some decent Serbs, of course,
who decry the violence, just as there were some decent Germans under Hitler, but that does
not excuse the Serbian nation for its part in making a killing field of so much of the
former Yugoslavia." And then he concluded, "The real question is, can NATO and
the United States afford to fail? Now, that we have gone this far, probably not."
And Warren Zimmermann, another former U.S. ambassador in Yugoslavia, commented: "It
would be far more timely and effective for NATO to abandon its timorous reluctance to
unleash a massive low-level air campaign directly against the Serbian aggressors in
Kosovo." (The Washington Post)
NATO spokesperson Jamie Shea, as well as President Clinton, offered comfort by passing off
the bombing of Yugoslav civilians with the comment that Serb forces have killed more
Albanians than NATO killed Serbs.
And then we have the statement from Lt.-General Short (quoted in The Globe and Mail
on May 26): "If you wake in the morning and you have no power to your house and no
gas to your stove and the bridge you take to work is down and will be lying in the Danube
for the next 20 years, I think you begin to ask, ‘Hey Slobo, what’s this all
about? How much more of this do we have to withstand?"
The most remarkable testimony that shows that NATO was deliberately attacking civilians
was an interview given by the Spanish pilot published in Articulo 20, Spanish weekly (No.
30, June 14, 1999). The Spanish pilots admit that NATO commanders ordered attacks on
civilian targets and say NATO gave medals of to those who bombed civilian targets. Captain
De la Hoz participated in the bombing since it started, as pilot of an F-18 and came back
to Spain in May. He rejects the claim that NATO bombing of civilian targets were
accidental and he says:
"Several times our colonel protested to NATO commanders about why they selected
targets which are not military targets but they threw him out with curses saying that we
should know that the North Americans will lodge a complaint to the Spanish Army, once
through Brussels and again to the Defense Minister. …
"Once there was a coded order to the North American military that we should drop
anti-personnel bombs over localities of Pristina and Nis. The colonel refused it
altogether and a couple of days later, the transfer order came. …
"The order-givers were only the North American generals, and no one else. All the
missions that we flew, all and each one were planned by U.S. high military authorities.
Even more, they were planned all in detail, including attacking planes, targets and type
of ammunition that we have to throw. …
"There is no journalist who has the slightest idea what was happening in Yugoslavia.
They are destroying the country, bombing it with new weapons, toxic nerve gases, surface
mines dropped with parachutes, bombs containing uranium, black napalm, sterilization
chemicals, spraying to poison the crops and weapons of which even we still do not know
anything. …
"I will never be able to forget that what was being committed there was one of the
biggest savageries of history."
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
