Human Rights Watch joins the running-dog reactionary imperialist powers and
their lackeys in the pro-war press. Thank goodness for the courageous folks
at Workers World Party.
February 7, 2000
Rights Group Says NATO Killed 500 Civilians in Kosovo War
By ELIZABETH BECKER
ASHINGTON, Feb. 6 -- The NATO air campaign in Kosovo led to the deaths of
500 civilians in 90 separate attacks, more incidents than the Pentagon has
acknowledged but a much lower toll than Yugoslavia said, according to a
human rights study issued today that documents each incident and lists the
names of the victims.
The study, by Human Rights Watch, rejected any notion that NATO committed
war crimes. But it did argue that in waging a war to stop Serbs from killing
or driving out Kosovo Albanians -- 90 percent of the prewar population of
the ethnic Serbian province -- NATO officials themselves violated the Geneva
Convention both in the selection of targets and the use of cluster bombs.
After a six-month investigation, including three weeks interviewing
witnesses in Kosovo, the Human Rights Watch team determined that one-third
of the number of lethal episodes and half the casualties could have been
avoided if NATO nation forces had strictly followed the rules.
"We're not saying there is any equivalency with the Serbs," remarked Bill
Arkin, the author of the report, "but we are saying that NATO made a fetish
about minimizing civilian casualties but the process was deficient."
In examining Serbian and NATO actions, the report emphasized an attack on
May 21 by NATO forces that hit Dubrava Prison. The government of Yugoslavia,
of which Serbia is the larger of two remaining republics, said 95 civilians
died in blasts from NATO missiles. Mr. Arkin and his colleague, Bogdan
Ivanisevic, found that 19 of the prisoners were killed in the NATO attack
while the others were all executed by prison guards afterward.
Senior Pentagon officials said they were relieved that so few civilians died
in a bombing campaign that lasted 78 days and included 38,000 sorties. The
Yugoslav government had contended that NATO bombing killed 5,000 civilians.
The new study said Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen and other top
officials are wrong in concluding that civilians were killed in no more than
20 to 30 NATO bombings.
"One disturbing aspect of the matter of civilian deaths is how starkly the
number of incidents and deaths contrast with official U.S. and Yugoslav
statements," the report said, citing Gen. Wesley K. Clark, the NATO supreme
commander, as well as Mr. Cohen as testifying that only 20 to 30 incidents
had led to such deaths.
Ever since the Vietnam War, when counting bodies of Vietnamese on or near
the battlefield became a way to avoid admitting strategic failures, the
Pentagon has been loath to count the civilians or the enemy combatants who
died during a conflict with United States forces.
The Pentagon has undertaken an extensive investigation of the Kosovo
campaign for a report to be presented by Mr. Cohen to Congress this week. It
will review the goals set for the campaign and measure how they were
achieved, but it does not include a death toll for enemy soldiers or for
civilians.
In that report, officials say, Mr. Cohen will maintain that NATO forces took
utmost care in selecting targets and that the targets selected were
legitimate ones.
The Human Rights Watch report also says that NATO erred by dropping cluster
bombs in urban areas, by bombing bridges during daylight hours when
civilians were most likely to be crossing them (unlike in the Persian Gulf
war, the report says), by hitting targets like a Belgrade television
station, and by striking convoys without knowing with certainty that they
were made up of Serbian military forces.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Home | Site Index | Site Search | Forums | Archives | Marketplace
Quick News | Page One Plus | International | National/N.Y. | Business |
Technology | Science | Sports | Weather | Editorial | Op-Ed | Arts |
Automobiles | Books | Diversions | Job Market | Real Estate | Travel
Help/Feedback | Classifieds | Services | New York Today
Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company
Advertisement
|
