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NATO must stop bombing civilian targets

Rights & Democracy condemns the continuing NATO bombings of civilian targets in Yugoslavia.

Montreal, May 28, 1999 The International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development condemns the continuing NATO bombings of civilian targets in Yugoslavia.

Following the 66^th night of air attacks, more than two million people in Belgrade are today without electricity after towers carrying power lines and small transformer stations were hit. "The continued bombing of civilians and civilian targets is completely unacceptable," said the President of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, Warren Allmand.

When Canada joined NATO's campaign, Canadians were told it was necesssary to end human rights violations and ethnic cleansing in Kosovo but only military installations would be targetted. Now in the ninth week of air attacks, there is growing evidence of serious civilian casualties, stemming from "area attacks on Belgrade" which have sent missiles raining down on a hospital complex, a prison, a civilian passenger train and other civilian vehicles.

Mr. Allmand questioned whether these civilian casualties are the results of "poor intelligence" such as the bombing of the Chinese embassy or deliberate attacks to breakdown the country's entire infrastructure including the electricity grid.

"Principles of international humanitarian law apply to all parties in this conflict, not only to Serbs whose leaders are now facing indictment for war crimes and human rights atrocities before the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia. NATO cannot claim immunity from any breaches of the law because of Yugoslav President Slobodan Miloscevic's criminality," he said.

Mr. Allmand said he welcomes the precedent setting indictment by the UN war crimes tribunal against Mr. Milosevic.However, this is only a first step that must lead to the arrest and trial of these men and others who have already been indicted and are still at large.