Legitimacy of NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
Encyclopedia
The legitimacy of the NATO bombing
of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has been subject to question by many bodies and individuals from the time of the action continuing to this day. The key basis governing the legality of any act of war is international law
. In this particular case, a course of action is also bound by other foundations such as the NATO charter and the UN charter, both of which were drafted in accordance with preexisting international regulation. As such, the issue has been shady at times with proponents of both viewpoints citing particular legislation that substantiate their claims on whether the war was or was not legal.
Supporters of the campaign have argued that the action brought to an end the repression of Kosovo
's Albanian
population, and that the bombing campaign hastened (or caused) the downfall of Slobodan Milošević
's government, which they saw as responsible for the international isolation
of Yugoslavia
, many war crimes and gross human rights
violations. Others have deemed the legitimacy
of the action as controversial. Noam Chomsky
condemned NATO's military campaign in Yugoslavia, particularly its aerial bombing
which included the bombing of electricity and water supplies and television stations as well as military targets.
, where the Security Council has been given power in order to fulfill its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Article 42 states that should the Security Council
consider that measures provided for in Article 41 would be inadequate or have proved to be inadequate, it may take such action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security. Such action may include demonstrations, blockade, and other operations by air, sea, or land forces of Members of the United Nations.
The second specific exception is found in article 51, regarding the right to self-defence. The article states that nothing in the present charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security.
While NATO did not have the backing of the United Nations Security Council
to use force in Yugoslavia, nor claims an armed attack occurred against another state, its advocates contend that its actions were consistent with the United Nations Charter
, claiming that the UN Charter prohibits unprovoked attacks only by individual states but condones unprovoked attacks by military coalitions of several states, such as NATO. The principal issue remains whether the member states of NATO, the U.S. and the European powers, violated the UN Charter by attacking a fellow UN member state in the absence of an attack or a threat of imminent attack on them and in the absence of UN Security Council authorization.
The United Nations considers NATO to be a "regional arrangement" under UN Article 52, which allows them to deal matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security as are appropriate for regional action provided that such arrangements or agencies and their activities are consistent with the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations. However, the UN policy on military intervention by regional arrangements in UN Article 53 states the Security Council can, where appropriate, utilize such regional arrangements or agencies for enforcement action under its authority. However, no enforcement action shall be taken under regional arrangements or by regional agencies without the authorization of the Security Council.
Opponents of NATO's involvement also argued that the situation in Serbia and Yugoslavia posed no threat to any of the NATO members.
in the signing of the Rambouillet Agreement
by Serbia may conclude that the agreement is void due to the threat or use of force. Since many treaties are signed while the use (or threat) of force is in effect, most scholars agree that Article 52 refers only to force that is in violation of the principles of international law embodied in the Charter of the United Nations. Therefore, the question of whether the treaties are void depends on the question of whether NATO's use of force was in violation of the principles of the United Nations.
(UNPROFOR) in Bosnia
and Croatia
was completely ineffective. For example, the UNPROFOR was deployed into the city of Goražde
to protect the Muslim
citizens there from Serbian military action. However, UNPROFOR did not intervene in 1995 when the Bosnian Serbs set up their artillery around the city and began shelling it indiscriminately. The UN failed to prevent Bosnian Serb troops from capturing the safe areas
set up in the city of Srebrenica
, which resulted in the Srebrenica massacre
. The UN Resolution 819
and 836
had designated Srebrenica
a safe area to be protected using all necessary means, including the use of force. The UN also did little to stop the mass flight of almost the entire population of Krajina in the Croatian Operation Storm
of 1995. Up to 200,000 Serbs fled from Krajina in just four days, and hundreds of old people who were too sick to flee were later found killed and their village
s pillaged. Indeed, the UN had even failed to protect hundreds of its own personnel from being taken hostage in May 1995 by Serbian forces under the command of Radovan Karadžić
.
With the UN actions being seen as ineffective, and further UN resolutions likely to be vetoed by Russia
, who considered Yugoslavia
to be within its sphere of influence, and with the expanding action threatening regional stability (for example, the flood of Albanian refugees presented a very real threat to the stability of the fledgling Republic of Macedonia
), NATO decided to intervene. Supporters of NATO's action over Kosovo, assert that the campaign was largely successful in achieving its aims of getting the Albanian refugees back home, and restoring a degree of political stability to the region. They also point out that the bombing campaign was largely responsible for the removal of Slobodan Milošević
's regime, and his subsequent war crimes trial. They feel that none of these things would have happened without the bombing campaign over Serbia.
More familiar people (i.e., locals) however realise that the result was replacing Albanian refugees with Serb refugees; and that Kosovo is far from a stable region, with insurgencies spreading into Serbia proper
(Preševo Valley conflict) and the Republic of Macedonia
(2001 Macedonia conflict
) with crime and violence continuing for years after the bombing.
Serbs who were opposed to Milošević and his Socialist Party of Serbia
did point out, however, that the West failed to support Serbian people who demonstrated daily for three months the winter of 1996-1997, and that Milošević had been losing support long before the bombing (in fact demonstrations against Miloševićes regime had been going on since 1991). Some even pointed out that the popularity of Milošević increased during the bombing.
Some opponents of the NATO intervention cited the timing of the same, coming as it did on the heels of the Monica Lewinsky scandal as an indication that the conflict was merely a "little victorious war" intended for political gain rather than for any humanitarian purpose. Some support for this hypothesis may be found in the fact that coverage of the bombing directly replaced coverage of the Monica Lewinsky scandal in American news cycles. Still others point out that before the bombing, rather than being an unusually bloody conflict, the war between the KLA and the Yugoslav security forces had in fact been one of the cleanest civil wars in modern history, the number of dead being less than 2000, which included around 500 Serbian civilians and police and 1500 Albanian civilians and KLA members in more than one year of conflict. The total number of displaced people was 100,000 before the bombing. This has escalated to a total of 10,000 dead - an estimated 6-7,000 Albanians and 3-4,000 Serbians killed in the war. The number of refugees exceeded 800,000 during the war, mostly ethnic Albanian but also 100,000 ethnic Serbs from Kosovo. After the war, Albanian refugees returned, but more than 250,000 Serbian refugees have never returned to Kosovo.
These opponents of NATO war claim that war was avoidable, had the real wish of US and NATO been to solve the Kosovo problem.
was critical of the intervention, and of the indecision by the United Nations. Italy
, itself a NATO member, was reluctant to agree to the NATO operations due to the tens of thousands of refugees that conflict would bring to Italy, and due to the large number of financial investments Italy holds in Kosovo. Greece
was opposed, but had to agree to it under pressure of other members. The war has caused wide anti-US sentiment in the Greek population, who are historical friends of the Serbs. Other NATO members were reluctant too, and especially uncomfortable were new members, Poland
, Hungary
and Czech Republic
. Other countries which condemned the bombing were Russia
, China
, Iraq
, Syria
, Libya
and Algeria
. Iran
also condemned the bombing by calling the campaign 'illegal'.
However, a Resolution proposed by Russia condemning the bombing was defeated in the Security Council 12-3, with only Russia, China, and Namibia voting in favor while Argentina
, Bahrain
, Brazil
, Gabon
, Gambia, Malaysia, and Slovenia
, along with NATO members the US, Britain, France, Canada, and Netherlands voted against it.
In 1999, a Canadian
law professor, Michael Mandel
, filed a formal complaint of NATO war crimes with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
charging 67 NATO leaders with war crimes. These complaints were dismissed by the tribunal who claimed they had no jurisdiction over NATO.
The Council of State
, the Supreme Court of Greece
, found NATO guilty of war crimes for its 1999 bombing.
1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
The NATO bombing of Yugoslavia was NATO's military operation against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The strikes lasted from March 24, 1999 to June 10, 1999...
of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has been subject to question by many bodies and individuals from the time of the action continuing to this day. The key basis governing the legality of any act of war is international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
. In this particular case, a course of action is also bound by other foundations such as the NATO charter and the UN charter, both of which were drafted in accordance with preexisting international regulation. As such, the issue has been shady at times with proponents of both viewpoints citing particular legislation that substantiate their claims on whether the war was or was not legal.
Supporters of the campaign have argued that the action brought to an end the repression of Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
's Albanian
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
population, and that the bombing campaign hastened (or caused) the downfall of Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
's government, which they saw as responsible for the international isolation
International isolation
International isolation is a penalty applied by the international community or a sizeable or powerful group of countries, like the United Nations, towards one nation, government or people group...
of Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, many war crimes and gross human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
violations. Others have deemed the legitimacy
Legitimacy
Legitimacy, from the Latin word legitimare , may refer to:* Legitimacy * Legitimacy of standards* Legitimacy * Legitimate expectation* Legitimate peripheral participation* Legitimate theater* Legitimation...
of the action as controversial. Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
condemned NATO's military campaign in Yugoslavia, particularly its aerial bombing
Strategic bombing
Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in a total war with the goal of defeating an enemy nation-state by destroying its economic ability and public will to wage war rather than destroying its land or naval forces...
which included the bombing of electricity and water supplies and television stations as well as military targets.
NATO's argument for the bombing's legitimacy
- NATO described the conditions in KosovoKosovoKosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
as posing a risk to regional stability. As such, NATO and certain governments asserted they had a legitimate interest in developments in Kosovo, due to their impact on the stability of the whole region which is of concern to the Alliance. - That NATO was justified in acting to maintain regional stability under Articles 2 and 4 of the NATO charter.
- That the use of force by NATO would not be inconsistent with UN resolutions 1160United Nations Security Council Resolution 1160United Nations Security Council Resolution 1160, adopted on March 31, 1998, after noting the situation in Kosovo, the Council, acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, imposed an arms embargo on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia .Some countries had suggested a comprehensive arms...
and 1199United Nations Security Council Resolution 1199United Nations Security Council Resolution 1199, adopted on September 23, 1998, after recalling Resolution 1160 , the Council demanded that the Albanian and Yugoslav parties in Kosovo end hostilities and observe a ceasefire....
on the matter.
The UN Charter
The prohibition against the use of force in the UN Charter can be found in article 2(4) with two specific exceptions against this prohibition provided for in the Charter. The first is in Chapter VIIChapter VII of the United Nations Charter
Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter sets out the UN Security Council's powers to maintain peace. It allows the Council to "determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression" and to take military and nonmilitary action to "restore international peace...
, where the Security Council has been given power in order to fulfill its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Article 42 states that should the Security Council
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
consider that measures provided for in Article 41 would be inadequate or have proved to be inadequate, it may take such action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security. Such action may include demonstrations, blockade, and other operations by air, sea, or land forces of Members of the United Nations.
The second specific exception is found in article 51, regarding the right to self-defence. The article states that nothing in the present charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security.
While NATO did not have the backing of the United Nations Security Council
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
to use force in Yugoslavia, nor claims an armed attack occurred against another state, its advocates contend that its actions were consistent with the United Nations Charter
United Nations Charter
The Charter of the United Nations is the foundational treaty of the international organization called the United Nations. It was signed at the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center in San Francisco, United States, on 26 June 1945, by 50 of the 51 original member countries...
, claiming that the UN Charter prohibits unprovoked attacks only by individual states but condones unprovoked attacks by military coalitions of several states, such as NATO. The principal issue remains whether the member states of NATO, the U.S. and the European powers, violated the UN Charter by attacking a fellow UN member state in the absence of an attack or a threat of imminent attack on them and in the absence of UN Security Council authorization.
The United Nations considers NATO to be a "regional arrangement" under UN Article 52, which allows them to deal matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security as are appropriate for regional action provided that such arrangements or agencies and their activities are consistent with the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations. However, the UN policy on military intervention by regional arrangements in UN Article 53 states the Security Council can, where appropriate, utilize such regional arrangements or agencies for enforcement action under its authority. However, no enforcement action shall be taken under regional arrangements or by regional agencies without the authorization of the Security Council.
NATO's charter
NATO had justified the actions in Kosovo under Article 4 of its charter, which allows involved parties to consult together whenever political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened. Because the NATO actions in Kosovo were taken after consultation with all members, were approved by a NATO vote, and were undertaken by several NATO members, NATO contends that its actions were in accordance with its charter. Some however argue that Article 5 of NATO's charter restricts NATO's use of force to situations where a NATO member has been attacked. It has been argued however that NATO's actions were in violation of the charter of NATO itself. Critics of this theory argue that the purpose of Article 5 is to require all NATO members to respond when any NATO member is attacked, not to restrict the circumstances under which NATO will choose to use force.Opponents of NATO's involvement also argued that the situation in Serbia and Yugoslavia posed no threat to any of the NATO members.
The Vienna Convention
Interpretation Article 52 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of TreatiesVienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties is a treaty concerning the international law on treaties between states. It was adopted on 22 May 1969 and opened for signature on 23 May 1969. The Convention entered into force on 27 January 1980. The VCLT has been ratified by 111 states as of November...
in the signing of the Rambouillet Agreement
Rambouillet Agreement
The Rambouillet Agreement is the name of a proposed peace agreement between then-Yugoslavia and a delegation representing the ethnic-Albanian majority population of Kosovo. It was drafted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and named for Chateau Rambouillet, where it was initially proposed...
by Serbia may conclude that the agreement is void due to the threat or use of force. Since many treaties are signed while the use (or threat) of force is in effect, most scholars agree that Article 52 refers only to force that is in violation of the principles of international law embodied in the Charter of the United Nations. Therefore, the question of whether the treaties are void depends on the question of whether NATO's use of force was in violation of the principles of the United Nations.
Effectiveness of prior UN actions
The United Nations Protection ForceUnited Nations Protection Force
The United Nations Protection Force ', was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav wars. It existed between the beginning of UN involvement in February 1992, and its restructuring into other forces in March 1995...
(UNPROFOR) in Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
and Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
was completely ineffective. For example, the UNPROFOR was deployed into the city of Goražde
Goražde
Goražde , is a city and municipality in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina on the Drina river. It is located between Foča, Sokolac and Višegrad, and is administratively part of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the center of the Bosnian Podrinje Canton.-Location:Goražde is situated on the...
to protect the Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
citizens there from Serbian military action. However, UNPROFOR did not intervene in 1995 when the Bosnian Serbs set up their artillery around the city and began shelling it indiscriminately. The UN failed to prevent Bosnian Serb troops from capturing the safe areas
United Nations Safe Areas
United Nations Safe Areas were areas established in 1993 in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War by a resolution of the United Nations Security Council....
set up in the city of Srebrenica
Srebrenica
Srebrenica is a town and municipality in the east of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Bosnian Serb entity of Republika Srpska. Srebrenica is a small mountain town, its main industry being salt mining and a nearby spa. During the Bosnian War, the town was the site of the July 1995 massacre,...
, which resulted in the Srebrenica massacre
Srebrenica massacre
The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, refers to the July 1995 killing, during the Bosnian War, of more than 8,000 Bosniaks , mainly men and boys, in and around the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by units of the Army of Republika Srpska under the command of...
. The UN Resolution 819
United Nations Security Council Resolution 819
United Nations Security Council Resolution 819, adopted unanimously on April 16, 1993, after reaffirming resolutions 713 and all subsequent resolutions, the Council expressed concern at the actions of Bosnian Serb paramilitary units in towns and villages in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina,...
and 836
United Nations Security Council Resolution 836
United Nations Security Council Resolution 836, adopted on June 4, 1993, after reaffirming Resolution 713 and all subsequent resolutions on the situation in the former Yugoslavia, the Council expressed its alarm at the continuing situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and decided to expand the...
had designated Srebrenica
Srebrenica
Srebrenica is a town and municipality in the east of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Bosnian Serb entity of Republika Srpska. Srebrenica is a small mountain town, its main industry being salt mining and a nearby spa. During the Bosnian War, the town was the site of the July 1995 massacre,...
a safe area to be protected using all necessary means, including the use of force. The UN also did little to stop the mass flight of almost the entire population of Krajina in the Croatian Operation Storm
Operation Storm
Operation Storm is the code name given to a large-scale military operation carried out by Croatian Armed Forces, in conjunction with the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to gain back control of parts of Croatia which had been claimed by separatist ethnic Serbs, since early...
of 1995. Up to 200,000 Serbs fled from Krajina in just four days, and hundreds of old people who were too sick to flee were later found killed and their village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
s pillaged. Indeed, the UN had even failed to protect hundreds of its own personnel from being taken hostage in May 1995 by Serbian forces under the command of Radovan Karadžić
Radovan Karadžic
Radovan Karadžić is a former Bosnian Serb politician. He is detained in the United Nations Detention Unit of Scheveningen, accused of war crimes committed against Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats during the Siege of Sarajevo, as well as ordering the Srebrenica massacre.Educated as a...
.
With the UN actions being seen as ineffective, and further UN resolutions likely to be vetoed by Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, who considered Yugoslavia
Fry
-Food and cooking:* Frying, the act of cooking food in oil or fat** Pan frying, frying food in a flat pan** Stir frying, frying food in a wok and stirring it while it cooks* Full breakfast, a traditional cooked meal, also called a fry-up or Ulster fry...
to be within its sphere of influence, and with the expanding action threatening regional stability (for example, the flood of Albanian refugees presented a very real threat to the stability of the fledgling Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
), NATO decided to intervene. Supporters of NATO's action over Kosovo, assert that the campaign was largely successful in achieving its aims of getting the Albanian refugees back home, and restoring a degree of political stability to the region. They also point out that the bombing campaign was largely responsible for the removal of Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
's regime, and his subsequent war crimes trial. They feel that none of these things would have happened without the bombing campaign over Serbia.
More familiar people (i.e., locals) however realise that the result was replacing Albanian refugees with Serb refugees; and that Kosovo is far from a stable region, with insurgencies spreading into Serbia proper
Central Serbia
Central Serbia , also referred to as Serbia proper , was the region of Serbia from 1945 to 2009. It included central parts of Serbia outside of the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina. The region of Central Serbia was not an administrative division of Serbia as such; it was under the...
(Preševo Valley conflict) and the Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
(2001 Macedonia conflict
2001 Macedonia conflict
The insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia was an armed conflict which began when the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army militant group attacked the security forces of the Republic of Macedonia at the beginning of January 2001...
) with crime and violence continuing for years after the bombing.
Serbs who were opposed to Milošević and his Socialist Party of Serbia
Socialist Party of Serbia
The Socialist Party of Serbia is officially a democratic socialist political party in Serbia. It is also widely recognized as a de facto Serbian nationalist party, though the party itself does not officially acknowledge this...
did point out, however, that the West failed to support Serbian people who demonstrated daily for three months the winter of 1996-1997, and that Milošević had been losing support long before the bombing (in fact demonstrations against Miloševićes regime had been going on since 1991). Some even pointed out that the popularity of Milošević increased during the bombing.
Alternative explanations of the motivation behind the bombing campaign
China and Russia vetoed the resolution on the UN Security Council, both of which are permanent members of the Security Council and even one veto from a permanent member is enough to quash a resolution. US President Bill Clinton then spearheaded the use of force by NATO against the Milosevic government.Some opponents of the NATO intervention cited the timing of the same, coming as it did on the heels of the Monica Lewinsky scandal as an indication that the conflict was merely a "little victorious war" intended for political gain rather than for any humanitarian purpose. Some support for this hypothesis may be found in the fact that coverage of the bombing directly replaced coverage of the Monica Lewinsky scandal in American news cycles. Still others point out that before the bombing, rather than being an unusually bloody conflict, the war between the KLA and the Yugoslav security forces had in fact been one of the cleanest civil wars in modern history, the number of dead being less than 2000, which included around 500 Serbian civilians and police and 1500 Albanian civilians and KLA members in more than one year of conflict. The total number of displaced people was 100,000 before the bombing. This has escalated to a total of 10,000 dead - an estimated 6-7,000 Albanians and 3-4,000 Serbians killed in the war. The number of refugees exceeded 800,000 during the war, mostly ethnic Albanian but also 100,000 ethnic Serbs from Kosovo. After the war, Albanian refugees returned, but more than 250,000 Serbian refugees have never returned to Kosovo.
These opponents of NATO war claim that war was avoidable, had the real wish of US and NATO been to solve the Kosovo problem.
International acceptance of NATO actions
UN Secretary General Kofi AnnanKofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
was critical of the intervention, and of the indecision by the United Nations. Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, itself a NATO member, was reluctant to agree to the NATO operations due to the tens of thousands of refugees that conflict would bring to Italy, and due to the large number of financial investments Italy holds in Kosovo. Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
was opposed, but had to agree to it under pressure of other members. The war has caused wide anti-US sentiment in the Greek population, who are historical friends of the Serbs. Other NATO members were reluctant too, and especially uncomfortable were new members, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
and Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. Other countries which condemned the bombing were Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
and Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
. Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
also condemned the bombing by calling the campaign 'illegal'.
However, a Resolution proposed by Russia condemning the bombing was defeated in the Security Council 12-3, with only Russia, China, and Namibia voting in favor while Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Bahrain
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Gabon
Gabon
Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
, Gambia, Malaysia, and Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, along with NATO members the US, Britain, France, Canada, and Netherlands voted against it.
In 1999, a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
law professor, Michael Mandel
Michael Mandel (law professor)
Michael Mandel LL.B, BCL, is a Canadian legal academic, specializing in criminal law with a particular interest in criminal sentencing. He was a part of the Osgoode Hall Law School's faculty since 1974 having also graduated from Osgoode with his LL.B....
, filed a formal complaint of NATO war crimes with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
charging 67 NATO leaders with war crimes. These complaints were dismissed by the tribunal who claimed they had no jurisdiction over NATO.
The Council of State
Council of State (Greece)
In Greece, the Council of State is the Supreme Administrative Court of Greece.-Organization:...
, the Supreme Court of Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, found NATO guilty of war crimes for its 1999 bombing.
External links
- PDF of Center for Policy Studies (UK) analysis of legality
- International Court of JusticeInternational Court of JusticeThe International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
, 1999 decisions on Yugoslavia vs the NATO states. - Re-examining Kosovo: The Role of Authority in Legitimating Armed Humanitarian Intervention