NATO bombing of Albanian refugees near Đakovica
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| NATO bombing of Albanian refugees near Đakovica | |
| Location | Near Đakovica, Kosovo |
|---|---|
| Target(s) | Unknown |
| Date | April 14, 1999 13:30 hrs (CET) |
| Attack type | Laser-guided bomb attack |
| Deaths | 73 |
| Injured | ? |
| Instigator(s) | NATO |
| Conflict | Kosovo War |
The NATO bombing of Albanian refugees near Đakovica occurred on April 14, 1999 when NATO planes repeatedly bombed refugee movements over a twelve-mile stretch of road between Đakovica and Dečani in western Kosovo, killing 73 civilians. Human Rights Watch found no basis to support the claims by NATO that the convoys themselves were composed of military vehicles. [1]
The attack began at 1:30 p.m. and persisted for about two hours, causing civilian deaths in numerous locations on the convoy route near the villages of Bistrazin, Gradis, Madanaj, and Meja.
[edit] NATO claims
NATO and U.S. spokespersons initially claimed the target was an exclusively military convoy and that Serb forces may have been responsible for the attacks on civilians. Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said that NATO commander Wesley Clark had received reports that "after the convoy was hit, military people got out and attacked civilians." "The pilots state they attacked only military vehicles," NATO said, adding that the "reported incident will be fully investigated once all mission details have been reviewed." There are also various NATO reports of Serbian deception in placing dead civilians at the site of the bombing. German Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping, in particular, put the blame for civilian casualties on Yugoslav forces.
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On April 15 NATO began to backtrack. It said one plane had "apparently" dropped a bomb on a civilian vehicle traveling with a military convoy. The reference to a strictly military convoy was modified: "Serbian police or army vehicles might have been in or near the convoy." NATO acknowledged that it had bombed civilian vehicles by mistake: "Following a preliminary investigation, NATO confirmed that apparently one of its planes dropped a bomb on a civilian vehicle traveling with a convoy yesterday," alliance spokespersons said.
Reporters from U.S. media went to the scene on April 15. They interviewed refugee survivors and observed shattered farm tractors, burned bodies identified as refugees, bomb craters, shrapnel, and bomb remnants with U.S. markings. The refugee column had apparently been divided in two main groups. Over the next few days, NATO wavered from insisting its forces attacked only military vehicles to an explanation that two convoys had been targeted, that the refugees had been at the rear of military columns, and that the civilian death toll was limited. On April 16, NATO spokesman Jamie Shea and Gen. Giuseppe Marini declared that "in one case and one only, we have proof of civilian loss of life. Otherwise, we are sure that we targeted military vehicles."
Later, on April 19, NATO modified its account of a single pilot's error, declaring that about a dozen planes had been involved in numerous attacks on the two convoys, dropping a total of nine bombs. Convoluted explanations continued for a number of days after the incident; NATO and the United States seemed incapable of reconstructing what had occurred. There were widespread press reports of the use of cluster bombs, which the United States denied. [2]
[edit] Human Rights Watch report
In addition to the press reporting of this incident and the statements by NATO and U.S. spokespersons, Human Rights Watch obtained extensive forensic details of the incident from the Yugoslav government. No evidence whatsoever was ever produced to indicate Serb responsibility for any of the deaths, though Tanjug reported the deaths of three Serbian "policemen" in the bombings who it said "were securing the safe passage for the convoy." This confirms that military or police were present in the refugee vehicles, but Human Rights Watch found no basis to support the claim that the convoys themselves were composed of military vehicles. [3]
