Clinton and Blair Urged to Take Extraordinary Precautions
November 10, 1998
Bill Clinton and Tony Blair should take all feasible steps to protect civilians from injury in the event of an attack on Iraq, Human Rights Watch said in letters to the U.S. president and U.K. prime minister today. Statements by officials from both governments have indicated that many potential targets are in urban areas, where the risk of civilian deaths and destruction is high. The laws of war prohibit the destruction of objects that are indispensable to the survival of a civilian population. "The laws-of-war duty to avoid damage to civilians requires extraordinary precautions in urban settings," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. He warned that attacks on electrical facilities, "dual-use" civilian facilities, and military sites in areas of civilian presence could result in disproportionate civilian losses.
"The Gulf War bombing of Iraq's electrical system is a good example of what must not happen again," Roth said. Human Rights Watch pointed out that U.S. and U.K. officials have yet to present evidence that they had been able to identify particular facilities as chemical and biological weapons (CBW) sites. Since many of the alleged CBW sites are civilian facilities such as hospitals, fertilizer plants, breweries, and pharmaceutical and pesticide plants, the potential for deadly mistakes is high.
"The decision to attack possible dual-use sites must be taken only after all feasible efforts have been made to verify that the site is in fact being used for military purposes," said Roth. " Even then civilians on site should be given effective advance warning of an imminent attack." The possible release of dangerous substances during an attack should also be weighed heavily, he said.
Human Rights Watch noted that in the past, the Iraqi government has used civilians to shield its military sites -- a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. But such actions in no way diminish the separate obligation of the U.S. and the U.K. to avoid harm to civilians. "Knowing that shielding is a possibility, the American and British militaries should pay special attention to this obligation," said Roth. "Advance warnings are imperative."
Although the U.S. and the U.K. have incorporated many international humanitarian law provisions into their military guidelines, the organization noted that allied forces in the 1991 Gulf War did not always fully comply with these requirements, as detailed in Human Rights Watch's lengthy report, Needless Deaths in the Gulf War. The organization called on both governments to put into place mechanisms to review continuously the selection of targets and the means and methods used to carry out attacks, and to ensure that possible violations of these standards are investigated immediately and vigorously. A prompt public accounting of the findings should be made, and appropriate disciplinary or prosecutorial measures should be taken against those found responsible for any breach.
