RESOLUTION ON KOSOVO

Whereas the human rights of the Kosovar people in Kosovo have suffered and continue to suffer grievous violations at the hands of the Yugoslav authorities at least since the revocation of autonomy in 1989, and

Whereas the current bombing raids by NATO on Yugoslavia are neither in self-defense nor pursuant to UN Security Council authorization, and

Whereas, furthermore, the NATO bombing raids are directed, inter alia, at civilian targets, employing prohibited weapons such as cluster bombs and depleted uranium ammunition and causing widespread damage to the civilian population and to the environment,

The Internatioal Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA), meeting in Extraordinary General Assembly hereby concludes;

• That the current NATO military operation against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) is in violation of both ius ad bellum and ius in bello,
• That this fact constitutes a grave threat to the stability of the international legal order and threatens to further weaken an already enfeebled United Nations and
• That a way must be found to guarantee the return of the expelled Kosovars to their homeland and to prevent further assaults on their lives, dignity and property.

IALANA therefore

1. Calls on NATO to cease immediately the bombing of Yugoslavia ,
2. Invites all UN member states to take appropriate action to restore the UN’s rightful and exclusive role in the area of international security,
3. Demands that the FRY immediately cease violations of human rights and humanitarian law throughout its territory and provide for compensation to those already victimized by such violations, and
4. Urges the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to investigate human rights and humanitarian law violations committed or tolerated by all parties to the Kosovo conflict, including the government of Belgrade and its members, the Serbian army, the paramilitary forces of both sides and NATO, and to hand down indictments as appropriate.

The Hague, May 13, 1999

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