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Rights Group Pressures NATO Over Libya Civilian Deaths

RIA Novosti

12:52 14/05/2012 MOSCOW, May 14 (RIA Novosti) - A leading human rights group called on NATO on Monday to investigate the deaths of 72 civilians in air strikes in Libya last year.

The western alliance has failed to acknowledge the casualties and investigate possible unlawful attacks during its 2011 Libya campaign that helped oust Muammar Gaddafi, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report published on Monday.

"Attacks are allowed only on military targets, and serious questions remain in some incidents about what exactly NATO forces were striking," Fred Abrahams, special adviser at HRW, said in a statement.

NATO argued its seven-month campaign had been conducted with "unprecedented care and precision."

The HRW report, "Unacknowledged Deaths: Civilian Casualties in NATO's Air Campaign in Libya," examines eight separate NATO strikes which reporteldy resulted in 72 civilian deaths, including 20 women and 24 children. It presents a higher death toll than an Amnesty International report released in March, which documented 55 civilian deaths, including 16 children and 14 women.

NATO carried out some 9,700 strike sorties under a UN Security Council mandate to protect civilians.

In the most serious incident, NATO air strikes on two family compounds in the village of Majer in August 2011 killed 34 civilians and wounded more than 30, HRW said.

The alliance asserted it had hit a "staging base and military accommodation" for pro-Gaddafi forces.

"NATO did everything possible to minimize risks to civilians, but in a complex military campaign, that risk can never be zero," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said in a statement.

"We deeply regret any instance of civilian casualties for which NATO may have been responsible," she added.

HRW acknowledged the overall care NATO took in minimizing civilian harm but said it was "undermined by its refusal to examine the dozens of civilian deaths."

The group also said that countries such as Russia which made "grossly exaggerated" claims of civilian deaths in Libya had done so to "score political points."

NATO argues it is in no position to carry out a post-operation investigation in Libya because it has no mandate to operate on the ground.

However, the alliance has not asked Libya's transition government for permission and should promptly do so, HRW said.