Yugo vs NATO: THE HAGUE hearing on May 10, '99
Yugoslavia institutes proceedings against ten States for violation of
the obligation not to use force against another State and requests
the Court to order that the use of force cease immediately
Hearings on provisional measures to open on Monday 10 May 1999
THE HAGUE, 29 April 1999. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) today
instituted proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against
(separately and in the following order) the United States of America, the
United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada,
Portugal and Spain, accusing these States of bombing Yugoslav territory in
violation of their obligation not to use force against another State.
In its Applications, Yugoslavia maintains that the above-mentioned States have
committed "acts by which [they] have violated [their] international obligation
[s] not to use force against another State, not to intervene in [that State's]
internal affairs" and "not to violate [its] sovereignty"; "the obligation to
protect the civilian population and civilian objects in wartime, [and] to
protect the environment; the obligation relating to free navigation on
international rivers"; the obligation "regarding the fundamental rights and
freedoms; and the obligation[s] not to use prohibited weapons [and] not to
deliberately inflict conditions of life calculated to cause the physical
destruction of a national group".
Yugoslavia has requested the Court to adjudge and declare inter alia that the
ten States against which it has instituted proceedings are "responsible for
the violation of the above[-mentioned] international obligations", that they
are "obliged to stop immediately" that violation and that they are "obliged
to provide compensation for the damage done".
According to Yugoslavia, the above-mentioned States, "together with the
Governments of other Member States of NATO, took part in the acts of use of
force against the FRY". Yugoslavia asserts that both military and civilian
targets have come under attack during the bombings, causing many casualties
("about 1,000 civilians, including 19 children, were killed and more than
4,500 sustained serious injuries"), enormous damage to schools, hospitals,
radio and television stations, cultural monuments and places of worship, the
destruction of a large number of bridges, roads and railway lines, as well as
oil refineries and chemical plants, resulting in serious health and
environmental damage.
As the legal basis for its claims, Yugoslavia cites the obligations not to use
force against another State and not to intervene in its internal affairs, the
provisions of the Geneva Convention of 1949 and of the Additional Protocol No.
1 of 1977 on the Protection of Civilians and Civilian Objects in Time of War,
the 1948 Convention on Free Navigation on the Danube, the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the 1966 International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Yugoslavia further points out that the
activities of the States involved are "contrary to Article 53, paragraph 1, of
the Charter of the United Nations".
Yugoslavia also filed today, in each of the cases, a request for interim
measures of protection (provisional measures), asking the Court to order the
States involved to "cease immediately [their] acts of use of force" and to
"refrain from any act of threat or use of force against the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia".
It maintains that if the proposed measures are not adopted, there will be "new
losses of human life, further physical and mental harm inflicted on the
population of the FRY, further destruction of civilian targets, heavy
environmental pollution and further physical destruction of the people of
Yugoslavia".
At a meeting held today, the Court decided that hearings on provisional
measures would open on Monday 10 May 1999 at 10.00 a.m. They are expected to
last two days.
Vice-President Weeramantry will exercise the functions of the presidency in
all ten cases, President Schwebel being a national of one of the Parties.
____________
The full texts of Yugoslavia's Applications and requests for the indication of
provisional measures will be available shortly on the Court's website
(http://www.icj-cij.org).
____________
NOTE FOR THE PRESS
1. The public sittings will be held in the Great Hall of Justice of the Peace
Palace in The Hague, the Netherlands. Mobile telephones and beepers are
allowed in the courtroom provided they are turned off or set on silent mode.
Any offending device will be temporarily retained.
2. Members of the Press will be entitled to attend on presentation of a press
card. The tables reserved for them are situated on the far left of the public
entrance of the courtroom.
3. Photographs may be taken for a few minutes at the opening and at the end of
the sittings. Television crews may film, but advance notice should be given to
the Information Office (see paragraph 7).
4. In the Press Room, located on the ground floor of the Peace Palace (Room
5), the Court's proceedings will be relayed through a loudspeaker.
5. The verbatim records of the public sittings will be published daily on the
Court's website.
6. Members of the Press who wish to make telephone calls may use the phone
located in the Press Room for collect calls or the public telephones in the
Post Office in the basement of the Peace Palace.
7. Mr. Arthur Witteveen, Secretary of the Court (tel: 31-70-302 2336), and
Mrs. Laurence Blairon, Information Officer (tel: 31-70-302 2337), are
available to deal with any requests for information and for making
arrangements for television coverage.
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