Serb families to sue Nato allies

Nato bombings have been condemned as war crimes

Serbs whose relatives died during the Nato bombing of Serbia last year are suing the governments whose armies took part in the offensive.

There are fundamental issues at stake with regard to the selection of legitimate targets in a situation such as this

Lawyer Tony Fisher

The case is being taken to the European Court of Human Rights by relatives of people who died in the attack on the main Serbian television station in Belgrade in April 1999.

The families could be awarded damages if the European court finds the governments had acted illegally and violated human rights.

The attack on the TV station, which killed 16 civilians, was one of the most controversial of the Nato campaign. It was later described by human rights group Amnesty International as a war crime.

Targets

Solicitor Tony Fisher, from a British law firm acting for some of the relatives, said the case was being brought against 17 of the 19 Nato countries under Article Two of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the "right to life", and Article 10 which protects freedom of speech.

Civilian casualties proved a propaganda nightmare for Nato

"There are fundamental issues at stake with regard to the selection of legitimate targets in a situation such as this," Mr Fisher said.

"The case has been lodged and the court is currently deciding whether to communicate it to the responding governments."

'War crime'

Mr Fisher is part of an international group of lawyers involved in the case from Europe and the US.

Last month Amnesty International published a report claiming Nato was guilty of war crimes during the bombing raids on Kosovo and Serbia.

The report said allied commanders should have taken greater precautions to avoid civilian deaths, and singled out the attack on the Serbian state television station as a "grave breach of the laws of war" and a "war crime".