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Re: Request for estimates on deaths and rapes Kosovo/Yugoslavia

by Jeffrey L. Beatty

18 May 1999 04:27 UTC


>Has anyone seen any estimates on:
>
>Numbers of casualties of the Serbian aggression in Kosovo, and of the 
>NATO bombing campaign ?
>
>More specifically, it would be good to know:
>
>1. number of Kos/Alb civilian deaths in Kosovo from Jan 1998 up to NATO 
>bombing.
>2. number of Serbian civilian deaths in Kosovo from Jan 1998 up to NATO 
>bombing.
>3. number of KLA military deaths in Kosovo from Jan 1998 up to NATO 
>bombing.
>4. number of Serb military deaths in Kosovo from Jan 1998 up to NATO 
>bombing
>5. number of Kos/Alb civilian deaths in Kosovo since NATO bombing
>6. number of Serbian civilian deaths in Yugoslavia since NATO bombing.
>7. number of Kos/Alb civilian deaths due to NATO bombing
>8. number of KLA military deaths in Kosovo since NATO bombing
>9. number of Serb military deaths in Yugoslavia/Kosovo since NATO 
>bombing
>10. number of rapes of Kos/Alb women from Jan 1998 up to NATO bombing
>11. number of rapes of Kos/Alb women since NATO bombing
>
>For comparison, it would also be good to have estimates on 
>1. number of deaths of pro-integrationists in East Timor since Jan 1998
>2. number of deaths of pro-independence in East Timor since Jan 1998
>3. number of deaths of other civilians (not explicitly linked to either)
>since 
>Jan 1998
>
>These figures could help us acertain the extent of 'ethnic cleansing' in 
>Kosovo, and thus the strength of NATO's most publicised argument 
>for the NATO bombing campaign.
>
>Up until the NATO bombing, there was an estimate that 2,000 people 
>had died in Kosovo - 1,500 Kos/Alb and 500 Serbs.
>
>Thanks,
>Regards,
>Geoff Holland
>
>
>


First, you should be aware that estimates of the sort you are referring to
are notoriously unreliable, since there is a strong tendency on the side of
participants to inflate claims.

Having said that, I would check Amnesty International's Web site at
http://www.amnesty.org/ .  Its reports should have data on the subject of
ethnic cleansing that should be useful to you, to the extent that any data
on the subject is useful.  Note that because of the difficulty of acquiring
information about the situation within the former Yugoslavia (one of the
reasons, incidentally, that NATO seems to be taking such a beating in the
propaganda war), the data will consist largely of estimates.

The web site of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(http://www.unhcr.ch/) has data on refugees displaced from Kosovo; again,
some of the info consists of estimates.  I note that you have not included
questions about refugees in your list above.

Casualty reports may be tough to come by.  I suggest you check out Web
pages representing both sides of the conflict.  I recommend Human Rights
Watch at http://www.hrw.org/  as well as Amnesty.  You may also find info
from the Kosovar side at http://www.kosovo.org/ .  Info on casualties from
the Yugoslav side, at least since the bombing began, is available at
http://www.mfa.gov.yu/

Sorry I can't be more specific at the moment, but this should get you
started at least.
--

Jeffrey L. Beatty
Doctoral Student
Department of Political Science
The Ohio State University
2140 Derby Hall
154 North Oval Mall
Columbus, Ohio 43210

(o) 614/292-2880
(h) 614/688-0567

Email:  Beatty.4@osu.edu
___________________________________________________

"Sometimes a scream is better than a thesis."  
                         Ralph Waldo Emerson

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