First View of a “Mistake” from Space: The Bombing of a Displacement camp in Nigeria
We are releasing here imagery from Amnesty International taken today over Rann in Borno State, Nigeria, the site of yesterday’s bombing of a displacement camp by the Nigerian Air Force. The number killed by this attack has grown since initial reports, and may still. Amnesty International is analyzing this imagery, testimony, and photographs to determine precisely what has occurred, and we look forward to those initial findings.
But why? While all headlines read “mistakenly” — and nothing yet suggests the intent to target civilians and aid workers — there is a larger concern raised by what the Nigerian military and government is calling an accidental airstrike. International Humanitarian Law requires parties to distinguish between combatants and non-combatants, and the protection of non-combatants in all circumstances. While this instance is tragic whatever Amnesty’s findings will be, it joins a list of other “mistakes” occurring in places of armed conflict of late that have had terrible consequences for populations already in dire straits.
In this case, there is no question about the protected status of this displaced-person camp (nor is any being offered). But the claim this was an accident — that there was a lack of intent to strike such an obviously protected site — does not obviate the need for accountability. An investigation is obligate, and why this mistake occurred from an operational standpoint must be established. Parties to combat are obligated to avoid such accidents, just as they are obligated to not intentionally target civilians.
The importance of this accountability cannot be understated. Plainly put — we live in challenging times as it relates to findings of fact. The “truth” is constantly under assail, and if we allow the claim of “accidental” to be the end of the task of fact-finding, we invite the emergence of a fallback position for combatants and their chains-of-command when faced with charges of war crimes.
