Rights Court Rejects Belgrade Bombing Case

The European Court of Human Rights refused to accept a complaint against NATO nations brought by a group of Yugoslavs whose relatives were killed in the 1999 bombing campaign.

Judges at the court in Strasbourg, France, unanimously declared the case inadmissible because the action occurred in Yugoslavia and outside its jurisdiction. Yugoslavia is not part of the 43-member Council of Europe.

The complaint was brought by six Yugoslavs. Five of them had family members who were among 16 people killed when North Atlantic Treaty Organization planes bombed TV headquarters in Belgrade during the Kosovo conflict. The sixth complainant was himself injured.