Every Casualty Campaign Statement

Every Casualty Campaign Statement on Casualty Recording and Military Intervention in Syria

5 September 2013 - In light of the debate currently taking place among many states on proposed military intervention in Syria, members of the Every Casualty Campaign call on all parties involved to ensure that every casualty of the conflict in Syria is promptly recorded, correctly identified, and publicly acknowledged.

States considering military intervention, and Security Council members in particular, should reflect on the implementation of earlier protection mandates, such as UNSCR 1973, concerning Libya. Post-conflict assessments by NGOs and the UN Commission of Inquiry determined that NATO attacks caused civilian deaths, despite NATO’s claims to the contrary. This disparity demonstrates that protecting civilians from harm cannot rest on assurances and good intentions alone, but must be supported by accurate assessment and reporting of realities on the ground.

Specifically, protection requires assessment and evaluation by the intervening forces themselves to determine whether it is being and has been achieved. Pre-strike planning should include setting up a mechanism to: track harm, including deaths and injuries, caused to the civilian population as a result of combat operations; properly investigate harm to support accountability procedures; analyse civilian harm to glean lessons learned and inform tactics to lessen civilian harm; and properly respond to harm through appropriate measures (e.g. compensation or amends). read more>>>

Every Casualty Campaign

Governments must ensure that all lives lost to armed violence, anywhere in the world, are properly recorded.

This simple demand is the basis of a new civil society campaign calling for the recognition of every casualty of armed violence. More...