Research

Research

Published

September 2018

Written by

Samuel Oakford

Credibility Gap – UK civilian harm assessments for the battles of Mosul and Raqqa

As part of its Inquiry into British military actions at Mosul and Raqqa, the UK Parliament’s Defence Select Committee issued a request for submissions from interested parties. Along with several other NGOs, Airwars submitted a detailed report looking into UK actions in the war against so-called Islamic State, and the broader issue of civilian harm.

The full version of the Airwars report – including new modellling of the battles for Raqqa and Mosul – is published here. A shorter version of the report is also available via the Select Committee.

While commending the UK for its general transparency, Airwars challenged the Ministry of Defence over its claims of no civilian harm from UK actions in either city – despite more than 1,000 targets reportedly being struck. Our report, Credibility Gap, contains a number of recommendations to help improve UK monitoring and reporting opf civilian harm in future conflicts.

 

Published

May 2018

Written by

Airwars Staff

Assisted by

Koen Kluessien

Refusal by The Netherlands Defence Ministry to identify specific civilian harm events impedes natural justice, and runs counter to actions by other Coalition allies

Our third briefing paper for Dutch MPs was issued after the Netherlands conceded civilian harm in Iraq in up to three incidents between 2014 and 2016 – but refused to say where or when. The paper noted that without more detail, affected Iraqis would never know that Dutch aircraft were responsible for their loved ones being harmed – and could therefore never recieve an apology or compensation.This, we argued, ran counter to natural justice, and to the more transparent actions of Coalition allies.

Published

May 2018

Written by

Samuel Oakford

Death in the City – High levels of civilian harm in modern urban warfare resulting from significant explosive weapons use

In response to requests for written submissions to an inquiry by the UK’s All Party Parliamentary Group on Explosive Threats, this Airwars paper examined recent civilian harm reporting from Mosul, Raqqa, Aleppo and Ghouta – arguing that intensity of bombardment and population desnity were the primary drivers of negative outcomes for non combatants, rather than any use of ‘dumb’ versus ‘smart’ munitions.

Published

November 2017

Written by

Airwars Staff

Renewed Netherlands mission against ISIS risks the lowest levels of public transparency and accountability among allies in a very different war

Airwars was invited to address a committee of Dutch MPs at The Hague on November 29th, to discuss issues relating to the expected resumption of Netherlands airstrikes against ISIS from January 1st 2018. Our short report made clear that the war has become far more destructive in recent months; that civilian harm had worsened; and that Dutch public transparency needed to improve to match that of other allies.

Published

December 2016

Written by

Chris Woods

Limited Accountability: A transparency audit of the Coalition air war against so-called Islamic State

A detailed assessment of transparency and accountability issues among the 13-member alliance. The audit – commissioned by UK defence think tank the Remote Control Project – worked with four sample militaries (the US, UK, Canada and Denmark) to build a detailed understanding of how militaries track and assess civilian casualty assessments. It also gauges transparency by partner, measuring whether each ally can be held publicly accountable for its actions.

Published

May 2016

Written by

Airwars Staff

Improving Belgian transparency and public accountability in the war against Daesh

As Brussels debated whether to extend airstrikes to Syria, we submitted a short report to parliament urging improved public transparency. The report concluded that “The act of waging war rightly places onerous responsibilities upon all combatants. It is surely
right not only that nations are held accountable for their military actions – but that they are also seen to be held accountable for those actions. At present, an Iraqi or Syrian civilian has no means of knowing whether they have potentially been affected by a Belgian airstrike.”

Published

March 2016

Written by

Airwars Staff

A Reckless Disregard for Civilian Lives: Russian airstrikes in Syria

Our analysis of Russian airstrikes in Syria between September 30th and December 31st 2015 found that despite Moscow’s continuing assertions that no civilians have been killed in its ongoing Syrian air war, there were credible indications from open source reporting that to December 31st 2015 only, between 1,098 and 1,450 non-combatants had likely died in 192 separate Russian events.

Published

February 2016

Written by

Airwars Staff

Netherlands airstrikes in Syria: Towards improved transparency and public accountability

Our report submitted to the Dutch Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee argued that despite being an advanced democracy with membership both of the European Union and NATO, The Netherlands had also been one of the least transparent partners in the US-led Coalition against ISIS – a situation which has further deteriorated over time. “It is an uncomfortable fact that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have on occasion issued more
information on their anti-Daesh air campaigns than has the Netherlands,” we noted.