Targeted killing

Targeted killing is the intentional killing–by a government or its agents–of a civilian or "unlawful combatant" targeted by the government, who is not in the government's custody. The target is a person taking part in an armed conflict or terrorism, whether by bearing arms or otherwise, who has thereby lost the immunity from being targeted that he would otherwise have under the Third Geneva Convention.[1] Note that this is a different term and concept from that of "targeted violence" as used by specialists who study violence.

Ibrahim Nafie, writing in Egypt's Al-Ahram Weekly in 2001, criticized the U.S. for agreeing with "the Israeli spin that calls ... its official policy of assassinating Palestinian leaders 'targeted killing.'"[2]

On the other hand, Georgetown Law Professor Gary Solis, in his 2010 book entitled The Law of Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law in War,[3] writes: "Assassinations and targeted killings are very different acts".[1] The use of the term assassination is opposed, as it denotes murder, whereas the terrorists are targeted in self-defense, and thus it is viewed as a killing, but not a crime.[4] Judge Abraham Sofaer, former federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, wrote on the subject:

When people call a targeted killing an "assassination," they are attempting to preclude debate on the merits of the action. Assassination is widely defined as murder, and is for that reason prohibited in the United States.... U.S. officials may not kill people merely because their policies are seen as detrimental to our interests.... But killings in self-defense are no more "assassinations" in international affairs than they are murders when undertaken by our police forces against domestic killers. Targeted killings in self-defense have been authoritatively determined by the federal government to fall outside the assassination prohibition.[5]

In The Impact of 9/11 and the New Legal Landscape: The Day That Changed Everything?,[6] the point is made that "There is a major difference between assassination and targeted killing.... targeted killing [is] not synonymous with assassination. Assassination ... constitutes an illegal killing."[7] Similarly, Amos Guiora, Professor of law at the University of Utah, writes: "Targeted killing is ... not an assassination", Steve David, Johns Hopkins Associate Dean & Professor of International Relations, writes: "there are strong reasons to believe that the Israeli policy of targeted killing is not the same as assassination", Syracuse Law Professor William Banks and GW Law Professor Peter Raven-Hansen write: "Targeted killing of terrorists is ... not unlawful and would not constitute assassination", Rory Miller writes: "Targeted killing ... is not 'assassination'", and Associate Professor Eric Patterson and Teresa Casale write: "Perhaps most important is the legal distinction between targeted killing and assassination".[8][9][10][10][11]

Targeted killing has been used by governments around the world, and become a frequent tactic of the United States and Israel in their fight against terrorism.[1][12] The tactic can raise complex questions and lead to contentious disputes as to the legal basis for its application, who qualifies as an appropriate "hit list" target, and what circumstances must exist before the tactic may be employed.[1] Opinions range from people considering it a legal form of self-defense that reduces terrorism, to people calling it an extra-judicial killing that lack due process, and which leads to more violence.[1][5][13][14] Methods used have included firing a five-foot-long Hellfire missile from a Predator or Reaper drone (an unmanned, remote-controlled plane), detonating a cell phone bomb, and long-range sniper shooting. Countries such as the U.S. (in Pakistan and Yemen) and Israel (in the West Bank and Gaza) have used targeted killing to kill members of groups such as Al-Qaeda and Hamas.[1] In early 2010, with President Obama's approval, Anwar al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be approved for targeted killing by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).[15][16]

Contents

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Gary D. Solis (2010). The Law of Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law in War. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-87088-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=6FKf0ocxEPAC&pg=PA542&dq=%22targeted+killing%22&hl=en&ei=WJnrS4_NE8KB8gbTm_zQBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CDYQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=%22targeted%20killing%22&f=false. Retrieved May 19, 2010. 
  2. ^ Ibrahim Nafie (October 31, 2001). "Opinion | The very model of a rogue state". Al-Ahram Weekly. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2001/557/op1.htm. Retrieved May 20, 2010. 
  3. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=6FKf0ocxEPAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Law+of+Armed+Conflict:+International+Humanitarian+Law+in+War&hl=en&ei=KXz_S522EIOclgfB-8n6CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
  4. ^ Targeted killing is a necessary option, Sofaer, Abraham D., Hoover Institution, March 26, 2004
  5. ^ a b Abraham D. Sofaer (March 26, 2004). "Responses to Terrorism / Targeted killing is a necessary option". The San Francisco Chronicle. http://articles.sfgate.com/2004-03-26/opinion/17416329_1_self-defense-killings-deadly-force. Retrieved May 20, 2010. 
  6. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=QP1Bq7HVQtwC&dq=The+Impact+of+9/11+and+the+New+Legal+Landscape:+The+Day+That+Changed+Everything&source=gbs_navlinks_s
  7. ^ Matthew J. Morgan (2009). The Impact of 9–11: The New Legal Landscape. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-60838-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=QP1Bq7HVQtwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Impact+of+9/11+and+the+New+Legal+Landscape:+The+Day+That+Changed+Everything&source=bl&ots=wJJzz_X2WQ&sig=dfBVA1xydinRGtvSn5-3KbQloGs&hl=en&ei=2szrS6WOK4Sdlgenq-y1CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=major%20difference%20between%20assassination%20and%20targeted%20killing&f=false. Retrieved May 29, 2010. 
  8. ^ Amos Guiora (2004). "Targeted Killing as Active Self-Defense". 36 Case W. Res. J. Int'l L. 31920. http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/cwrint36&div=20&id=&page=. Retrieved May 29, 2010. 
  9. ^ Steven R. David (September 2002). "Fatal Choices: Israel's Policy Of Targeted Killing" (PDF). The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. http://biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/david.pdf. Retrieved May 29, 2010. 
  10. ^ a b Rory Miller (2007). Ireland and the Middle East: trade, society and peace. Irish Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-7165-2868-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=i5lnAAAAMAAJ&q=assassination+%22targeted+killing%22&dq=assassination+%22targeted+killing%22&hl=en&ei=9dDrS8z2JIH7lwf_84i1CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=13&ved=0CGAQ6AEwDA. Retrieved May 29, 2010. 
  11. ^ "Targeted Killing and Assassination: The U.S. Legal Framework", Banks, William C., Raven-Hansen, Peter, 37 U. Rich. L. Rev. 667 (2002–03). Retrieved October 89, 2010.
  12. ^ "Q&A: Targeted Killings", Eben Kaplan, The New York Times, January 25, 2006. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
  13. ^ Dana Priest (November 8, 2002). "U.S. Citizen Among Those Killed In Yemen Predator Missile Strike". The Tech (MIT); The Washington Post. http://tech.mit.edu/V122/N54/long4-54.54w.html. Retrieved May 19, 2010. 
  14. ^ Mohammed Daraghmeh (February 20, 2001). "Hamas Leader Dies in Apparent Israeli Targeted Killing". Times Daily. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=e08gAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YckEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1426,2445697&dq=targeted-killing&hl=en. Retrieved May 20, 2010. 
  15. ^ Greg Miller (January 31, 2010). "U.S. citizen in CIA's cross hairs". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/31/world/la-fg-cia-awlaki31-2010jan31. Retrieved May 20, 2010. 
  16. ^ Greg Miller (April 7, 2010). "Muslim cleric Aulaqi is 1st U.S. citizen on list of those CIA is allowed to kill". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/06/AR2010040604121.html?hpid=topnews. Retrieved May 20, 2010. 

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