Drone Strikes Threaten 50 Years of International Law, Says UN Rapporteur (Possible War Crimes)

[morningfog]

The US policy of using drone strikes to carry out targeted killings presents a major challenge to the system of international law that has endured since the second world war, a UN investigator has said.

Christof Heyns, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, fears that Barack Obama's CIA-run programmes in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere will encourage other states to flout long-established international human rights law.

* * *

"Killings may be lawful in an armed conflict but many targeted killings take place far from areas where it's recognised as being an armed conflict."

If "there have been secondary drone strikes on rescuers who are helping [the injured] after an initial drone attack, those further attacks are a war crime."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/21/drone-strikes-international-law-un

[ananda]

1. Our drone policy really needs addressing stat.

But there seem to be a lot of smokescreens in place these days to prevent that.

[Octafish]

2. We are so postjudicial it's not funny.

Empire, baby. For the Reich.

And Blackwater.

[Wilms]

3. Just another "God damned piece of paper".

[morningfog]

5. Too soon.

[SammyWinstonJack]

8. +1.

[morningfog]

4. Kick!

[Luminous Animal]

6. I wouldn't ruin our beautiful minds over this. After all,

these are kinder gentler war crimes.

[morningfog]

7. "It's difficult to see how any killings carried out in 2012 can be justified ...

"It's difficult to see how any killings carried out in 2012 can be justified as in response to [the attacks] in 2001,"

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/06/22/Some-US-drone-attacks-may-be-war-crimes/UPI-94261340350200/#ixzz1yWWG3cXf

[cbrer]

9. Hey at least American Foreign Policy

Has been consistent the last 12 years!

Yea! Executive, Judicial, and Legislative branches!

[malaise]

10. Read this late last night

International law and indeed national law is flouted daily by those with clout.
Bullies win unless we punish those who violate the law - Bush, Cheney, Blair et al should have been charged with war crimes. Had that happened we would not have reached here.