United States targeted airstrikes against alleged terrorists in Yemen have killed civilians in violation of international law, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The strikes, often using armed drones, are creating a public backlash that undermines US efforts against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). [Source: Human Rights Watch] hrw.org/news/2013/10/21/us-reassess-targeted-killings-yemen Amnesty International is seriously concerned that [strikes on Pakistan] and other strikes have resulted in unlawful killings that may constitute extrajudicial executions or war crimes. [Source: Amnesty International] amnestyusa.org/research/reports/will-i-be-next-us-drone-strikes-in-pakistan Outside situations of armed conflict, the use of deadly force by the State is lawful only if strictly necessary and proportionate, if aimed at preventing an immediate threat to life and if there is no other means of preventing the threat from materializing. It follows that lethal remotely piloted aircraft attacks will rarely be lawful outside a situation of armed conflict, because only in the most exceptional of circumstances would it be permissible under international human rights law for killing to be the sole or primary objective of an operation. [Source: UN Special Rapporteur report on promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism] un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/66/310 ...the strikes in the area mostly occur in densely populated neighborhoods. The drones have hit a bakery, a disused girls’ school and a money changers’ market, residents say. While the strike rate has dropped drastically in recent months, the constant presence of circling drones — and accompanying tension over when, or whom, they will strike — is a crushing psychological burden for many residents. Sales of sleeping tablets, antidepressants and medicine to treat anxiety have soared, said Hajji Gulab Jan Dawar, a pharmacist in the town bazaar. Women were particularly troubled, he said, but men also experienced problems. We sell them this, he said, producing a packet of pills that purported to treat erectile dysfunction under the brand name Rocket. [Source: The New York Times] nytimes/2013/10/22/world/asia/civilian-deaths-in-drone-strikes-cited-in-report.html
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 21:35:47 +0000
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