UN Official: Aspects of US Drone Program Clearly 'War Crimes'

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http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/10/26


Ben Emmerson QC, UN Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights, describes the obstacles he currently faces to his mandate from the United Nations, which is to assess human rights conditions through investigation and reporting. He spoke about counter-terrorism strategies, the accountability of US government officials in the cases of targeted killing, torture, rendition, and secret detention, as well as the stances taken on these issues by the candidates in the upcoming US Presidential Election. (Sebastian A Cruz)

The UN's special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights announced Thursday that the Human Rights Council at the UN will likely initiate an investigation into civilian deaths caused by the CIA and US military's use of drones and other targeted killing programs, and said that if certain allegations against the US prove true, he considers them serious enough to call "war crimes".

Ben Emmerson, at speech given at Harvard Law School on Thursday, said that he and his UN colleague—Christof Heyns, the special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions—are compelled to investigate the controversial programs because the US government has so far refused to answer even some of the most basic questions about how it justifies such programs or prove that it has put in necessary safeguards to prevent the death of civilians.

“The Obama administration continues to formally adopt the position that it will neither confirm nor deny the existence of the drone program. .?.?. In reality, the administration is holding its finger in the dam of public accountability,” he said according to a prepared copy of the speech.

“I will be launching an investigation unit within the special procedures of the [U.N.] Human Rights Council to inquire into individual drone attacks, and other forms of targeted killings conducted in counterterrorism operations, in which it has been alleged that civilian casualties have been inflicted,” he added.

[Vidar]

1. Sanctions against the CIA would be doing the US & the World a favor.