Remarkable statement by Human Rights Watch on targeted killings

Is there a rift in the human rights community on targeted killings? Benjamin Wittes suggests there is one after reading Tom Malinowki’s comments on the use of drones in Yemen here.

“Our position on targeted killing is that its use can be legally justified so long as it is limited to situations involving a combatant on a genuine battlefield or its equivalent beyond the reach of law enforcement, or in a law enforcement situation when the threat to life is imminent and there is no alternative. A case could be made that these conditions have been at times met in Yemen–for example, if there is credible evidence that a targeted individual is planning attacks on the U.S., the threat is imminent, and he or she is in a place where an arrest operation would be impossible.”

GAO Role in Intel Oversight to be Determined

Secrecy News reports that the recently enacted 2010 Intelligence Authorization Act requires the Director of National Intelligence to prepare a directive concerning access by the congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO) to intelligence information.  The forthcoming directive, the  content of which was not clearly specified by Congress, could enable GAO investigators to play a more significant role in intelligence  oversight, or it could effectively shut the door on them.

Pakistani judge asks government clarification on rendition of Pakistani citizens to Bagram

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif has sought in the beginning of October a reply from the ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs on a petition against the abduction and extradition to foreign countries of seven Pakistani citizens now detained at the Bagram Theatre Internment Camp in Afghanistan.

Sharif directed the lawyer representing the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), present in the courtroom, to get a report and comments from both the ministries by October 19. The seven Pakistanis include Awal Khan, Fazal Karim, Iftikhar Ahmad, Hamidullah Khan, Abdul Haleem, Saifullah Younas and Rehmatullah. No news about the Pakistan reply has been received yet.

Sultana Noon, a member of ‘Reprieve’, a (UK based organisation dedicated to ensuring enforcement of human rights of prisoners), moved the petition for the recovery of the detainees. The petitioners’ counsel Salman Akram Raja submitted that the Pakistani citizens, held in different jails of Pakistan from where they were abducted were handed over to foreign countries without any reason.

Raja alleged that Pakistani authorities played a role in the abduction and extradition of the citizens to foreign countries. He said that an ordinary citizen suspected of being involved in any purported wrongdoing deserved a chance to prove his innocence rather than being handed over to foreign powers. He asked the court to directthe two ministries to make a representation as required by law on behalf of the abducted citizens and arrange for their release and extradition to the country. Raja also requested the court to register criminal cases against those involved in the abduction of the citizens.

USS Cole families press legal claims against Sudan

Relatives of the 17 sailors killed in the 2000 bombing of the Navy destroyer USS Cole are asking for the right to seek emotional-distress claims against the Republic of Sudan, which they say provided financial support and safe harbor for al-Qaida terrorists. An attorney representing 59 relatives on Tuesday asked a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a lower court’s ruling that barred the families from seeking punitive damages under state law. Andrew Hall also asked that the panel order the judge to reconsider the case in light of a federal terrorism-victims’ compensation law that passed in 2008, allowing for such awards.

Spain police on trial for alleged torture of ETA members

[JURIST] A group of Spanish police officers went on trial Tuesday for the alleged torture of two ETA activists  in Basque. The alleged victims, Igor Portu and Mattin Sarasola, were convicted and sentenced to 1,040 years in prison after an airport bombing in Madrid that killed two people. They claim that the police mistreated them physically and psychologically. The Guardia Civil police maintain that Portu and Sarasola were trying to escape and that their limited use of force was necessary. Prosecutors seek two to three years in prison for the accused officers.