Abstract
After the attacks of 9/11 and the subsequent war against terrorism many questions arose concerning the difficulties of observing international humanitarian law during asymmetrical warfare. On one hand, terrorists do not pay attention to the Geneva Conventions or any other treaties concerning the respect of human rights, the protection of non-combatants, or the permissible means of fighting. In most of the cases, they attack innocent people to accomplish their goals and put pressure on their opponents.
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Notes
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Other cases could be used as well, such as the Israeli attack on Sheikh Yassin of Hamas. I chose the two cases (the Yemen and Zarqawi cases) as my study concentrates on the U.S.-led war against terror. One can find interesting information on the Israeli policy on targeted killing and the U.S. attack in Yemen in David Kretzmer, “Targeted Killing of Suspected Terrorists: Extrajudicial Executions or Legitimate Means of Defence?” European Journal of International Law 16, no. 2 (2005): 171–212.
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This could be regarded as a very realistic argument indeed. Amichai Cohen and Yuval Shany, “A Development of Modest Proportions. The Application of the Principle of Proportionality in the Targeted Killings Case,” Journal of International Criminal Justice 5 (2007): 310–321.
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There is a major difference between assassination and targeted killing. When we talk about assassination, we have to distinguish between peacetime assassination and wartime assassination. Peacetime assassination requires all of the following three elements to be present: (1) a murder, (2) of a specific individual, (3) for political purposes. Assassination in wartime has the following characteristics: (1) the specific targeting of a particular individual and (2) the use of treacherous or perfidious means. Other forms of extrajudicial execution, targeted killing, or elimination are not synonymous with assassination. Assassination, whether in peacetime or wartime, constitutes an illegal killing, while targeted killing is the intentional slaying of a specific individual or group of individuals undertaken with explicit governmental approval. For more information, see Major Tyler J. Harder, “Time to Repeal the Assassination Ban of Executive Order 12,333: A Small Step in Clarifying Current Law,” Military Law Review 172 (2002): 1–39.
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© 2009 Matthew J. Morgan
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Lekea, J.K. (2009). Fighting Terrorism: The Role of Military Ethics, Humanitarian Law, and Human Rights in Theory and Practice. In: Morgan, M.J. (eds) The Impact of 9/11 and the New Legal Landscape. The Day that Changed Everything?. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230100053_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230100053_15
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