Human Rights First Human Rights First

Mr. President, A Little Clarity Please

6-15-2012

By Patrick Hanley
Law and Security Program

Pressure on the administration to explain its targeted killing program is mounting. This week, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and 25 other members, including Republicans Ron Paul and Walter Jones, sent a letter to the President asking for an explanation of the, “process by which ‘signature’ strikes are authorized and executed; mechanisms used by the CIA and JSOC to ensure that such killings are legal; the nature of the follow-up that is conducted when civilians are killed or injured; and the mechanisms that ensure civilian casualty numbers are collected, tracked and analyzed.”

Late last month, following comments by chief counterterrorism advisor, John Brennan, Human Rights First’s Elisa Massimino sent a letter questioning the legality of the targeted killing program stating “… Mr. Brennan’s remarks raise concerns that, in some instances, U.S. actions are being taken in violation of international law.”

In a recent piece in Foreign Policy, Daphne Eviatar and Gabor Rona echo the concerns flatly saying, “Without such public accountability for its lethal drone program, we can have no confidence that the United States is complying either with international or domestic law, or even pursuing a sensible policy.”

As pressure from both the public and Congress grows, we hope the administration will provide a bit more justification than “trust us.”


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Posted in Blog | 1 Comment »

  • PattyFromTexas

    Both Rep Dennis Kucinich and Dr Ron Paul have been fighting for individual liberty and for decades predicting the inevitable consequences of the systematic government abuse. And regardless of those who defend our government’s actions. Which is, I admit my gut reaction, it’s painfully clear that my country has taken a drastically wrong turn in it’s history. I support Ron Paul for president for this reason more than anything, his incorruptible stand against these policies, and his solutions that do not include extrajudicial assassination of American citizens without due process, Preemptive unconstitutional war based on inaccurate information, the use of drones that allows our military to bomb houses killing anyone unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity including women and children and old people I never in my wildest nightmares believed we would do the things we’re doing now, all in the name of SAFETY. I’m so angry at Obama, and Bush, and Clinton, and Cheney, for allowing these horrible policies to continue. President Barack Obama was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for nothing.