Targeted killing

Extrajudicial assassination by governments

Modern targeted killings are frequently performed using unmanned combat aerial vehicles like the MQ-9 Reaper.

Targeted killing is a form of assassination carried out by governments outside a judicial procedure or a battlefield.[1][2][3][4]

Since the late 20th century, the legal status of targeted killing has become a subject of contention within and between various nations. Historically, at least since the mid-eighteenth century, Western thinking has generally considered the use of assassination as a tool of statecraft to be illegal.[5] Some academics, military personnel and officials[6] describe targeted killing as legitimate within the context of self-defense, when employed against terrorists or combatants engaged in asymmetrical warfare. They argue that unmanned combat aerial vehicles (drones) are more humane and more accurate than manned vehicles.[7][8]

Scholars are also divided as to whether targeted killings are an effective counterterrorism strategy.[9][10][11][12][13][14]

## Africa

[edit]

Targeted killings have also been used in Somalia, Kenya, Rwanda and in Libya.[citation needed]

### Somalia and Rwanda, 1990s

[edit]

During fighting in the Somali Civil War, Sean Devereux described torture and killing by warlords in Kismayo as "targeted killings, a kind of ethnic cleansing", shortly before his assassination.[15]

Also in Africa, Reuters described "targeted killings of political opponents" by Hutu army and militias in Rwanda during the Rwandan genocide.[16] The American State Department reported the "politically targeted killings" were a prelude to general massacres in Rwanda.[17]

## Americas

[edit]

During the 1980s and 1990s, targeted killings were employed extensively by death squads in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Colombia, and Haiti within the context of civil unrest and war.

Starting under the George W. Bush administration,[18] targeted killings became a frequent tactic of the United States government in the War on Terror.[19][5] Instances of targeted killing by the United States that have received significant attention include the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011 and the killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri in 2022, as well as those of American citizens Anwar al-Awlaki and his teenage son in 2011. Under the Obama administration, use of targeted killings expanded, most frequently through use of combat drones operating in Afghanistan, Pakistan or Yemen.[citation needed]

### American and Russian drug cartels, 1980s

[edit]

Referring to killings by drug cartels in Washington, D.C. in 1989, mayor Marion Barry infamously stated, "Washington should not be called the murder capital of the world. We are the targeted-killing capital of the world."[20] Barry said that "targeted killings" by D.C.'s cartels were comparable to those during the days of "Al Capone and Eliot Ness" at the time of Prohibition in the United States.[21] Similarly, drug-related "mob hits" in Moscow during the 1990s were euphemistically described as "targeted killings" by the Cox News Service and Atlanta Journal-Constitution.[22]

### Central and South America

[edit]

Operation Condor participants.

active members

collaborators

The U.S.-backed[23] Operation Condor was a campaign of political repression and state terror in Latin American right-wing dictatorships involving assassination of political opponents and dissidents.[24] The National Security Archive reported, "Prominent victims of Condor include two former Uruguayan legislators and a former Bolivian president, Juan José Torres, murdered in Buenos Aires, a former Chilean Minister of the Interior, Bernardo Leighton, as well as former Chilean ambassador Orlando Letelier and his 26-year-old American colleague, Ronni Moffitt, assassinated by a car bomb in downtown Washington D.C."[25]

In 1986, the human rights group Americas Watch released a report stating that death squads and armed forces under President José Napoleón Duarte in El Salvador had carried out 240 targeted killings throughout 1985.[26] The report relied upon figures provided by the Roman Catholic Church and included allegations of torture and summary executions.[26] Americas Watch and other rights groups reported "targeted killing" of civilians by the Nicaraguan Sandinista government in the following year during its campaign against the Contras.[27] Politically motivated targeted killings of trade unionists and activists were also recorded in Haiti[28] and Colombia[29] during the late 1980s and 1990s. Targeted killings linked to the drug trade and paramilitary organizations including FARC and the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) resulted in large numbers of deaths among human rights and political activists, and women and children, throughout the 1990s.[30][verification needed]

### North America

[edit]

#### Use by United States government

[edit]

See also: List of assassinations by the United States and Human rights violations by the CIA

An early example of American targeted killing is Operation Vengeance during World War II. This counterattack shot down the plane of Isoroku Yamamoto, the senior planner of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The CIA recruited Sam Giancana (pictured), Santo Trafficante and other mobsters to assassinate Fidel Castro.[31]

During the Vietnam War, the Phoenix Program targeted political leadership of the Viet Cong for assassination.

During the period 1976–2001, there was an American norm against targeted killing.[32]

The United States has made targeted killing—the deliberate assassination of a known terrorist outside the country's territory, usually by airstrike—an essential part of its counter-terrorism strategy.[33] Hence, the United States has justified the killing of terrorists under a war paradigm. "Using the war paradigm for counter-terrorism enabled government lawyers to distinguish lethal attacks on terrorists from prohibited assassinations and justify them as lawful battlefield operations against enemy combatants, much like the uncontroversial targeted killing of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto while he was traveling by a military airplane during World War II."[34]

Further support for the U.S. government's use of drone strike tactics is found in a report found in the Journal of Strategic Security concerning the surgical nature of drone strikes for use in a populated area. The author concedes, "Indeed the tactic of using drones promises the ability of eliminating enemies in complex environments, while minimizing the political implications of resorting to war."[35]

The domestic legislative basis offered to justify drone strikes is the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists (AUMF), a joint resolution of both houses of Congress passed exactly one week after 11 September 2001.[36] The AUMF permits the President to use "all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on 11 September 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons".[37]

A report published in the Journal of Strategic Security focusing on the future of drones in geopolitics finds the U.S. government's use of drones in targeted killing operations an "indiscriminant and disproportionate use of force that violates the sovereignty of Pakistan".[35]

Twenty-six members of United States Congress,[38] with academics such as Gregory Johnsen and Charles Schmitz, media figures (Jeremy Scahill, Glenn Greenwald,[39] James Traub), civil rights groups (i.e. the American Civil Liberties Union)[40] and ex-CIA station chief in Islamabad, Robert Grenier,[41] have criticized targeted killings as a form of extrajudicial killings, which may be illegal under both United States and international law.

In early 2010, with President Barack Obama's approval, Anwar al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be approved for targeted killing by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Awlaki was killed in a drone strike in September 2011.[42][43][44]

A Reuters report analysing the killing of 500 "militants" by US drones between 2008 and 2010 found that only 8% of those killed were mid- to top-tier organisers or leaders; the rest were unidentified foot soldiers.[45]

Graph of average casualties in drone strikes ordered by the United States in Yemen, 2002–2017.[46]

The Intercept reported, "Between January 2012 and February 2013, U.S. special operations airstrikes [in northeastern Afghanistan] killed more than 200 people. Of those, only 35 were the intended targets. During one five-month period of the operation, according to the documents, nearly 90 percent of the people killed in airstrikes were not the intended targets."[47][48][49]

According to analysis by Reprieve, 874 people were killed, including 142 children, in drone strikes in Pakistan that targeted 24 people successfully and unsuccessfully, and, in numerous failed attempts to kill Ayman al-Zawahri, 76 children and 29 adults were killed.[5]

Estimates for the total people killed in U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan, range from 2,000 to 3,500 militants killed and 158–965 civilians killed.[50][51] 81 insurgent leaders in Pakistan have been killed.[52] Drone strikes in Yemen are estimated to have killed 846–1,758 militants and 116–225 civilians.[53][54] 57 Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leaders are confirmed to have been killed.[55]

#### Obama administration position on combat drones

[edit]

See also: Disposition Matrix

> The United States is in an armed conflict with al-Qa'ida, the Taliban, and associated forces, in response to the 9/11 attacks, and we may also use force consistent with our inherent right of national self-defense. There is nothing in international law that bans the use of remotely piloted aircraft for this purpose or that prohibits us from using lethal force against our enemies outside of an active battlefield, at least when the country involved consents or is unable or unwilling to take action against the threat.

> — John O. Brennan in his 2012-04-30 speech "The Ethics and Efficacy of the President's Counterterrorism Strategy"[56]

In a speech titled "The Ethics and Efficacy of the President's Counterterrorism Strategy"[56] John O. Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, outlined on 30 April 2012 at the Wilson Center[57] the use of combat drones to kill members of al-Qaeda by the US Federal government under President Barack Obama.[58] John Brennan acknowledged for the first time[59][60] that the US government uses drones to kill selected members of al-Qaeda.[61]

He justified the use of drones both from domestic law and international law point of view. With respect to domestic law Brennan stated, "as a matter of domestic law, the Constitution empowers the President to protect the nation from any imminent threat of attack. The Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) passed by Congress after the 11 September attacks authorizes the president "to use all necessary and appropriate force" against those nations, organizations and individuals responsible for 9/11. There is nothing in the AUMF that restricts the use of military force against al-Qa'ida to Afghanistan."[56] And he further said: "As a matter of international law, the United States is in an armed conflict with al-Qa'ida, the Taliban, and associated forces, in response to the 9/11 attacks, and we may also use force consistent with our inherent right of national self-defense. There is nothing in international law that bans the use of remotely piloted aircraft for this purpose or that prohibits us from using lethal force against our enemies outside of an active battlefield, at least when the country involved consents or is unable or unwilling to take action against the threat."[56]

The speech came a few days after Obama authorized the CIA and the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) to fire on targets based solely on their intelligence "signatures"—patterns of behavior that are detected through signals intercepts, human sources and aerial surveillance, and that indicate the presence of an important operative or a plot against U.S. interests. Under the previous rules the CIA and the US military were only allowed to use drone strikes against known terrorist leaders whose location could be confirmed and who appeared on secret CIA and JSOC target lists.[62]

The justification by Brennan built upon remarks by US top officials like the State Department's top lawyer Harold Hongju Koh,[63] US Attorney General Eric Holder,[64][65] the US Defense Department general counsel Jeh Johnson[66] and President Obama himself,[67] who defended the use of drones outside of so-called "hot battlefields" like Afghanistan.[68]

John O. Brennan, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and chief counter-terrorism advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama.

In 2011/2012, the process for selecting targets outside of warzones was altered so that power was concentrated in the hands of a group of people in the White House centered around White House counterterror chief John Brennan. Under the new plan, Brennan's staff compiles the potential target list and runs the names past agencies such as the State Department at a weekly White House meeting.[69] According to The New York Times, President Obama has placed himself at the helm of a top secret process to designate terrorists for kill or capture, reserving the final say on approving lethal action, and signs off every strike in Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan.[70]

U.S. congressional oversight over the targeted killing operations increased as the drone program intensified under the Obama administration. Once a month, a group of staff members from the House and Senate intelligence committees would watch videos of the latest drone strikes, review intelligence that was used to justify each drone strike, and sometimes examine telephone intercepts and after-the-fact evidence, such as the CIA's assessment of who was hit. The procedure used by House and Senate intelligence committees to monitor CIA drone strikes was set up largely at the request of Senator Dianne Feinstein who became determined to ensure that it was as precise as the CIA had been claiming. "That's been a concern of mine from the beginning," Feinstein said in little-noticed comments after the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011. "I asked that this effort be established. It has been. The way in which this is being done is very careful."[71] Feinstein explained how the oversight works in general. "We receive notification with key details shortly after every strike, and we hold regular briefings and hearings on these operations," Feinstein wrote in May in a letter sent in response to a column that ran in the Los Angeles Times questioning the oversight of drone strikes. "Committee staff has held 28 monthly in-depth oversight meetings to review strike records and question every aspect of the program including legality, effectiveness, precision, foreign policy implications and the care taken to minimize noncombatant casualties." If the congressional committees objected to something, the lawmakers could call CIA leaders to testify in closed investigative hearings. If unsatisfied, they could pass legislation limiting the CIA's actions.[71]

Congressional criticism of drone strikes has been rare. However, in June 2012, 26 lawmakers, all but two of them Democrats, signed a letter to Obama questioning so-called signature strikes, in which the U.S. attacks armed men who fit a pattern of behavior that suggests they are involved in terrorist activities. Signature strikes have been curbed in Pakistan, where they once were common, but in 2012 Obama gave the CIA permission to conduct them in Yemen, where an Al Qaeda affiliate that has targeted the United States has established a safe haven in the south. The lawmakers expressed concern that signature strikes could kill civilians. They added: "Our drone campaigns already have virtually no transparency, accountability or oversight."[71]

While the Bush administration had put emphasis on killing significant members of al Qaeda, the use of combat drones underwent a quiet and unheralded shift during the Obama administration to focus increasingly on killing militant foot soldiers rather than high-value targets according to CNN National Security Analyst Peter Bergen.[72] Bergen noted: "To the extent that the targets of drone attacks can be ascertained, under Bush, al Qaeda members accounted for 25% of all drone targets compared to 40% for Taliban targets. Under Obama, only 8% of targets were al Qaeda compared to just over 50% for Taliban targets."[72]

Minneapolis anti-war protest: 'Stop Killer Drones', 5 May 2013

Facing the possibility of defeat in the 2012 presidential election, the Obama administration accelerated work in the weeks before the election to develop explicit rules for the targeted killing of terrorists by unmanned drones, so that a new president would inherit clear standards and procedures.[73] The work to codify U.S. drone policy began in summer 2011. "There was concern that the levers might no longer be in our hands," said one unnamed U.S. official. With a continuing debate about the proper limits of drone strikes, Obama did not want to leave an "amorphous" program to his successor, the official said. The effort, which would have been rushed to completion by January had Mitt Romney won, will now be finished at a more leisurely pace, the official said.[73] "One of the things we've got to do is put a legal architecture in place, and we need Congressional help in order to do that, to make sure that not only am I reined in but any president's reined in terms of some of the decisions that we're making," Obama said and added "creating a legal structure, processes, with oversight checks on how we use unmanned weapons, is going to be a challenge for me and my successors for some time to come."[73] U.S. President Obama also expressed wariness of the powerful temptation drones pose to policy makers. "There's a remoteness to it that makes it tempting to think that somehow we can, without any mess on our hands, solve vexing security problems," he said.[73]

In response lawsuits brought by The New York Times and the American Civil Liberties Union seeking to use the Freedom of Information Act to make public more details about the legal basis for the drone programs U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon ruled at the end of December 2012 that the U.S. Government has no legal duty to disclose legal opinions justifying the use of drones to kill suspected terrorist operatives abroad. While noting that a more detailed disclosure of the administration's legal rationale "would allow for intelligent discussion and assessment of a tactic that (like torture before it) remains hotly debated", McMahon came to the conclusion that the Freedom of Information Act did not permit her to require such transparency.[74][75]

In a letter dated 22 May 2013 to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee, Patrick J. Leahy, U.S. attorney general Eric Holder wrote that the United States will use lethal force by combat drones "in a foreign country against a U.S. citizen who is a senior operational leader of al Qa'ida or its associated forces, and who is actively engaged in planning to kill Americans, in the following circumstances: (1) the U.S. government has determined, after a thorough and careful review, that the individual poses an imminent threat of violent attack against the United States; (2) capture is not feasible; and (3) the operation would be conducted in a manner consistent with applicable law of war principles."[76] In a Presidential Policy Guidance entitled "U.S. Policy Standards and Procedures for the Use of Force in Counterterrorism Operations Outside the United States and Areas of Active Hostilities" from May 2013 the United States government stated that lethal force by combat drones "will be used only to prevent or stop attacks against U.S. persons, and even then, only when capture is not feasible and no other reasonable alternatives exist to address the threat effectively".[77] The U.S. government further declared, "lethal force will be used outside areas of active hostilities only when the following preconditions are met:

* First, there must be a legal basis for using lethal force.
* Second, the United States will use lethal force only against a target that poses a continuing, imminent threat to U.S. persons.
* Third, the following criteria must be met before lethal action may be taken:

1. Near certainty that the terrorist target is present;
2. Near certainty that non-combatants will not be injured or killed;
3. An assessment that capture is not feasible at the time of the operation;
4. An assessment that the relevant governmental authorities in the country where action is contemplated cannot or will not effectively address the threat to U.S. persons; and
5. An assessment that no other reasonable alternatives exist to effectively address the threat to U.S. persons.[77]

U.S. President Barack Obama touched on the subject of combat drones in a speech on Counterterrorism delivered on 23 May 2013 at the National Defense University.[78][79][80][81][82][83][84] "It is a hard fact that US strikes have resulted in civilian casualties," he said, adding, "These deaths will haunt us. But as commander-in-chief I must weigh these heartbreaking tragedies against the alternative. To do nothing in the face of terrorist networks would invite far more civilian casualties."[85] Obama said new guidance allowed targeting only those terrorists posing "a continuing and imminent threat to the American people", which administration officials said meant only individuals planning attacks on the U.S. homeland or against U.S. persons abroad.[86] Obama defended the use of drones as just because America "is at war with al Qaeda, the Taliban and their associated forces".[87] To stop terrorists from gaining a foothold, drones will be deployed according to Obama, but only when there is an imminent threat; no hope of capturing the targeted terrorist; "near certainty" that civilians won't be harmed; and "there are no other governments capable of effectively addressing the threat".[87] Never will a strike be punitive.[87]

A report by Ben Emmerson QC, the UN's special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, who identified 33 drone strikes around the world that have resulted in civilian casualties and may have violated international humanitarian law urged the United States "to further clarify its position on the legal and factual issues ... to declassify, to the maximum extent possible, information relevant to its lethal extraterritorial counter-terrorism operations; and to release its own data on the level of civilian casualties inflicted through the use of remotely piloted aircraft, together with information on the evaluation methodology used".[88] Human Rights Watch said that in Yemen more civilians were killed than admitted by the Obama administration, while Amnesty International said the same of drone strikes in Pakistan. Caitlin Hayden, a White House spokeswoman, declined to comment on the reports, but said in an e-mail statement: "As the President emphasized, the use of lethal force, including from remotely piloted aircraft, commands the highest level of attention and care."[89]

While the U.S. government is considering whether to kill an American abroad suspected of planning terrorist attacks and how to do so legally under new stricter targeting policy issued in 2013,[90][91] The Intercept reported that the U.S. government is using primarily NSA surveillance to target people for drone strikes overseas. In its report The Intercept the author details the flawed methods which are used to locate targets for lethal drone strikes, resulting in the deaths of innocent people.[92] According to The Washington Post, NSA analysts and collectors (i.e. NSA personnel who control electronic surveillance equipment) use the NSA's sophisticated surveillance capabilities to track individual targets geographically and in real time, while drones and tactical units aim their weaponry against those targets to take them out.[93]

NBC News released in February 2014 an undated Department of Justice White paper entitled "Lawfulness of a Lethal Operation Directed Against a U.S. Citizen who is a Senior Operational Leader of Al Qa'ida or An Associated Force" in which the Obama administration concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be "senior operational leaders" of al-Qaida or "an associated force"—even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S.[94][95] However any such targeted killing operation by the United States would have to comply with the four fundamental law-of-war principles governing the use of force which are necessity, distinction, proportionality and humanity – i.e., the avoidance of unnecessary suffering. (Page 8 of[95]). The memo also discusses why targeted killings would not be a war crime or violate a U.S. executive order banning assassinations:

"A lawful killing in self-defense is not an assassination. In the Department's view, a lethal operation conducted against a U.S. citizen whose conduct poses an imminent threat of violent attack against the United States would be a legitimate act of national self-defense that would not violate the assassination ban. Similarly, the use of lethal force, consistent with the laws of war, against an individual who is a legitimate military target would be lawful and would not violate the assassination ban."[94]

In 2013, a report on drone warfare and aerial sovereignty proposed that U.S. government drone policy in Pakistan potentially violated human rights according to the U.N. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The rights in direct question were the right to life; right to a fair trial; the freedom of association; right to protection of the family; and, less directly, right to highest attainable health standards; right to education; and right of freedom from hunger.[96]

On 21 April 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned the above-mentioned December 2012 ruling by U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon and ruled that the Obama administration must release documents justifying its drone-killings of Americans and foreigners.[97] The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal released on 23 June 2014 a Juli 2010 memo by then U.S. Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel David Barron which outlined the rationale for killing the American Citizen Anwar al-Aulaqi.[98][99]

#### Trump administration position on combat drones

[edit]

CIA-ordered drone strikes were eventually ended by President Obama, who transferred control entirely to the U.S. military, under a separate legal authority. President Trump reversed this decision in 2017.[100] A 2016 Obama executive order requiring an annual report of civilian deaths from US airstrikes outside combat zones[101] was not complied with by the Trump administration for 2017 and was then revoked by an executive order in 2019.[102][103] According to the BBC, citing the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a UK-based non-profit news organisation, there were 2,243 drone strikes in the first two years of the Trump presidency, compared with 1,878 in Obama's eight years in office.[104] According to press reports, the Trump administration has at times employed a missile that deploys blades rather than explosives to kill targets, because it hoped to decrease non-combatant casualties. The missile is believed to have seen its first combat action in the 2017 killing of Abu Khayr al-Masri.[105][106]

## Asia

[edit]

### Use by Iranian government

[edit]

Main articles: List of Iranian assassinations and Chain murders of Iran

Mohammad-Reza Kolahi was assassinated in the Netherlands in 2015

Alleged and confirmed assassinations were reported to have been conducted by the Islamic Republic of Iran and previously by the Pahlavi regime. It includes attempts on notable persons who were reported to have been specifically targeted by the various Iranian security and intelligence forces, most notably against Kurdish dissidents of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran in the 1980s and 1990s.[107] Prior to the establishment of the Islamic State in 1979, the Organization of Intelligence and National Security also allegedly performed a number of political motivated assassinations against dissidents and opposition leaders.[108]

### Use by Saudi Arabia

[edit]

Main article: Tiger Squad

See also: Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2020)

|

### Use by Israel

[edit]

Main article: Israeli targeted killings

See also: List of Israeli assassinations

According to Ronen Bergman, "since World War II, Israel has used assassination and targeted-killing more than any other country in the West, in many cases endangering the lives of civilians."[109]

Memorial to the assassinated Iranian scientists

During the First Intifada Palestinian uprising, the Palestinian human-rights group Al Haq condemned Israeli soldiers for what they described as "deliberate, cold-blooded... targeted" killings of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.[110] In 1993, the human rights group, Middle East Watch, alleged that Israeli soldiers had targeted often unarmed Palestinians, some under the age of 16, for "premeditated assassinations" or targeted killing, a charge denied by Israeli officials.[111] The allegations included the execution of Palestinians in custody.[112]

Controversy over targeted killings continued during the Second Intifada. Palestinians stated that individuals belonging to the group Hamas and shot in targeted killings were being assassinated. Israelis stated that those killed were responsible for attacks against Israelis.[113] Israeli officials initially accepted responsibility for only some of the killings, and Israeli media termed the practice a "liquidations policy", whereas Palestinians called it "state terrorism".[114] In January 2001, Israeli officials confirmed "the practice of targeted assassinations".[115] Conflict in Israel over the legality of the practice centered on the case of Dr. Thabet Thabet, assassinated as he left his home on New Year's Eve. Dr. Thabet was alleged by the Israeli military to be a senior local leader of Fatah and plotting attacks against Israelis in the West Bank. A dentist, Dr. Thabet was a friend of many Israeli peace activists and considered one himself.[citation needed] Israeli activists called the killing "a crime", "Mafia-style", and "immoral". Ephraim Sneh, then Israel's Deputy Prime Minister, described the policy as "effective, precise and just".[115]

The Washington Post wrote that the Israeli policy of targeted killing during the Second Intifada expanded upon previous policies, targeting not only terrorists but also those thought to direct or coordinate them.[115] Another controversial killing, which occurred following the George W. Bush administration's condemnation of the practice, was that of Mahmoud Madani, a leader of Hamas shot while leaving a mosque in the Balata refugee camp. The Israeli military suspected Madani of plotting bombings in Israel.[116]

At that time, spokesman for the U.S. State Department Richard Boucher condemned both violence by Palestinians and targeted killings by Israelis during a State Department news briefing.[117] U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell registered his opposition to "a policy of targeted killings" and the U.S. State Department urged Israel to stop them.[118]

Funeral of Iranian Major General Hassan Shateri, who was assassinated in Syria in February 2013

Then Democratic Party senator Joe Biden criticized the George W. Bush administration for condemning the targeted killings. The administration continued to oppose them.[119]

Use of targeted killings by Israeli conventional military forces became commonplace after the Second Intifada, when Israeli security forces used the tactic to kill Palestinian militants.[19][120]

### Use by North Korean government

[edit]

Main article: Assassination of Kim Jong-nam

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2020)

|

### Philippines

[edit]

See also: Philippine Drug War

In the Philippines, since Rodrigo Duterte assumption of the presidency in 2016, police and vigilantes have targeted drug related criminal suspects, with many cases, some involving children, thought to be the result of police extrajudicial executions.[121] The group Human Rights Watch has described these extrajudicial killings as "targeted killings".[122][123][124][125]

### Syria

[edit]

In 2016, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad showed British politician David Davis a spreadsheet containing the identities of 783 people who were being targeted for assassination by the Syrian government.[5]

## Europe

[edit]

### In Bosnia and Serbia

[edit]

Referring to human rights abuses during the Bosnian War, the U.S. State Department noted politically or ethnically motivated "targeted killings" in Bosnia in Section 1a., "Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing", of its 1993 report on human rights practices in Bosnia and Herzegovina.[126][verification needed] Targeted killings were also reported by Serbian and Albanian forces during the Kosovo War.[127] Both wars involved large scale targeted killings of journalists.[128]

### Use by the Russian government

[edit]

During the First Chechen War, Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudaev was killed on 21 April 1996 by two laser-guided missiles when he was using a satellite phone, after his location was detected by a Russian reconnaissance aircraft, which intercepted his phone call.[129][failed verification]

On 20 March 2002, Ibn al-Khattab, who led his militia against Russian forces in Chechnya during the First and Second Chechen War, setting up many effective ambushes against Russian forces as well as managing the influx of foreign fighters and money, was killed when a Dagestani messenger hired by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) gave Khattab a poisoned letter. Chechen sources said that the letter was coated with "a fast-acting nerve agent, possibly sarin or a derivative".[130]

On 13 February 2004, Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, who served as acting president of the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria between 1996 and 1997, was killed when a bomb ripped through his SUV in the Qatari capital, Doha. Yandarbiyev was seriously wounded and died in hospital. His 13-year-old son Daud was seriously injured.[131] The day after the attack, Qatari authorities arrested three Russians in a Russian embassy villa. One of them, the first secretary of the Russian Embassy in Qatar, Aleksandr Fetisov, was released in March due to his diplomatic status and the remaining two, the GRU agents Anatoly Yablochkov (also known as Belashkov) and Vasily Pugachyov (sometimes misspelled as Bogachyov), were charged with the assassination of Yandarbiyev, an assassination attempt of his son Daud Yandarbiyev, and smuggling weapons into Qatar.[132] There were some speculations[by whom?] that Fetisov had been released in exchange for Qatari wrestlers detained in Moscow.[133] On 30 June 2004, both Russians were sentenced to life imprisonment; passing the sentence, the judge stated that they had acted on orders from the Russian leadership.[134][135][136] But on 23 December 2004, Qatar agreed to extradite the prisoners to Russia, where they would serve out their life sentences. The agents however received a heroes' welcome on returning to Moscow in January 2005 but disappeared from public view shortly afterwards. The Russian prison authorities admitted in February 2005 that they were not in jail, but said that a sentence handed down in Qatar was "irrelevant" in Russia.[137]

On 10 July 2006 Shamil Basayev, a Chechen militant leader who was alleged to be responsible for numerous guerrilla attacks on security forces in and around Chechnya[138][139][140] and the 2002 Moscow theater hostage crisis and described by ABC News as "one of the most-wanted terrorists in the world",[141] was killed by an explosion near the border of North Ossetia in the village of Ali-Yurt, Ingushetia, a republic bordering Chechnya. According to the official version of Basayev's death, the FSB, following him with a drone, spotted his car approaching a truck laden with explosives that the FSB had prepared, and by remote control triggered a detonator in the explosives.[142][143]

Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned with polonium, which the European Court of Human Rights ruled Russia was responsible for.[144]

US and UK intelligence agents reportedly say they believe Russian assassins and possibly the Russian government could have been behind at least fourteen targeted killings on British soil, which were dismissed as non-suspicious by UK police.[145]

Ukrainian authorities have blamed Russian security services for multiple killings in Ukraine,[146][147][148] including assassination of Colonel Maksym Shapoval.[149][150]

The Russian government is alleged by the British government of being behind a failed assassination attempt on Sergei Skripal and his daughter using a Novichok agent.[151][152]

### Use in Ukraine

[edit]

Since the beginning of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, close to 20 Russian-appointed officials and Ukrainian collaborators have been killed or injured in targeted killings.[153] Ukrainian hit squads and saboteurs have gunned down, blown up, hanged and poisoned people who were regarded as collaborators of the puppet governments of Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics.[153] On 30 August 2022, Meduza reported that nearly a dozen people had been killed and others injured in assassination attempts and provided information on every attack recorded by the media in the occupied territories.[154] Some of the attacks were carried out by Ukrainian partisans who are led and trained by Ukrainian special forces.[155]

On 27 September 2022, the OHCHR documented six killings of suspected "traitors" of Ukraine. The victims were officials of local authorities, policemen and civilians who were believed to have voluntarily cooperated with the enemy. According to OHCHR, these killings may have been committed by government agents or with their acquiescence and may amount to extrajudicial executions and war crimes.[156]

## Legality

[edit]

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (August 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

While article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter prohibits the threat or use of force by one state against another, two exceptions are relevant to the question of whether targeted killings are lawful: (1) when the use of force is carried out with the consent of the host state; and (2) when the use of force is in self-defense in response to an armed attack or an imminent threat, and where the host state is unwilling or unable to take appropriate action.[37] The legality of a targeted drone strike must be evaluated in accordance with international humanitarian law (IHL), including the fundamental principles of distinction, proportionality, humanity, and military necessity.[157]

The part of The Charter of the United Nations that regulates "action with respect to threats to the peace, breaches of the peace, and acts of aggression" is Chapter VII (articles 39–50), which requires that it is the Security Council that determines any threat to peace and decides on measures to be taken to maintain or restore peace. Article 51 mentions the only exception, as being members of the United Nations have "the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security".[158] Targeted killing operations, according to Harvard Law School professors Gabriella Blum and Philip Heymann, amplify the tension between addressing terrorism as a crime versus addressing terrorism as an act of war. Governments pursuing a law enforcement strategy punish persons for their individual guilt, which must be proven in a court of law, where the accused enjoys the protections of due process guarantees.[33] Governments in the midst of war, on the other hand, may claim a legal obligation to take advantage of the relaxation of peacetime constraints on the use of deadly force. Enemy combatants may be targeted and killed not because they are guilty, but because they are potentially lethal agents of a hostile party.[33] No advance warning is necessary, no attempt to arrest or capture is required, and no effort to minimize casualties among enemy forces is demanded by law.[33] The tactic raises complex questions as to the legal basis for its application, who qualifies as an appropriate "hit list" target, and what circumstances must exist before the tactic may be employed.[159] Opinions range from people considering it a legal form of self-defense that reduces terrorism, to people calling it an extrajudicial killing that lacks due process, and which leads to more violence.[159][160][161][162] Methods used have included firing a Hellfire missile from an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter (Israel), or a Predator or Reaper drone (an unmanned, remote-controlled plane), detonating a cell phone bomb, and long-range sniper shooting. Countries such as the U.S. (in Pakistan and Yemen) and Israel (in the West Bank and Gaza) have used targeted killing to kill members of groups such as Al-Qaeda and Hamas.[159]

### Legal justifications for targeted killing

[edit]

The U.S. Army's Law of Land Warfare (Field Manual 27–10) states:

> 31\. Assassination and Outlawry

> It is especially forbidden * * * to kill or wound treacherously individuals belonging to the hostile nation or army. [Article 23(b) of the 1907 Hague Regulations][163]

> This article is construed as prohibiting assassination, proscription, or outlawry of an enemy, or putting a price upon an enemy's head, as well as offering a reward for an enemy "dead or alive". It does not, however, preclude attacks on individual soldiers or officers of the enemy whether in the zone of hostilities, occupied territory, or elsewhere.[164]

Daniel Reisner, who headed the International Legal Division of the Israeli Military Advocate General's Office from 1994 to 2005,[165] has stated that although targeted killing is illegal under previous understanding of international law, "If you do something for long enough, the world will accept it. The whole of international law is now based on the notion that an act that is forbidden today becomes permissible if executed by enough countries."[166] Reisner continues, "International law progresses through violations. We invented the targeted assassination thesis and we had to push it. At first there were protrusions that made it hard to insert easily into the legal moulds. Eight years later it is in the center of the bounds of legitimacy."[166] This view is disputed by George Bisharat of the University of California's Hastings College of the Law, who contends that assassination is not widely regarded as legal.[167]

Georgetown Law Professor and former U.S. Marine, Gary Solis, has argued that under certain conditions, "Assassinations and targeted killings are very different acts."[168] For Solis, these conditions require that there is an ongoing military conflict, the targeted individual (civilian or military) has taken up arms, that there is no reasonable possibility of arrest, and that the decision to kill is made by senior political leaders.[159]

Abraham Sofaer, a former legal advisor to the U.S. State Department and fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution think tank, has written that targeted killing is "sometimes necessary, because leaders are obliged to defend their citizens". After the killing of Hamas founder and quadriplegic Ahmed Yassin by Israeli helicopter gunships, Sofaer argued that targeted killing is not prohibited by American Executive Order 11905 banning assassination: "killings in self-defense are no more 'assassinations' in international affairs than they are murders when undertaken by our police forces against domestic killers."[169]

Previously, Sofaer had argued during the First Gulf War that targeted killing was ethical but impractical: "Targeted killing will also invite revenge against the leaders who order it as well as their citizens and property. Given the legal, political and moral constraints that limit such activities in democratic regimes, the United States has a substantial interest in discouraging acceptance of the killing of political leaders as a routine measure, even in self-defense."[170]

Author and former U.S. Army Captain Matthew J. Morgan has argued, "there is a major difference between assassination and targeted killing.... targeted killing [is] not synonymous with assassination. Assassination ... constitutes an illegal killing."[171][172] Amos Guiora, formerly an Israel Defense Forces Lt. Colonol and commander of the IDF school of military law, now Professor of law at the University of Utah, has written, "targeted killing is ... not an assassination". Steve David, Johns Hopkins Associate Dean & Professor of International Relations, writes: "there are strong reasons to believe that the Israeli policy of targeted killing is not the same as assassination." Syracuse Law Professor William Banks and GW Law Professor Peter Raven-Hansen write: "Targeted killing of terrorists is ... not unlawful and would not constitute assassination." Rory Miller writes: "Targeted killing ... is not 'assassination'", and associate professor Eric Patterson and Teresa Casale write: "Perhaps most important is the legal distinction between targeted killing and assassination."[173][174][175][176]

American defense department analyst and professor Thomas Hunter has defined targeted killing as the "premeditated, preemptive, and intentional killing of an individual or individuals known or believed to represent a present or future threat to the safety and security of a state through the affiliation with terrorist groups or individuals.[177] Hunter writes that the target is a person who is allegedly taking part in an armed conflict or terrorism, whether by bearing arms or otherwise, who has allegedly lost the immunity from being targeted that he would otherwise have under the Third Geneva Convention.[159] Hunter distinguishes between "targeted killing" and "targeted violence" as used by specialists who study violence.

In response to the terrorist attacks on 9/11, the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) stated on 14 September 2001, "That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations or persons he determines planned, authorized, harbored, committed, or aided in the planning or commission of the attacks against the United States that occurred on 11 September 2001, and to deter and pre-empt any future acts of terrorism or aggression against the United States".[178] This authorization is still in effect today.[179] There are no restrictions regarding the physical location of where this law is applied. It only states that the President has the "authority to use all necessary and appropriate force" this could be interpreted to mean that the President can attack al-Qaeda anywhere in the world.[178]

### Legal opposition

[edit]

During the 1998 bombing of Iraq, The Scotsman reported, "US law prohibits the targeted killing of foreign leaders... Administration officials have been careful to say they will not expressly aim to kill Saddam."[180]

Political scientists Frank Sauer and Niklas Schörnig have described targeted killing as a violation of international law and a contravention of domestic laws,[181] and maintain that the term itself is merely a legitimized euphemism for assassination.

The American Civil Liberties Union maintains that, "A program of targeted killing far from any battlefield, without charge or trial, violates the constitutional guarantee of due process. It also violates international law, under which lethal force may be used outside armed conflict zones only as a last resort to prevent imminent threats, when non-lethal means are not available. Targeting people who are suspected of terrorism for execution, far from any war zone, turns the whole world into a battlefield."[182]

Yael Stein, the research director of B'Tselem, The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, also states in her 2003 article "By Any Name Illegal and Immoral: Response to 'Israel's Policy of Targeted Killing'":

> The argument that this policy affords the public a sense of revenge and retribution could serve to justify acts both illegal and immoral. Clearly, lawbreakers ought to be punished. Yet, no matter how horrific their deeds, as the targeting of Israeli civilians indeed is, they should be punished according to the law. [Steven R.] David's arguments could, in principle, justify the abolition of formal legal systems altogether.[183]

In 2001, Ibrahim Nafie criticized the U.S. for agreeing with "the Israeli spin that calls ... its official policy of assassinating Palestinian leaders 'targeted killing'."[184]

In 2013, United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter terrorism, Ben Emmerson, stated that U.S. drone strikes may have violated international humanitarian law.[185][186]

### Additional concerns

[edit]

For drone strikes to be effective, the United States must obtain consent from the host country they are operating in. The growing chorus of objections from host countries, most notably emanating from Pakistan, seriously inhibits drones' effectiveness.[187] "Host states have grown frustrated with U.S. drone policy, while opposition by non-host partners could impose additional restrictions on the use of drones. Reforming U.S. drone strike policies can do much to allay concerns internationally by ensuring that targeted killings are defensible under international legal regimes that the United States itself helped establish and by allowing U.S. officials to openly address concerns and counter misinformation."[187] Micah Zenko at the Council on Foreign Relations believes the United States should "end so-called signature strikes, which target unidentified militants based on their behavior patterns and personal networks, and limit targeted killings to a small number of specific terrorists with transnational ambitions.[188] He wants more congressional oversight of drone strikes and stricter regulation on armed drone sales. Finally, he recommends the United States work with international partners to establish rules and norms governing the use of drones.[188] Zenko believes the U.S. government has not been transparent regarding how non-battlefield drone strikes are reconciled with broader foreign policy objectives, the scope of legitimate targets, and their legal framework.[187] While drones may be a critical counterterrorism tool that advances U.S. interests, their "lack of transparency threatens to limit U.S. freedom of action and risks proliferation of armed drone technology without the requisite normative framework."[187] Zenko thinks current drone policy might share the same fate of the Bush-era enhanced interrogation techniques and warrantless wiretapping, both of which were unpopular, illegal and ultimately ended.[citation needed]

Harvard Law School Professors Gabriella Blum and Philip Heymann cite six potential hazards of targeted killings: First, the so-called Hydra effect, or the rise of more—and more resolute—leaders to replace those who were recently "decapitated."[189] Second, drones can drive terrorist leaders into hiding, making the monitoring of their movements, and subsequent intelligence gathering, extremely difficult.[189] Third, "the political message flowing from the use of targeted killings may be harmful to the attacking country’s interest, as it emphasizes the disparity in power between the parties and reinforces popular support for the terrorists, who are seen as a David fighting Goliath."[189] Fourth, when conducted in a foreign country, drone strikes run the risk of heightening tensions between the targeting government and the government in whose territory the operation is conducted.[190] Fifth, targeted killings threaten criticism from local domestic constituencies against the government allowing strikes within their country.[189] Finally, there is a danger of over-using targeted killings, both within and outside the war of terrorism.[189] Max Abrahms finds that "more than the quantity of violence, decapitation reduces its quality," as leadership vacuums in militant groups are filled by less competent younger members with fewer inhibitions on harming civilians, and that this effect is most pronounced in the immediate aftermath of a successful decapitation strike.[191]

Daniel Byman, security studies professor at Georgetown University, argues that Washington must clarify its policies behind extrajudicial and extraterritorial killings, lest a nefarious precedent in international law is set.[192] Additionally, Byman argues that Washington must "remain mindful of the built-in limits of low-cost, unmanned interventions, since the very convenience of drone warfare risks dragging the United States into conflicts it could otherwise avoid."[192] Though Byman recognizes the problems inherent in using armed UAVs, he believes that they are very effective. "U.S. drones have killed an estimated 3,000 al Qaeda, Taliban, and other jihadist operatives in Pakistan and Yemen. That number includes over 50 senior leaders of al Qaeda and the Taliban—top figures who are not easily replaced."[192] Drones have also undercut terrorists' ability to effectively communicate with its target audiences, ultimately straining their recruitment pools. To avoid attracting drones, al Qaeda operates have avoided gathering in large numbers and mitigated use of electronic devices.[192] Byman argues that al Qaeda leaders "cannot give orders when they are incommunicado, and training on a large scale is nearly impossible when a drone strike could wipe out an entire coupe of new recruits. Drones have turned al Qaeda's command and training structures into a liability, forcing the group to choose between having no leaders and risking dead leaders."[192]

Audrey Kurth Cronin of George Mason University argues that while drones are tactically savvy, they have failed to advance the strategic goals of U.S. counter-terrorism policy.[193] Terrorism itself is a tactic, Cronin notes, but it succeeds on a strategic plane when a shocking event is successfully leveraged for political gain.[193] "To be effective, counter-terrorism must itself respond with a coherent strategy. The problem for Washington today is that its drone program has taken on a life of its own, to the point where tactics are driving strategy rather than the other way around."[193] Cronin agrees with Daniel Byman of Georgetown University insofar that drones have inflicted real damage upon al Qaeda. However, "Washington now finds itself in a permanent battle with amorphous and geographically dispersed foe, one with an increasingly marginal connection to the original 9/11 plotters. In this endless contest, the United States risks multiplying its enemies and heightening their incentives to attack the country."[193]

## See also

[edit]

* Assassination
* Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter
* Drone (2014 film)
* Executive Order 12333
* High-value target
* International counter-terrorism activities of the CIA
* Justifiable homicide
* Kill authorizations
* Killing Hope
* Licence to kill (concept)
* Manhunt (law enforcement)
* Manhunt (military)
* Proscription
* Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions
* Targeted Killing in International Law
* Targeted Killings: Law and Morality in an Asymmetrical World

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Greenwald, Glenn (24 October 2012). "Obama moves to make the War on Terror permanent | Glenn Greenwald". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
2. ^ Pollack, Kenneth M. (7 March 2018). "Learning From Israel's Political Assassination Program". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
3. ^ Mann, James (14 June 2012). The Obamians: The Struggle Inside the White House to Redefine American Power. Penguin. p. 410\. ISBN 9781101583616.
4. ^ Lynn, John A. (23 July 2019). Another Kind of War: The Nature and History of Terrorism. Yale University Press. p. 410\. ISBN 9780300188813.
5. ^ a b c d Clive Stafford Smith, "Who's getting killed today? Terror, Tuesday, the US Disposition Matrix and a modern history of state-sponsored assassination" Archived 24 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Times Literary Supplement, 30 June 2017 pp.3–5, p. 3
6. ^ "Targeted Killings". Council on Foreign Relations. Archived from the original on 10 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
7. ^ Carroll, Rory (2 August 2012). "The philosopher making the moral case for US drones". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
8. ^ Shane, Scott (14 July 2012). "The Moral Case for Drones". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
9. ^ Press, Stanford University (2019). Leadership Decapitation: Strategic Targeting of Terrorist Organizations | Jenna Jordan. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9781503608245. Retrieved 3 January 2020 - via www.sup.org.
10. ^ Jordan, Jenna (April 2014). "Attacking the Leader, Missing the Mark: Why Terrorist Groups Survive Decapitation Strikes". International Security. 38 (4): 7–38. doi:10.1162/ISEC_a_00157. ISSN 0162-2889. S2CID 57569755.
11. ^ Frankel, M. (2010). "The ABCs of HVT: Key Lessons from High Value Targeting Campaigns Against Insurgents and Terrorists". Studies in Conflict and Terrorism. 34: 17–30. doi:10.1080/1057610x.2011.531456. S2CID 110265235.
12. ^ Jordan, Jenna (2 December 2009). "When Heads Roll: Assessing the Effectiveness of Leadership Decapitation". Security Studies. 18 (4): 719–755. doi:10.1080/09636410903369068. ISSN 0963-6412. S2CID 59496454.
13. ^ Johnston, Patrick B. (1 April 2012). "Does Decapitation Work? Assessing the Effectiveness of Leadership Targeting in Counterinsurgency Campaigns". International Security. 36 (4): 47–79. doi:10.1162/ISEC_a_00076. ISSN 0162-2889. S2CID 53519659.
14. ^ Price, Bryan C. (1 April 2012). "Targeting Top Terrorists: How Leadership Decapitation Contributes to Counterterrorism". International Security. 36 (4): 9–46. doi:10.1162/ISEC_a_00075. ISSN 0162-2889. S2CID 15188795.
15. ^ Rosie Millard (12 November 1994). "The Making of a Saint". The Times.
16. ^ "End Bloodbath". The Sun-Herald. Sydney, Australia. Reuters. 27 April 1994. Accessed 20 September 2012.
17. ^ "Rwanda Human Rights Practices, 1994". Department of State Dispatch. March 1994.
18. ^ David Johnston and David E. Sanger, "Threats and Responses: Hunt for Suspects" Archived 25 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, 6 November 2002.
19. ^ a b Nir Gazit and Robert J. Brym, State-directed political assassination in Israel: A political hypothesis Archived 6 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine. International Sociology 26(6) (2011), pp. 862–877
20. ^ Michael York (24 March 1989). "Barry Describes Turner As 'Outstanding' Chief; Retirement Talk Said Not Under Pressure". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
21. ^ Phil Gailey (27 March 1989). "The capital of killings: Drug-related crime exploding in D.C.". St. Petersburg Times (Florida). Accessed 20 September 2012.
22. ^ Charles C Holmes (31 August 1997). "Focus on Russia's Capital: a new age of uncertainty". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
23. ^ McSherry, J. Patrice (2011). "Chapter 5: "Industrial repression" and Operation Condor in Latin America". In Esparza, Marcia; Henry R. Huttenbach; Daniel Feierstein (eds.). State Violence and Genocide in Latin America: The Cold War Years (Critical Terrorism Studies). Routledge. p. 107. ISBN 978-0415664578. Archived from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
24. ^ McSherry, Patrice (2005). Predatory States: Operation Condor and Covert War in Latin America. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 78\. ISBN 978-0742536876.
25. ^ "OPERATION CONDOR ON TRIAL: LEGAL PROCEEDINGS ON LATIN AMERICAN RENDITION AND ASSASSINATION PROGRAM OPEN IN BUENOS AIRES". nsarchive.gwu.edu. Archived from the original on 19 July 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
26. ^ a b "Rights group reports on abuses in El Salvador". United Press International. 29 May 1986. Accessed 20 September 2012.
27. ^ Samantha Sparks (5 November 1987). "Nicaragua: rights group charges government, contra abuse". Inter Press Services.
28. ^ Kathie Klarreich (12 August 1988). "Haiti's cry for help". The Christian Science Monitor.
29. ^ Commission of the European Communities (3 May 1999). "Colombia: European Commission approves humanitarian aid worth euro 6.5 million". Rapid.
30. ^ Serge F. Kovaleski (1 March 1998). "Widespread Violence Threatens Colombia's Stability; Leftist, Rightist Groups Have Killed Hundreds". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
31. ^ Snow, Anita (27 June 2007). "CIA Plot to Kill Castro Detailed". The Washington Post. Washington, DC. AP.
32. ^ Banka, Andris; Quinn, Adam (2 October 2018). "Killing Norms Softly: US Targeted Killing, Quasi-secrecy and the Assassination Ban". Security Studies. 27 (4): 665–703. doi:10.1080/09636412.2018.1483633. ISSN 0963-6412.
33. ^ a b c d Blum, Gabriella and Philip Heymann (June 2010). "Law and Policy of Targeted Killing" (PDF). National Security Journal: 145–170, 146. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
34. ^ Blum, Gabriella and Philip Heymann (June 2010). "Law and Policy of Targeted Killing" (PDF). National Security Journal: 145–170, 150. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
35. ^ a b Peron, Alcides Eduardo dos Reis (2014). "The "Surgical" Legitimacy of Drone Strikes? Issues of Sovereignty and Human Rights in the Use of Unmanned Aerial Systems in Pakistan". Journal of Strategic Strategy. 4 (7): 81–93.
36. ^ "Living Under Drones: Death, Injury, and Trauma to Civilians from US Drone Practices in Pakistan" (PDF). International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic at Stanford Law School and Global Justice Clinic at NYU School of Law: 118–119. September 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
37. ^ a b "Living Under Drones: Death, Injury, and Trauma to Civilians from US Drone Practices in Pakistan" (PDF). International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic at Stanford Law School and Global Justice Clinic at NYU School of Law: 1–165, 105. September 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
38. ^ Glaser, John (13 June 2012). "House Members Call on Obama to Legally Justify 'Signature' Drone Strikes". Antiwar.com. Archived from the original on 2 May 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
39. ^ "The Assassination Complex": Jeremy Scahill & Glenn Greenwald Probe Secret US Drone Wars in New Book Archived 8 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Democracy Now! 3 May 2016.
40. ^ Shamsi, Hina (3 March 2014). "Death Without Due Process". American Civil Liberties Union. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
41. ^ Glaser, John (6 June 2012). "Former CIA Official Drone War Kills Innocents, Creates Terrorist Safe Havens". Antiwar.com. Archived from the original on 2 June 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
42. ^ Frank Gardner (30 September 2011). "BBC News – Islamist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki killed in Yemen". BBC News. Archived from the original on 24 June 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
43. ^ Greg Miller (31 January 2010). "U.S. citizen in CIA's cross hairs". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 7 May 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
44. ^ Greg Miller (7 April 2010). "Muslim cleric Aulaqi is 1st U.S. citizen on list of those CIA is allowed to kill". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 15 September 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
45. ^ Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. January/February 2013 Vol. XXXII, No. 1. p.35
46. ^ "US strikes in Yemen, 2002 to present". Google Docs. Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
47. ^ "The Obama Administration's Drone-Strike Dissembling Archived 25 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine". The Atlantic. 14 March 2016.
48. ^ "Obama-led drone strikes kill innocents 90% of the time: report Archived 9 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine". The Washington Times. 15 October 2015.
49. ^ "The Assassination Complex Archived 30 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine". The Intercept. 15 October 2015.
50. ^ "The Bureau's complete data sets on drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia". Bureau of Investigative Journalism. 6 June 2015. Archived from the original on 8 June 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
51. ^ "Drone Strikes: Pakistan". New America. Archived from the original on 1 November 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
52. ^ "Pakistan Leaders Killed" Archived 18 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine. New America Foundation. 23 June 2018.
53. ^ "Drone Strikes: Yemen". Washington, DC, USA: New America. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
54. ^ "Drone War: Yemen". The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Archived from the original on 25 March 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
55. ^ "Yemen Leaders Killed". Washington, DC, USA: New America. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
56. ^ a b c d John O. Brennan (30 April 2012). "The Ethics and Efficacy of the President's Counterterrorism Strategy". Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Archived from the original on 23 September 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
57. ^ "White House in first detailed comments on drone strikes". BBC News. 30 April 2012. Archived from the original on 30 April 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
58. ^ Savage, Charlie (30 April 2012). "Top U.S. Security Official Says 'Rigorous Standards' Are Used for Drone Strikes". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 June 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
59. ^ Miller, Greg (30 April 2012). "Brennan speech is first Obama acknowledgment of use of armed drones". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 1 May 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
60. ^ Mark Schone & Muhammad Lila. "Brennan Defends Drone Strikes as Pakistan and Protestor Object". ABC News. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
61. ^ Julian E. Barnes (20 April 2012). "U.S. Shifts Policy on Secrecy of Drone Use". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
62. ^ Miller, Greg (26 April 2012). "White House approves broader Yemen drone campaign". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
63. ^ Hosenball, Mark (26 March 2010). "Obama Administration Official Publicly Defends Drone Attacks". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 28 April 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
64. ^ Richard A. Serrano & Andrew R. Grimm (5 March 2012). "Eric Holder: U.S. can target citizens overseas in terror fight". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
65. ^ "Holder defends killings of American citizens overseas as part of war on terrorism". Fox News Channel. Associated Press. 5 March 2012. Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
66. ^ Savage, Charlie (22 February 2012). "Pentagon Says U.S. Citizens With Terrorism Ties Can Be Targeted in Strikes". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
67. ^ "Obama defends US drone strikes in Pakistan". 31 January 2012. BBC News. 31 January 2012. Archived from the original on 1 May 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
68. ^ Stone, Andreas (30 April 2012). "John Brennan, White House Counterterrorism Chief, Defends Drone Strikes [UPDATE]". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 22 May 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
69. ^ Dozier, Kimberly (21 May 2012). "Who will drones target? Who in the US will decide?". Salon. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
70. ^ Jo Becker & Scott Shane (29 May 2012). "Secret 'Kill List' Proves a Test of Obama's Principles and Will". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
71. ^ a b c Dilanian, Ken (25 June 2012). "Congress keeps closer watch on CIA drone strikes". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
72. ^ a b Peter Bergen & Megan Braun (6 September 2012). "Drone is Obama's weapon of choice". CNN. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
73. ^ a b c d Shane, Scott (24 November 2012). "Election Spurred a Move to Codify U.S. Drone Policy". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 November 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
74. ^ Gerstein, Josh (1 January 2012). "Court: Feds can keep drone legal opinions secret". Politico. Archived from the original on 9 January 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
75. ^ McMahon, Colleen (1 January 2013). "United States District Court Southern District of New York Case 1:12-cv-00794-CM Document 55-1 Filed 01/02/13". Politico. Archived from the original on 10 January 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
76. ^ Holder, Eric (22 May 2013). "Eric Holder's May 22, 2013 letter to the U.S. Senate judiciary committee chairman Patrick J. Leahy" (PDF). U.S. Department of Justice. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 June 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
77. ^ a b "U.S. Policy Standards and Procedures for the Use of Force in Counterterrorism Operations Outside the United States and Areas of Active Hostilities" (PDF). whitehouse.gov. May 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 January 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2013 - via National Archives.
78. ^ Obama, Barack (23 May 2013). "Remarks by the President at the National Defense University". whitehouse.gov. Archived from the original on 20 January 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2013 - via National Archives.
79. ^ "Fact Sheet: The President's May 23 Speech on Counterterrorism". whitehouse.gov. 23 May 2013. Archived from the original on 20 January 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2013 - via National Archives.
80. ^ "Barack Obama defends 'just war' using drones". BBC News. 24 May 2013. Archived from the original on 30 May 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
81. ^ Monroe, Bryan (24 May 2013). "5 things we learned from Obama's speech". CNN. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
82. ^ Charlie Savage & Peter Baker (22 May 2013). "Obama, in a Shift, to Limit Targets of Drone Strikes". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 June 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
83. ^ Baker, Peter (23 May 2013). "Pivoting From a War Footing, Obama Acts to Curtail Drones". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 June 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
84. ^ Karen DeYoung & Greg Miller (23 May 2013). "Obama: U.S. at 'crossroads' in fight against terrorism". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 1 June 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
85. ^ McKelvey, Tara (24 May 2013). "Obama shows a strong commitment to the drone programme". BBC News US & Canada. Archived from the original on 12 June 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
86. ^ DeYoung, Karen (22 May 2014). "Obama's revamp of anti-terror policies stalls". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 May 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
87. ^ a b c Eliott C. McLaughlin, Jamie Crawford and Joe Sterling (24 May 2013). "Obama: U.S. will keep deploying drones – when they are only option". CNN. Archived from the original on 21 June 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
88. ^ Bowcott, Owen (18 October 2013). "Drone strikes by US may violate international law, says UN". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 October 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
89. ^ Whitlock, Craig (22 October 2013). "Drone strikes killing more civilians than U.S. admits, human rights groups say". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
90. ^ Kimberly Dozier & Nedra Pickler (10 February 2014). "Obama officials weigh drone attack on US suspect". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
91. ^ "White House Fact Sheet on: U.S. Policy Standards and Procedures for the Use of Force in Counterterrorism Operations Outside the United States and Areas of Active Hostilities" (PDF). whitehouse.gov. 23 May 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 January 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2014 - via National Archives.
92. ^ Jeremy Scahill & Glenn Greenwald (10 February 2014). "The NSA's Secret Role in the U.S. Assassination Program". The Intercept. Archived from the original on 10 February 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
93. ^ Priest, Dana (22 July 2014). "NSA growth fueled by need to target terrorists". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 16 February 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
94. ^ a b Isikoff, Michael (4 February 2013). "Justice Department memo reveals legal case for drone strikes on Americans". NBC News. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
95. ^ a b "Undated memo entitled "Lawfulness of a Lethal Operation Directed Against a U.S. Citizen who is a Senior Operational Leader of Al Qa'ida or An Associated Force" by the U.S. Department of Justice" (PDF). NBC News. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
96. ^ Bradley, Martha (2013). "Drones and the Chicago Convention: An Examination of the Concepts of Aerial Sovereignty, The War on Terror and the Notion of Self Defense in Relation to the Chicago Convention". University of Pretoria. `{{cite journal}}`: Cite journal requires `|journal=` (help)
97. ^ Wolfgang, Ben (21 August 2014). "Court rules Obama administration must justify targeted killings". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
98. ^ Savage, Charlie (23 June 2014). "Justice Department Memo Approving Targeted Killing of Anwar Al-Awlaki". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
99. ^ Sledge, Matt (23 June 2014). "Drone Memo Justifying Anwar al-Awlaki's Killing Released". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
100. ^ Welna, David. "Trump Restores CIA Power to Launch Drone Strikes". All Things Considered. NPR. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
101. ^ "Executive Order – United States Policy on Pre- and Post-Strike Measures to Address Civilian Casualties in U.S. Operations Involving the Use of Force". whitehouse.gov. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2020 - via National Archives.
102. ^ "Executive Order on Revocation of Reporting Requirement". whitehouse.gov. 6 March 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2020 - via National Archives.
103. ^ "Trump quietly rewrote the rules of drone warfare, which means the US can now kill civilians in secret". Business Insider Singapore. 7 March 2019. Archived from the original on 27 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
104. ^ "Trump revokes Obama rule on reporting drone strike deaths". BBC News. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
105. ^ "US military increasingly using drone missile with flying blades in Syria". The Guardian. 25 September 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
106. ^ Lubold, Gordon; Warren P. Strobel (9 May 2019). "Secret U.S. Missile Aims to Kill Only Terrorists, Not Nearby Civilians". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
107. ^ "German court implicates Iran leaders in '92 killings". CNN. 10 April 1997. Archived from the original on 26 November 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
108. ^ "Bakhtiar, Teymour". Bakhtiari Family. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
109. ^ Ronen Bergman, 'How Arafat Eluded Israel’s Assassination Machine,' Archived 7 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine New York Times Magazine 23 January 2018
110. ^ "Israeli soldiers condemned for wilful killings of palestinians". Xinhua General News Service. 20 February 1990.
111. ^ "Undercover troops have 'licence to kill' Palestinians: rights group". Agence France-Presse. 29 June 1993.
112. ^ Derek Brown (30 June 1993). "Israeli undercover units ordered to shoot to kill, says report". The Guardian.
113. ^ Mark Lavie (14 December 2000). "Israelis kill Palestinian in a car; Palestinians call it an assassination". Associated Press.
114. ^ Jennifer Ludden (2 January 2001). "Israel's policy of targeted assassinations of alleged militant palestinians". NPR.
115. ^ a b c Keith B. Richburg (8 January 2001). "Israelis Confirm Assassinations Used as Policy; Key Palestinians Targeted". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
116. ^ "Key Hamas Leader is Slain". Associated Press. 1 August 2001. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
117. ^ Barry Schweid (13 February 2001). "Sharon emissaries hold talks with Bush administration officials". Associated Press Worldstream.
118. ^ Barry Schweid (14 February 2001). "Bush urges Mideast parties to end violence". Associated Press.
119. ^ Janine Zacharia (3 August 2001). "Sen. Biden defends targeted killings". The Jerusalem Post.
120. ^ For more information see B'Tselem Statistics, Objectives of a Targeted Killing Archived 31 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine
121. ^ Philippines: Abusive ‘Drug War’ Targets Children 2 New Summary Killings Heighten Urgency of UN Inquiry, Archived 1 January 2018 at the Wayback MachineHuman Right Watch 9 September 2017
122. ^ "You Can Die Any Time" Human Rights Watch April 2009.
123. ^ '“License to Kill” Philippine Police Killings in Duterte’s “War on Drugs”,' Archived 6 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine 2 March 2017 :’"If by chance that God will place me there, watch out because the 1,000 [people allegedly executed while Duterte was mayor of Davao City] will become 100,000. You will see the fish in Manila Bay getting fat. That is where I will dump you".(b).’ Since taking office, Duterte has repeatedly vowed to kill drug dealers and users in the midst of skyrocketing reports of extrajudicial executions by the police and so-called vigilantes. On 6 August, he warned drug dealers: "My order is shoot to kill you. I don’t care about human rights, you better believe me". He praised the soaring body count of victims of police killings as proof of the "success" of his "war on drugs".
124. ^ Philippines: "If you are poor, you are killed": Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines' "War on Drugs" Archived 14 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine Amnesty International 31 January 2017,
125. ^ Rishi Iyengar, The Killing Time: Inside Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's War on Drugs Archived 20 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine Time Magazine 25 August 2016: 'one of the first of nearly 2,000 Filipinos killed so far in Duterte’s brutal war on drugs. The carnage is exactly what Duterte promised. "All of you who are into drugs, you sons of bitches, I will really kill you", he said before his election, in April. A month later, when he was President-elect, Duterte offered medals and cash rewards for citizens that shot dealers dead. "Do your duty, and if in the process you kill 1,000 persons because you were doing your duty, I will protect you", he told police officers on 1 July, the day after his inauguration. He was speaking at a ceremony installing dela Rosa, his loyal henchman, as the nation’s top cop. "If you know of any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself as getting their parents to do it would be too painful", he was quoted as saying to another crowd that day.'
126. ^ Department of State (March 1993). "BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA Human Rights Practices, 1992". Department of State Dispatch. Accessed 20 September 2012.
127. ^ Jane Perlez (28 January 1999). "US pushes plans to end fighting in Serb province". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 June 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
128. ^ Niccolo Sarno (22 December 1999). "Rights: Journalists "first target" in conflicts, IFJ says". Inter Press Service. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
129. ^ Eric S. Margolis (5 April 2010). "Time to Set the Chechen Free". Archived from the original on 5 January 2012.
130. ^ Ian R Kenyon (June 2002). "The chemical weapons convention and OPCW: the challenges of the 21st century" (PDF). The CBW Conventions Bulletin (56). Harvard Sussex Program on CBW Armament and Arms Limitation: 47. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
131. ^ "Top Chechen separatist dies in Qatar bomb blast" Archived 29 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, 14 February 2004
132. ^ (in Russian) Sergei Ivanov has promised to strive for discharge of the Russian prisoners in Qatar Archived 14 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Lenta.ru, 3 March 2004
133. ^ "Let Go" Archived 6 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Kommersant, 25 March 2004
134. ^ "Russia 'behind Chechen murder'" Archived 8 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News, 30 June 2004
135. ^ Aslan Maskhadov Killed Archived 27 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Kommersant, 9 March 2005
136. ^ (in Russian) Задержанные в Катаре – офицеры ГРУ Archived 6 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Gazeta.ru, 29 April 2004
137. ^ "Convicted Russia agents 'missing'" Archived 29 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News, 17 February 2005
138. ^ "Russia's tactics make Chechen war spread across Caucasus". Kavkaz. 16 September 2005. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
139. ^ "Russia: RFE/RL Interviews Chechen Field Commander Umarov". Rferl. 28 July 2005. Archived from the original on 17 June 2008. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
140. ^ No Terrorist Acts in Russia Since Beslan: Whom to Thank? Archived 18 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
141. ^ "Chechen Guerilla Leader Calls Russians 'Terrorists'". ABC News. 28 July 2005. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
142. ^ "Mastermind of Russian school siege killed; Report: Chechen warlord dies in blast set by Russian agents". CNN. 10 July 2006. Archived from the original on 21 January 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
143. ^ Ликвидация с вариациями. Russian Newsweek (in Russian). 23 July 2006. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007.
144. ^ Faulconbridge, Guy; Holden, Michael (21 September 2021). "European rights court rules Russia was behind Litvinenko killing". Reuters. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
145. ^ "UK authorities 'overlooked' evidence linking Russia to deaths on British soil". Independent.co.uk. 16 June 2017. Archived from the original on 21 September 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2017.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
146. ^ Kramer, Andrew E. (9 June 2017). "Masquerading as Reporter, Assassin Hunted Putin Foes in Ukraine". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.`{{cite news}}`: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
147. ^ Walker, Shaun (31 October 2017). "Russia blamed for attack on Chechen pair who fought with Ukrainians". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 November 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017.`{{cite news}}`: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
148. ^ Kramer, Andrew E. (23 March 2017). "Hours Before He Died, a Putin Critic Said He Was a Target". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 November 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017.`{{cite news}}`: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
149. ^ "Ukraine intelligence officer killed by car bomb in Kiev". BBC News. 27 June 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
150. ^ "Ukrainian military intelligence officer killed by car bomb in Kiev". the Guardian. 27 June 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
151. ^ "Russia faces Tuesday deadline to explain poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal". 13 March 2018. Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2018.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
152. ^ "Theresa May has accused Russia of being behind the attempted assassination of a double agent in the UK". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2018.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
153. ^ a b "Ukrainian hit squads target Russian occupiers and collaborators". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
154. ^ "Collaborationist officials targeted and killed in Ukraine's occupied territories". Meduza. 30 August 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
155. ^ "Ukraine: at least 18 people working for occupiers targeted in attacks". the Guardian. 4 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
156. ^ Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine, 1 February to 31 July 2022 (Report). OHCHR. 27 September 2022. para. 40. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
157. ^ "Living Under Drones: Death, Injury, and Trauma to Civilians from US Drone Practices in Pakistan" (PDF). International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic at Stanford Law School and Global Justice Clinic at NYU School of Law: 1–165, 112. September 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
158. ^ "CHAPTER VII: ACTION with RESPECT to THREATS to the PEACE, BREACHES of the PEACE, and ACTS of AGGRESSION" Archived 25 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine". Charter of the United Nations.
159. ^ a b c d e Gary D. Solis (2010). The Law of Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law in War. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-87088-7. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
160. ^ Abraham D. Sofaer (26 March 2004). "Responses to Terrorism / Targeted killing is a necessary option". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 29 August 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
161. ^ Dana Priest (8 November 2002). "U.S. Citizen Among Those Killed in Yemen Predator Missile Strike". The Tech (MIT); The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
162. ^ Mohammed Daraghmeh (20 February 2001). "Hamas Leader Dies in Apparent Israeli Targeted Killing". Times Daily. Archived from the original on 5 November 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
163. ^ "United States of America Practice Relating to Rule 65. Perfidy Section B. Killing, injuring or capturing an adversary by resort to perfidy". International Committee of the Red Cross. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
164. ^ John Pike. "FM 27-10 Chptr 2 Hostilities". Archived from the original on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
165. ^ "Daniel Reisner's Profile". martindale.com. Archived from the original on 17 June 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
166. ^ a b Consent and advise Archived 30 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Yotam Feldman and Uri Blau, Haaretz, 29 January 2009.
167. ^ Why Palestine Should Take Israel to Court in The Hague Archived 22 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine, George Bisharat, The New York Times, 31 January 2013.
168. ^ Gary D. Solis (2010). The Law of Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law in War. Cambridge University Press. p. 542\. ISBN 9781139487115. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
169. ^ "Targeted killing is a necessary option" Archived 18 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Sofaer, Abraham D., Hoover Institution, 26 March 2004
170. ^ Abarham D. Sofaer (18 February 1991). "Thinking past the moment". U.S. News & World Report.
171. ^ Matthew J. Morgan (2009). The Impact of 9/11 and the New Legal Landscape: The Day that Changed Everything?. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-60838-2. Archived from the original on 22 June 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2012.[page needed]
172. ^ Matthew J. Morgan (2009). The Impact of 9–11: The New Legal Landscape. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-60838-2. Archived from the original on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2010.[page needed]
173. ^ Amos Guiora (2004). "Targeted Killing as Active Self-Defense". Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law. 36 (319). Archived from the original on 14 January 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2010.
174. ^ Steven R. David (September 2002). "Fatal Choices: Israel's Policy of Targeted Killing" (PDF). The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 November 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2010. `{{cite journal}}`: Cite journal requires `|journal=` (help)
175. ^ Rory Miller (2007). Ireland and the Middle East: trade, society and peace. Irish Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-7165-2868-5. Archived from the original on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2010.
176. ^ "Targeted Killing and Assassination: The U.S. Legal Framework" Archived 10 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Banks, William C., Raven-Hansen, Peter, 37 University of Richmond Law Review 667 (2002–03). Retrieved 9 October 2010.
177. ^ Thomas B. Hunter (2009). Targeted Killing: Self-Defense, Preemption and the War on Terrorism. Thomas Hunter. ISBN 978-1-4392-5205-5.
178. ^ a b Grimmett, R. "CRS Report for Congress" (PDF). law.umaryland.edu. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
179. ^ The Hill: "Obama Could Bomb Iraq Without Congress Because War Authorization Never Expired" Archived 8 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine 12 June 2014. Accessed 17 February 2015.
180. ^ Branson, Louise (14 November 1998). "Campaign to eliminate Saddam gains speed". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
181. ^ Sauer, Frank/Schoernig Niklas, 2012: "Killer drones: The 'silver bullet' of democratic warfare?" Archived 17 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine, in: Security Dialogue 43 (4): 363–380, accessed 1 September 2012.
182. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions About Targeting Killing". American Civil Liberties Union. 30 August 2010. Archived from the original on 11 August 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
183. ^ "By Any Name Illegal and Immoral: Response to "Israel's Policy of Targeted Killing"[Abstract]". Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
184. ^ Ibrahim Nafie (31 October 2001). "Opinion | The very model of a rogue state". Al-Ahram Weekly. Archived from the original on 23 January 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
185. ^ "Drone strikes by US may violate international law, says UN  Archived 30 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine". The Guardian. 18 October 2013.
186. ^ "UN report calls for independent investigations of drone attacks Archived 24 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine". The Guardian. 18 October 2013.
187. ^ a b c d Micah, Zenko (January 2013). Reforming U.S. Drone Strike Policies. New York: Council on Foreign Relations. p. 3\. Archived from the original on 6 February 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
188. ^ a b Micah, Zenko (January 2013). Reforming U.S. Drone Strike Policies. New York, New York: Council on Foreign Relations. pp. vii. Archived from the original on 6 February 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
189. ^ a b c d e Blum, Gabriella and Philip Heymann (June 2010). "Law and Policy of Targeted Killing" (PDF). Harvard National Security Journal. 1: 165. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
190. ^ Blum, Gabriella and Philip Heymann (June 2010). "Law and Policy of Targeted Killing" (PDF). Harvard National Security Journal. 1: 166. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
191. ^ Abrahms, Max (2018). Rules for Rebels: The Science of Victory in Militant History. Oxford University Press. pp. 151–164. ISBN 9780192539441.
192. ^ a b c d e Byman, Daniel (July–August 2013). "Why Drones Work: The Case for Washington's Weapon of Choice". Foreign Affairs. 92 (4). Archived from the original on 19 June 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
193. ^ a b c d Cronin, Audrey Kurth (July–August 2013). "Why Drones Fail: When Tactics Drive Strategy". Foreign Affairs. 92 (4): 44–54. Archived from the original on 13 July 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.

## Further reading

[edit]

Targeted killing at Wikipedia's sister projects

* Definitions from Wiktionary
* Media from Commons
* News from Wikinews
* Quotations from Wikiquote
* Texts from Wikisource

This list is in chronological order broken down by publication areas

Monographs

* Anna Goppel (2013): Killing Terrorists. A Moral and Legal Analysis. De Gruyter, Berlin.
* Jordan, Jenna. 2019. Leadership Decapitation: Strategic Targeting of Terrorist Organizations. Stanford University Press.
* Thomas, Ward J. 2001. The Ethics of Destruction: Norms and Force in International Relations. Cornell University Press.

Books

* Jeremy Scahill and The Staff of The Intercept (2016). The Assassination Complex: Inside the Government’s Secret Drone Warfare Program. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781501144134

Journals

* Banks, William C.; Raven-Hansen, Peter (March 2002). "Targeted Killing and Assassination: The U.S. Legal Framework" (PDF). University of Richmond Law Review. 37: 667. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2010.
* Guiora, Amos (2004). "Targeted Killing as active self-defense". Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law. 36: 319. Archived from the original on 22 December 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2011.[verification needed]
* Statman, Daniel (2004). "Targeted Killing" (PDF). Theoretical Inquiries in Law. 5: 1. doi:10.2202/1565-3404.1090. S2CID 201122053.[dead link]
* Byman, Daniel (March–April 2006). "Do targeted killings work?" (PDF). Foreign Affairs. 85 (2). Council on Foreign Relations: 95–111. doi:10.2307/20031914. JSTOR 20031914. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2011.
* Hafez, Mohammed; Hatfield, Joseph (September 2006). "Do Targeted Assassinations Work? A Multivariate Analysis of Israel's Controversial Tactic during Al-Aqsa Uprising". Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. 29 (4): 359–382. doi:10.1080/10576100600641972. S2CID 109665115.
* James Igoe Walsh (2018) "The rise of targeted killing," Journal of Strategic Studies, 41:1–2, 143–159
* Vlasic, Mark V. (2012). "Assassination & Targeted Killing – A Historical and Post-Bin Laden Legal Analysis". Georgetown Journal of International Law. 43 (2): 259–333. ISSN 1550-5200.
* Dear, Keith (2013). "Beheading the Hydra? Does Killing Terrorist or Insurgent Leaders Work?". Defence Studies Journal. 13 (3): 293–337. doi:10.1080/14702436.2013.845383. S2CID 154170644.
* Schlager, Scott A. & Govern, Kevin H. (2013). "'Guns for Hire, Death on Demand': The Permissibility of U.S. Outsourcing of Drone Attacks to Civilian Surrogates of the Armed Forces and Challenges to Traditional Just War Theory". Florida Journal of International Law. XXV (2): 147–206. SSRN 2341756.
* Thomas, Ward J. 2000. "Norms and Security: The Case of International Assassination." International Security, vol. 25. no. 1: 105–133.

Newspapers

* Sofaer, Abraham (26 March 2004). "Responses to Terrorism/Targeted killing is a necessary option". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 29 August 2011.
* Kaplan, Eben (25 January 2006). "Q&A: Targeted Killings". The New York Times.
* Blumenfield, Laura (27 August 2006). "In Israel, leaders struggle with targeted killings; Moral, legal quandaries mark decision to use select weapon against terror". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008.
* Barghouti, Mustafa (8 June 2007). "Targeted killing won't bring peace". The New York Times.
* Dromi, Uri (24 March 2010). "A targeted killing: How else is Israel meant to deal with terror?". The New York Times.
* Bowcott, Owen (21 June 2012). "Drone strikes threaten 50 years of international law, says UN rapporteur: US policy of using drone strikes to carry out targeted killings 'may encourage other states to flout international law'". The Guardian. London.
* Scahill, Jeremy (15 October 2015). "The Drone Papers: Secret military documents expose the inner workings of Obama's drone wars". The Huffington Post.

NGOs

* "Convenient Killing: Armed Drones and the 'Playstation' Mentality" (PDF). Fellowship of Reconciliation. September 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2011.

Government and UN reports

* Alston, Philip (28 May 2010). "Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Addendum Study on targeted killings (A/HRC/14/24/Add.6)" (PDF). Human Rights Council, Fourteenth session Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development. Third party briefing papers on the report:
* McClure, Kevin (3 June 2010). "UN official says 'targeted killings' fall into 'accountability vacuum' (Blog by Government Documents Librarian for the Downtown Campus Library at the Chicago-Kent College of Law)". govdocsblog.kentlaw.edu. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011.
* Raja, Kanaga (May 2010). "UN expert criticises targeted killings, US drone attacks". Third World Resurgence (237): 32–35. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2011.

* v
* t
* e

War on terror

* September 11 attacks
* War in Afghanistan (2001-2021) (Withdrawal)
* Iraq War (2003–2011) (Withdrawal)
* Symbolism of terrorism

Participants|

| Operational|

* ISAF
* Operation Enduring Freedom participants
* Afghanistan
* Northern Alliance
* Iraq (Iraqi Armed Forces)
* NATO
* Pakistan
* United Kingdom
* United States
* European Union
* Philippines
* Ethiopia

|

Targets|

| Individuals|

* Osama bin Laden
* Hamza bin Laden
* Anwar al-Awlaki
* Sirajuddin Haqqani
* Jalaluddin Haqqani
* Anas Haqqani
* Khalil Haqqani
* Hafiz Saeed
* Mahmoud Mohamed Ahmed Bahaziq
* Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

|

Factions|

* al-Qaeda
* al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
* Abu Sayyaf
* Al-Shabaab
* Boko Haram
* Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami
* Hizbul Mujahideen
* Islamic Courts Union
* Jaish-e-Mohammed
* Jemaah Islamiyah
* Lashkar-e-Taiba
* Taliban
* Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
* Islamic State

Conflicts|

| Operation
Enduring Freedom|

* War in Afghanistan
* OEF – Philippines
* Georgia Train and Equip Program
* Georgia Sustainment and Stability
* OEF – Horn of Africa
* OEF – Trans Sahara
* Drone strikes in Pakistan

|

Other|

* Operation Active Endeavour
* Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)
* Insurgency in the North Caucasus
* Moro conflict in the Philippines
* Iraq War
* Iraqi insurgency
* Operation Linda Nchi
* Terrorism in Saudi Arabia
* Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
* War in Somalia (2006–2009)
* 2007 Lebanon conflict
* al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen

Policies|

* Patriot Act (2001)
* Torture Memos (2002)
* Military Commissions Act of 2006
* Military Commissions Act of 2009
* President's Surveillance Program
* Protect America Act of 2007
* Terrorist Surveillance Program

Related|

* Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse
* Axis of evil
* Bush Doctrine
* Clash of Civilizations
* Cold War
* Combatant Status Review Tribunal
* Criticism of the war on terror
* CIA black sites
* Killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri
* Killing of Osama bin Laden
* Enhanced interrogation techniques
* Extrajudicial prisoners
* Extraordinary rendition
* Guantanamo Bay detention camp
* Iranian Revolution
* Islamic terrorism
* Islamism
* North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
* Operation Noble Eagle
* Operation Eagle Assist
* Situation Room photograph
* State Sponsors of Terrorism
* Targeted killing
* Targeted Killing in International Law
* Targeted Killings: Law and Morality in an Asymmetrical World
* Unitary executive theory
* Unlawful combatant
* CAGE

* Category
* Commons

* v
* t
* e

targeted killings by county

* Afghanistan
* Australia
* Bangladesh
* Belarus
* Brazil
* Chile
* Egypt
* Ethiopia
* India
* Iran
* Iraq
* Israel
* Kenya
* Mexico
* Mozambique
* Nigeria
* Pakistan
* Papua New Guinea
* Philippines
* Russia
* South Africa
* Spain
* Tajikistan
* Thailand
* Turkey
* Ukraine
* United Kingdom
* United States
* Venezuela

* v
* t
* e

War crimes

* List of war crimes

International
humanitarian law|

| Sources|

* Lieber Code
* Saint Petersburg Declaration of 1868
* Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907
* Geneva Protocol
* Geneva Conventions
* 1864
* First (1949)
* Second (1949)
* Third (1949)
* Fourth (1949)
* Protocol I (1977)
* Protocol II (1977)
* Responsibility to protect
* Rome Statute
* International Criminal Court

|

Topics|

* Civilians and non-combatants
* Civilian casualties
* Command responsibility / Superior orders
* Distinction
* Hors de combat
* Intent
* Joint criminal enterprise
* Medical neutrality
* Military necessity
* Prisoners of war
* Proportionality
* Protected persons
* Ruse de guerre
* Safe conduct

War crimes by type|

* Attacks on humanitarian workers / parachutists‡
* Child soldiers
* Collective punishment
* Criminal orders
* Death flights
* Death marches
* Desecration of graves
* Enforced disappearances
* Extrajudicial killings
* Hostage-taking
* Human trophy collecting
* Indiscriminate attacks
* Looting
* Massacres
* Mass killings
* No quarter
* Perfidy
* Starvation
* Torture
* Use of human shields
* Wartime sexual violence

War crimes
committed by...|

* Croatia
* Germany
* Israel
* Italy
* Japan
* Palestine
* Hamas
* Russia
* Soviet Union
* Serbia
* Turkey
* United Kingdom
* United States

War crimes by war|

* Afghanistan wars
* Gaza–Israel conflict
* 2008–2009
* 2023–present
* by Israel
* Iraq War
* Korean War
* 2006 Lebanon War
* Libyan civil war (2011)
* Myanmar civil war (2021–present)
* Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
* First war
* Second war
* Russo-Ukrainian War
* War in Donbas
* Russian invasion of Ukraine
* Second Chechen War
* Sri Lankan Civil War
* Syrian civil war
* Tigray War‎
* Sudanese civil war (2023–present)
* World War I
* World War II
* Allied
* Axis / Wehrmacht
* Yemeni civil war (2014–present)
* Yugoslav Wars
* Kosovo War

Related topics|

* War crimes trials
* War crime apologia
* List of global issues
* Post-conflict reception of war criminals

| Other international crimes|

* Atrocity crimes
* Crimes against humanity
* Crimes of aggression
* Genocide

|

‡ Does not apply to airborne forces (i.e. paratroopers)

* Category

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template