US Drone Killings Criticized by UN Special Rapporteur

On Tuesday, Philip Alston, a UN Special Rapporteur, voiced concerns about the international legal basis for unmanned drone killings on the Afghan border.

AU Law's own Professor Kenneth Anderson has provided prior scholarship on international law related to targeted killings. Recently, he's also blogged on this particular story at OpinioJuris.org. In these last two documents, Professor Anderson argues that the drone program is perfectly legal, as the United States is legitimately acting in its own self-defense.

Should the Obama Administration, as Anderson suggests, assert such legal bases more clearly? This is a compelling argument, especially if the program is, on the merits, the best method for narrowly targeting terrorists and avoiding innocents.

Israel Wants to Change the Laws of War

The UN Human Rights Counsel endorced the Goldstone report last Friday, which alleges that war crimes were committed in Gaza last December. While the report details war crimes committed by both sides, the majority of the report focuses on the actions of the Israeli military.

It was speculated that Israel's defense minister might recommend creating an independent panel to review the actions of the military to avoid a UN referral to the ICC, it seems like Israel is going on the offensive.

Al Jazeera reported today that Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu promised that he will block a vote on the Goldstone report if it comes to a vote in the UN General Assembly. He also said he would campaign to delegitimize the report, by lobbying other countries to reject the report. Netanyahu is also trying to garner support to change the laws of war.

Ehud Barak, Israel's defense minister, said that changes in international humanitarian law needs to reflect the changing world situation, including a global fight against terrorism. The defense minister said that Israel's military should have more freedom to react, without worrying about violating international laws. An Israeli official said that an independent inquiry into the war crimes allegations was not even discussed at a security cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Richard Goldstone, the South African jurist who conducted the investigation into the fighting in Gaza now finds himself under personal attack.

UN HRC endorses Goldstone Report

In a twenty-five countries to six vote (including the US and the Netherlands), with eleven countries abstaining and five declining to vote (including France and the UK), the United Nations Human Rights Counsel endorsed the Goldstone report. The report accuses the military of using disproportion force and charges the Israelis and Hamas with war crimes, including terrorizing civilian populations. The report calls on Israel and Hamas to conduct investigations into the allegations, and a UN referral to the ICC if the two sides fail to investigate. Read more at Al Jazeera.

Prior to the vote, Col. Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, speaking on behalf of UN Watch, said that the IDF took extraordinary measures to protect civilian populations. Col. Kemp said the IDF dropped leaflets, made thousands of phone calls, and aborted several missions to protect Palestinian civilians. Kemp also said many of the civilian casualties were caused by Palestinian fighters positioning themselves behind a "human shield" of civilians. Read more at Jerusalem Post.

UN Human Rights Chief backs report on Gaza war crimes

Navi Pillay, the United Nation's top human rights official, backed the Goldstone report that detailed war crimes committed in Gaza last December. Pillay said she backs the report, including its recommendation for "urgent action to counter impunity." Read more at NYTimes.