(Im)permissibility of Targeted Killings in the “War on Terror”

Perisic, P.

Abstract:

As a response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the United States have introduced the policy of targeted killings – targeting individual suspect terrorists and killing them, most often using the unmanned drones operated by the CIA. Likewise, Israel has begun with the same practice, responding thus to the ongoing terrorist threats from the surrounding Muslim-populated areas.

An introduction of such killings has raised much controversy over their legality, as well as their moral justification. Targeted killings are performed as a part of the „war on terror” – a war which differs from the war in a traditional sense. It is thus not clear whether terrorists should be regarded as combatants, civilians, or neither of the two.

This paper will analyze the legality of the targeted killing practice within the contemporary international law.

Keywords: Targeted killings, war on terror, human rights, armed conflict.

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APA citation

  • Perisic, P., (2014). (Im)permissibility of Targeted Killings in the “War on Terror”. International Journal of Social Sciences, III(5), pp. 99- 114.

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