CHAPTER 4: LEGAL ANALYSIS This section provides an overview of the debate about the legality of the US targeted killing program and drone campaign in Pakistan under both international598 and US domestic law. The section is intended for a non-legal audience, and thus should not be seen as a comprehensive analysis of the complexities of international legal doctrine. It outlines the legal issues regarding: • whether the US use of force in Pakistan violates Pakistan’s sovereignty in contravention of the U.N. Charter. This is a question of jus ad bellum, the body of law concerning the recourse to force, and depends on whether Pakistan has consented to the strikes, or whether the US is lawfully Repeated public statements by acting in selfPakistani officials, which intensified in defense;
2012—declaring that US strikes are • when and which individuals may illegal, counter-productive, and violate lawfully be targeted the country’s sovereignty—clearly cast under applicable doubt on whether Pakistan consents to international human rights or ongoing operations. humanitarian law. Regardless of one’s assessment of the legality of the recourse to the use of force (jus ad bellum)–the use of force against a specific individual must also comply with either international humanitarian law (in the context of an armed conflict) or international human rights law (outside armed conflict). In this regard, the legality of so-called “signature strikes” is highly suspect, as are attacks resulting in significant civilian casualties, attacks on
See Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Study on Targeted Killings, Human Rights Council, UN Doc. A/HRC/14/24/Add.6 (May 28, 2010) (by Philip Alston), available at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/14session/A.HRC.14.24.Add6.pdf (detailing the legal regime governing “targeted killing” in great detail, and providing an authoritative and comprehensive analysis of the legal regime governing both the legal—and illegal—use of drones to target and kill individuals in the context of counter-terrorism). 598
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