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Building case against drones: Campaigners seek ex-CIA legal chief’s arrest
Report will also allege Rizzo should be charged with conspiracy to murder a large number of Pakistani citizens.
Report will also allege Rizzo should be charged with conspiracy to murder a large number of Pakistani citizens. PHOTO: EPA
LONDON:
British human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith of the campaign group Reprieve, and lawyers in Pakistan are seeking an international arrest warrant for John Rizzo, who was until recently acting general counsel for the American intelligence agency, for approving drone attacks that have so far killed hundreds of people in Pakistan.
According to a report published in The Guardian on Friday, the lawyers are also building cases against other individuals, including drone operators interviewed or photographed during organised press facilities.
An FIR, the first step in seeking a prosecution of Rizzo in Pakistan, is expected to be formally lodged early next week at a police station in the capital, Islamabad, on behalf of the relatives of two people killed in drone strikes in 2009.
The report will also allege Rizzo should be charged with conspiracy to murder a large number of Pakistani citizens.
Now retired, Rizzo, 63, is being pursued after admitting in an interview with the magazine Newsweek that since 2004 he had approved one drone attack order a month on targets in Pakistan, even though the US is not at war with the country.
Although US government lawyers have tried to argue that drone strikes are conducted on a ‘solid legal basis’, some believe the civilians who operate the drones could be classified as ‘unlawful combatants’.
While Stafford Smith of Reprieve estimates the drones caused around 2,500 civilian deaths, others say the number is closer to 1,000. US sources deny large numbers of civilian deaths and say only a few dozen “non-combatants” have been killed.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 17th, 2011.
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I think its a good step if pursued with sincerityRecommend
Then I’m taking the Pakistan government and army to court for facilitating crimes.
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Awesome initiative to show the people who write fates sitting in their comfy offices
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Hope this works out and the sane American lobby supports this as well.
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On which address should I send “bangles” for the Generals of Pakistan
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@Patriot2
on which address I should send BANGELS to Incredible indians (establishment and Army) for being struck by small nation like pakistan since 1984 until bombay attacks. Could they do anything about that. Drone attacks are with pakistan’s consent. Were attacks on indian army and bombay with indian general’s consent. Think and then talk.Recommend
We should all support this campaign
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I pray to Allah this will stop extra-judicial killing.
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Being embarassed in the OBL affair, was not enough for pakistan !!!
The very Idea that, anyone is even considering such idea, is absurd, as there are plenty within Pak Army who are equally responsible for far worse acts over last two decades!!!!
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LOL. Poor Pakistanis. :(
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@Patriot 2:
Army has not taken down drones because leadership has stopped them from doing so.
Army has said we have technology to take down drones, but leadership stops them from doing so. You know that Yousaf Raza Gilani said himslef: if there is no collateral damage, continue drone strikes.
Parliment recently passed a resoultuion syaing if the drones come again, American supplies will bes stopped which go through Pakistan, and drones will be struck drown. 48 hrs later, drone strike!! parliment dooesnt tell army to take down droens.
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@Rohail:
What are you laughing about?
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If Raymond Davis, who was then in Pakistan, couldn’t be prosecuted under the country’s criminal justice system, how could one expect Pakistan to proceed against John Rizzo who is in the US, enjoying his retirement? This is mere posturing, a publicity stunt, and an exercise in futility. Nobody believes that drone strikes are occurring in the tribal areas, without the Pakistani civilian and military leaderships consenting to them. It’s time for Pakistani authorities and the learned to re-channel their energies and concentrate on other issues, foremost of them relating to the country’s sorry economy and a deteriorating law-and-order situation, that pose as real threats to Pakistan’s viability. Fighting for one’s honor is good, but it shouldn’t be the singular focus of a state that is undoubtedly struggling for its survival and whose credibility on the domestic and international fronts is being rent into pieces by its own people and not by some “external hands,” as the intellectually lazy and dishonest would like to us to believe
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@Rohail
At least Pakistanis are not living in fantasy world of ‘Bollywood’ in the sea of corruption and poverty. We are tackling issues , no matter how grave they are, head on not masking it under the empty slogans like ‘Shining India’ etc….
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Pakistan should conduct a “rendition operation” on John Rizzo.
Bring him back to Pakistan to stand trial and then execute him.
The entire American military should be charged with War Crimes.
The Nuremberg Trials established that soldiers may not excuse their crimes by claiming they were “just following orders”.
The Iraq war is illegal. The Afghanistan war is illegal. The Libya war is illegal. Bush, Cheney, Powell, Obama, Biden, Clinton are all War Criminals.
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What about the real culprit- Obama Bin Laden?
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I suggest they go and get him. This will be interesting to watch.
Just another effort to try to deflect the focus from how PAK is becoming a failing nation.
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@Hedgefunder:
Get a life. When will you tire of your anti- Pakistan diatribe? Your comments are so childish and predictable they are tedious to the point of being excruciatingly BORING. Note to Express Tribune editor: why do you allow such people to lower the tone? Let them vent their frustrations in their own media instead of polluting ours.
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Let them bring down one Drone and believe me America Bahadur will not be too displeased as there will not be any human casualty but they will win hearts and minds of all Tribal area countrymen. Once our army has won the hearts of People they will be in a position to negotiate positively with Militants and disarm them.Recommend
@Rendition Rizzo:
So let me understand your position. You want PAK to invade the US. My study of history that the things you suggest are options of the winners. Do you actually believe that PAK would be a winner is such an action?
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@Adnan:
I don’t think i am childish, as i am well passed that stage in life !! I have just turned 50 ! So let’s put that statement aside, shall we ???
Lastly i will differ with my views when i see Transparency and Commitment from Pakistan, in regards to what they say and do !!
As we have been consistently been let down on both fronts by Pakistan, and especially when my hard earnes Taxes are being provided in AID to the country !!!
I sincerely hope that this message gets back to you !
Its nothing personal, its just basic requirement, in today’s world !!!!
please note that i am a UK national, not Indian national, OK !!!Recommend
An interesting but eventually irrelevant discussion as technology will soon render all human piloted aircraft obsolete; not because of morality or the obvious concerns for the safety of the pilot but because the limiting factor on manned aircraft performance is how much abuse the human body can endure. We know the limits of the human body but as aircraft technology continues to leap forward, we are going to reach a point where the aircraft will be able to “out perform” the pilot so the only way to take full advantage of the aircraft’s performance will be to remove the “limiting factor” – the pilot – from the cockpit. A drone can simply turn sharper and accelerate quicker than the human body can tolerate so an adversary’s drone will be able to defeat any piloted aircraft we field.
Hence, it’s just a matter of time before the entire “morality” argument becomes moot as ALL combat aircraft become “Remotely Piloted Vehicles” (RPVs). Unless we keep up with technology, our piloted planes will eventually be out performed and defeated by our adversaries’ drones. Sorry, you can’t stop progress so it’s only a matter of time and “morality” will have nothing to do with it!
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It’s possible that an international arrest warrant cannot be sustained. The reason is that the drones are targeting areas where, according to their location – FATA, N. Wazirstan, etc. – the writ of Pakistani sovereignty doesn’t apply: under the post-9/11 U.N. Security Council Resolutions (especially 1373) Pakistan has the sovereign obligation to root out terrorists, terror havens, and terror-training camps from its territory. Failing to make good faith efforts to do so thus means Pakistan has no sovereignty in these areas, hence it has no case for bringing suit against those attacking and killing terrorists.Recommend
@Hedgefunder, I agree with Adnan: your unrelenting negativity regarding all things Pakistan is plain obnoxious and juvenile. You are obviously of Indian/Hindu extraction: only that can explain your obsession with us and your glib comments here. If you are really 50+, it is time to learn the virtues of restraint and a little humility. On the positive side, you could raise the level of intelligence at the times of india site: I see your countrymen blabbering incoherently and venomously anytime there is a blurb about us. You and other cast of characters like you who are testing our patience belong there. To the ET editors, please, it is one thing to be liberal and tolerant and another things to be masochistic.
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@ Hedgefunder: Belated Happy Birthday Uncle ;)
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Pakistan justice — allow terrorist sanctuary to attack your neighbors and allies — lie to your public about who’s responsible — then when everyone screams for justice you turn around and file a criminal complaint against the attorney who was tangentially involved in the operation — yeah that’s going to show them. It’s beyond pathetic.
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@God Father:
Thank you ! yes enjoying the semi retirement too !!
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Apparently you are ignorant for not knowing the concept of “Rendition”.
It is when you capture a terrorist, like John Rizzo, and take them out the host country without the knowledge of the local authorities.
It does not require the invasion of any country.
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