Tag Archives: Compensation
30 December 2013
Christof Heyns, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, expressed doubt on the legality of the conduct of both the US and Yemen in relation to recent lethal drone airstrikes, allegedly conducted by US forces in the Republic of Yemen, that resulted in civilian casualties. According to local security officials, 16 civilians were killed and at least 10 injured when two separate wedding processions were hit on 12 December 2013 in the Al-Baida Governorate. (more…)
Source: OHCHR | UN experts condemn lethal drone airstrikes in Yemen
Source: Reuters | U.N. experts urge U.S., Yemen to explain erroneous drone strikes
25 February 2013
The United Nations (UN) has invoked its immunity to deny claims for compensation from 5.000 victims of the Haiti cholera epidemic, believed to have been caused by UN peacekeepers that imported the infection into the country.
The reigning scientific theory about the origin of the epidemic is that peacekeepers from Nepal imported the cholera and, through a faulty sanitation system at their base, infected a tributary of the country’s largest river. The cholera epidemic has killed almost 8.000 people and has stricken hundreds of thousands more.
Source: The New York Times | U.N. Rejects Claim for Direct Compensation to Victims of Cholera Epidemic in Haiti
Source: The Guardian | UN will not compensate Haiti cholera victims, Ban Ki-moon tells president
30 January 2013
Italy’s highest criminal court has ruled that Italian radar systems did not adequately protect jets from stray missiles, and that Italy must compensate the victims’ families. It held that there was “abundantly” clear evidence that a stray missile caused an Italian passenger jet to crash into the Mediterranean Sea in 1980, resulting in the death of all 81 people aboard.
It remains unclear who fired the missile. One theory is that the jet was caught in the crossfire of a military aerial fight, with a Libyan plane possibly the target. French, U.S. and NATO officials have denied military activity in the skies that night.
Source: The Washington Post | Italian court: Missile caused 1980 Mediterranean plane crash; Italy must pay compensation
8 March 2011
The accidental killing of nine Afghan children by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the beginning of March led to apologies by the ISAF commander General Petraeus. Those excuses were rejected by President Karzai as insufficient. It is indeed expected that in case of military acts breaching international law, the ISAF should provide financial compensation for the injuries caused, not only satisfaction in the form of official apologies. (more…)