Tag Archives: United States
19 April 2012
On April 18 the US Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the family of an American citizen killed during a visit to the West Bank may not sue the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization under the 1991 Torture Victim Protection Act.
The case was brought by the family of Azzam Rahim, a naturalized American citizen. According to their lawsuit, Mr. Rahim was arrested by intelligence officers of the Palestinian Authority during a 1995 visit to the West Bank. The officers took him to a prison in Jericho, where he was tortured and killed.
Justice Sotomayor recognized that it is sometimes hard to identify those who torture and kill on behalf of organizations, much less to find them, sue them and collect damages. However, she wrote that the limits in the law were a product of deliberate choices by Congress.
Source: New York Times | Justices Limit Suits Under Law on Torture
16 April 2012
A confidential NATO assessment concluded that the NATO allies struggled to share crucial target information, lacked specialized planners and analysts, and overly relied on the United States for reconnaissance and refueling aircraft.
Source: New York Times | NATO Sees Flaws in Air Campaign Against Qaddafi
13 April 2012
On April 06, 2012, on the 18th Anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, the President of the U.S. Barack Obama issued a statement in which he refers to the ‘haunting’ memory of the extermination of about 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. He further mentions a shared responsibility of all States to protect populations and to prevent the occurrence of genocide. More specifically, he affirms that the anniversary of the Rwandan genocide ‘reminds the nations of the world of our shared responsibility to do all we can to protect civilians and to ensure that evil of this magnitude never happens again’.
Source: The White House | Statement by the President on the 18th Anniversary of the Genocide in Rwanda
10 April 2012
On 8 April 2012, Afghanistan and the United States concluded an agreement under which the US hands control of special operations missions to Afghan forces, including night raids, relegating American troops to a supporting role and bringing the raids under Afghan judicial authority.
Afghan forces can still call on American troops for help and authorize them to enter Afghan residences and private compounds. An interministry Afghan command center with representatives of the Defense and Interior Ministries, as well as the National Directorate of Security, would review or develop information about potential targets in consultation with Americans, who would continue to provide extensive intelligence support. The interministry group would then decide whether to go after a target and send Afghan special operations forces to carry out the raid. The Afghans can request American assistance at any point in the operation — for intelligence, for back-up military support, air support, medical evacuation and post-operation intelligence gathering.
The agreement covers all night raids carried out by special operations forces. However, a small number of night operations are conducted under other auspices, including special C.I.A.-trained units, that are not covered by the agreement.
Source: New York Times | U.S. Transfers Control of Night Raids to Afghanistan
28 November 2011
NATO’s claim that it was retailing against gunfire from the Pakistani side of the border has been denied by Pakistan, which in return has lodged protests against both the United States and NATO in connection to the incident in which NATO air forces killed at least 25 soldiers in strikes against two military posts at the northwestern border with Afghanistan. Pakistan’s government already ordered the US to vacate an airbase used for drone strikes in Afghanistan, and announced that it would would “revisit and undertake a complete review of all programmes, activities and co-operative arrangements” with the US, and US-led forces in Afghanistan, “including diplomatic, political, military and intelligence”.
Source 1: Guardian – Pakistan orders US to leave airbase in row over deadly Nato assault
Source 2: NY Times – Tensions Flare Between U.S. and Pakistan After Strike