Terrorism and Targeted Killings in International Law
RESEARCH HANDBOOK ON INTERNATIONAL LAW AND TERRORISM, Ben Saul, ed., Edward Elgar, UK, pp. 250-270, 2014
22 Pages Posted: 1 Aug 2014 Last revised: 4 Aug 2014
Date Written: July 30, 2014
Abstract
Targeted killing has become part of the conventional military and security strategy of a number of states in their operations against terrorist suspects, with Israel, the US and Russia among the most notable that have openly employed such tactics. Controversy has arisen regarding whether, as the perpetrator states have asserted, such killings should be considered as part of an ongoing ‘war’ against terrorist organizations, thus judged according to the law on the use of force (jus ad bellum) and the law of armed conflict (jus in bello or international humanitarian law (IHL), or whether the struggle against terrorist groups should be considered within a law enforcement framework, thus engaging international human rights law (IHRL). This chapter examines these issues.
Keywords: targeted killing, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, law of the use of force, direct participation in hostilities
JEL Classification: K10, K30, K33
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation