At UN, Rapporteur Alston Admits Drone Silence from US, Silent on UN, Calls Methods of Killing a Catch-22

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1executions063008.html

UNITED NATIONS, June 30 -- In the face of questions about the killing of civilians by U.S.-controlled unmanned Predator drones, the U.S. has argued that the UN Human Rights Council and its rapporteur Philip Alston have no jurisdiction, and are "irrelevant," Alston told the Press on Monday. Inner City Press asked Alston to characterize the U.S. responses to his inquiries about these killings from the air. "Their response has not been substantive," Alston said, rather only procedural. As set forth in a May 4, 2006 U.S. letter that Alston has put online, the U.S. argues that " inquiries related to allegations stemming from military operations conducted during the course of an armed conflict with Al Qaida do not fall within the mandate of the Special Rapporteur. The conduct of a government in legitimate military operations, whether against Al Qaida operatives or any other legitimate military target, would be governed by the law of armed conflict."

In the more than two years since, the U.S. has simply not responded to Alston's inquiries on the topic, whether about killings in the village Haisori, near the town of Mir Ali, North Waziristan, or Damadola in the Bajaur Agency, North Western Pakistan. Alston says he will include the issue in his "final report." In the briefing he gave Monday, Alston did not address attempt to curtail rapporteurs' mandates, so that any report they do could be their last report.

Alston was clearly running scared, or being wisely cautious. Inner City Press asked for his views on whether particular modes of execution are "cruel and unusual punishing," within the meaning of the 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution or otherwise. "I stay away from the question," Alston said. He said his mandate does not allow him to take a position for the abolition of the death penalty -- even though this is the UN position, as Ban Ki-moon learned in his first week on the job -- so he stays about from methods, calling them a "Catch 22."

Inner City Press also asked Alston what responses he has gotten from the UN, about its failure to discipline its peacekeepers after the killing of civilians, in Haiti, Kosovo and the Congo. In October 2007, Alston told the Press he was inquiring into these issues, click here for that. On Monday, Alston said that provide any update on the UN's response was behind the scope of his briefing, and said he would later provide the information. If and when he does, it will be reported on this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1executions063008.html