UK human rights lawyer leads bid to have John Rizzo arrested over claims he approved attacks that killed hundreds of people
The CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Photograph: Danita Delimont/Getty Images/Gallo Images
Campaigners against US drone strikes in Pakistan are calling for the CIA's former legal chief to be arrested and charged with murder for approving attacks that killed hundreds of people.
Amid growing international concern over the use of drones, lawyers and relatives of some of those killed are seeking an international arrest warrant for John A Rizzo, until recently acting general counsel for the CIA.
Opponents of drones say the unmanned aircraft are responsible for the deaths of up to 2,500 Pakistanis in 260 attacks since 2004. US officials say the vast majority of those killed are "militants". Earlier this week 48 people were killed in two strikes on tribal regions of Pakistan. The American definition of "militant" has been disputed by relatives and campaigners.
The bid to arrest Rizzo is being led by British human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith of the campaign group Reprieve, and lawyers in Pakistan. They are also building cases against drone operators interviewed or photographed during organised press facilities.
A first information report, the first step in seeking a prosecution of Rizzo in Pakistan, will be formally lodged early next week at a police station in Islamabad on behalf of 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 Newsweek that since 2004 he had approved monthly drone attacks on targets in Pakistan, even though the US is not at war with the country.
Rizzo, who was by his own admission "up to my eyeballs" in approving CIA use of "enhanced interrogation techniques", said in the interview that the CIA operated "a hit list". He also asked: "How many law professors have signed off on a death warrant?"
Rizzo has also admitted being present while civilian operators conducted drone strikes from their terminals at the CIA headquarters in Virginia.
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".
US drone strikes were first launched on Pakistan by President George W Bush and have been accelerated by Barack Obama.
Much of the intelligence for the attacks is supplied either by the Pakistani military or the ISI, the country's controversial intelligence agency.
Both have blocked journalists and human rights investigators from visiting the tribal areas targeted, preventing independent verification of the numbers killed and their status.
While Clive Stafford Smith estimates 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.
While killing civilians in military operations is not illegal under international law unless it is proved to be deliberate, disproportionate or reckless, Stafford Smith believes the nature of the US drone campaign puts it on a different legal footing.
"The US has to follow the laws of war," he said. "The issue here is that this is not a war. There is zero chance, given the current political situation in Pakistan, that we will not get a warrant for Rizzo. The question is what happens next. We can try for extradition and the US will refuse.
"Interpol, I believe, will have to issue a warrant because there is no question that it is a legitimate complaint."
The warrant will be sought on the basis of two test cases. The first centres on an incident on 7 September 2009 when a drone strike hit a compound during Ramadan, brought by a man named Sadaullah who lost both his legs and three relatives in the attack.
The second complaint was brought by Kareem Khan over a strike on 31 December 2009 in the village of Machi Khel in north Waziristan which killed his son and brother.
Both men allege Rizzo was involved in authorising the attack. The CIA refused to comment on the allegations.
The persual of Rizzo will further damage US-Pakistani relations, which are already under severe strain following years of drone attacks and the killing of Osama bin Laden in May. Last week the US suspended $800m in military aid to Pakistan.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/15/cia-usa
Campaigners against US drone strikes in Pakistan are calling for the CIA's former legal chief to be arrested and charged with murder for approving attacks that killed hundreds of people.
Amid growing international concern over the use of drones, lawyers and relatives of some of those killed are seeking an international arrest warrant for John A Rizzo, until recently acting general counsel for the CIA.
Opponents of drones say the unmanned aircraft are responsible for the deaths of up to 2,500 Pakistanis in 260 attacks since 2004. US officials say the vast majority of those killed are "militants". Earlier this week 48 people were killed in two strikes on tribal regions of Pakistan. The American definition of "militant" has been disputed by relatives and campaigners.
The bid to arrest Rizzo is being led by British human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith of the campaign group Reprieve, and lawyers in Pakistan. They are also building cases against drone operators interviewed or photographed during organised press facilities.
A first information report, the first step in seeking a prosecution of Rizzo in Pakistan, will be formally lodged early next week at a police station in Islamabad on behalf of 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 Newsweek that since 2004 he had approved monthly drone attacks on targets in Pakistan, even though the US is not at war with the country.
Rizzo, who was by his own admission "up to my eyeballs" in approving CIA use of "enhanced interrogation techniques", said in the interview that the CIA operated "a hit list". He also asked: "How many law professors have signed off on a death warrant?"
Rizzo has also admitted being present while civilian operators conducted drone strikes from their terminals at the CIA headquarters in Virginia.
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".
US drone strikes were first launched on Pakistan by President George W Bush and have been accelerated by Barack Obama.
Much of the intelligence for the attacks is supplied either by the Pakistani military or the ISI, the country's controversial intelligence agency.
Both have blocked journalists and human rights investigators from visiting the tribal areas targeted, preventing independent verification of the numbers killed and their status.
While Clive Stafford Smith estimates 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.
While killing civilians in military operations is not illegal under international law unless it is proved to be deliberate, disproportionate or reckless, Stafford Smith believes the nature of the US drone campaign puts it on a different legal footing.
"The US has to follow the laws of war," he said. "The issue here is that this is not a war. There is zero chance, given the current political situation in Pakistan, that we will not get a warrant for Rizzo. The question is what happens next. We can try for extradition and the US will refuse.
"Interpol, I believe, will have to issue a warrant because there is no question that it is a legitimate complaint."
The warrant will be sought on the basis of two test cases. The first centres on an incident on 7 September 2009 when a drone strike hit a compound during Ramadan, brought by a man named Sadaullah who lost both his legs and three relatives in the attack.
The second complaint was brought by Kareem Khan over a strike on 31 December 2009 in the village of Machi Khel in north Waziristan which killed his son and brother.
Both men allege Rizzo was involved in authorising the attack. The CIA refused to comment on the allegations.
The persual of Rizzo will further damage US-Pakistani relations, which are already under severe strain following years of drone attacks and the killing of Osama bin Laden in May. Last week the US suspended $800m in military aid to Pakistan.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/15/cia-usa
