Lesson 4 Flashcards
Terrorism
International rules based order
A rules-based system refers to a framework of agreed-upon principles, norms, and rules that guide the behavior of states and other actors in the international arena.
Contesting Use of Force Norms Through Technological Practices
Bode, Ingvild
International law based order
Focuses specifically on the legal dimension of international governance, emphasizing the role of formal, binding laws derived from treaties, customary international law, and judicial decisions.
Contesting Use of Force Norms Through Technological Practices
Bode, Ingvild
International normative order
The international normative order encompasses accepted interpretations, practices, and shared understandings of appropriateness regarding standards, including functional or procedural norms, which may not be directly tied to international law.
Contesting Use of Force Norms Through Technological Practices
Bode, Ingvild
Targeted killing
“use of intentionally lethal violence against a prominent or culpable person or a small group of persons… not in the physical custody of the agent using violence” - not limited to drones (snipers, missiles etc.)
The rise of drone warfare, especially for targeted killings, is reshaping state practices and challenging norms in international law, particularly in customary law.
Argument for legall: Article 51 of the UN Charter (right to self-defence)
Same argument for illigal
**Drones enable new state practices: ** Drones has the ability to conduct surveillance and strikes with minimal risk to the operator, have led to new state practices, particularly targeted killings. Leading to repeated state practices.
Targeted killing, is controversial as it raises questions about established legal concepts such as the scope of self-defense, the prohibition (UN Charter art. 51) on extrajudicial killing (ICCPR art. 6).
Targeted killing: If states consistently engage in targeted killings and accept this practice as lawful.
Limited number of states engages in targeted killing. Mainly the US and Israel.
Ambiguity of state silence: Many states have remained silent on the legality of targeted killing. This silence is open to interpretation.
Mismatch between legal and normative orders: The increasing use of drones and targeted killings has created a mismatch between *the international legal order *and the evolving practices and understandings of what is considered appropriate (the international normative order).
Contesting Use of Force Norms Through Technological Practices
Bode, Ingvild +
Thomas Gregory, p. 213.
Drones capabilities
Pro:
1. Deiscriminate
2. Consume ata (audio, visual signals)
3. Ethical killing.
Con:
1. Dataverload from above Afghanistan, Somalia and Iraq.
2. Weddings attact, as the seemed like a threat (big gatherings), seen as terrorist tranings camps.
3. Laborer had the same pattern as a militant, therefore killed.
Artikel 48 of addiontonal protocal of geneva convention. “distinguish between the civilian population and combatants”
Gregory, Thomas. “Targeted Killings: Drones, Noncombatant Immunity, and the Politics of Killing.” 213
Noncombanant immunity
Civilians or noncombatants should be protected from the violence of war and should not be intentionally targeted.
Article 48 of Additional Protocol I (1977) to the Geneva Conventions: Calls for parties to “distinguish between the civilian population and combatants.”
Gregory, Thomas. “Targeted Killings: Drones, Noncombatant Immunity, and the Politics of Killing.” 213
Who are civilians reflections
Munition factories workers, individuals commiting acts of terrorism etc.
Discursive: No fixed or timless definition of combanants and non-combanants.
Lawfare as a Tool of Legitimization of Targeted Killing
Plausible legitimatation, Rather than serving as a constraint on violence, international law is often manipulated to accommodate military objectives.
Involving:
1. Redefining Geographical Spaces
Redefining geographical spaces of the battlefiels (terror)
The Obama administration’s assertion that the “battlefield” in the war on terror has no geographic limitations effectively expanded the areas where lethal force could be used.
This redefinition of the battlespace significantly weakened the legal protections typically afforded to civilians outside of armed conflict.
Battlefiels is not defined in any law, but civilian’s rights are:
Common Article 2 of the Geneva Conventions (1949):
Establishes the applicability of the conventions in international armed conflicts without defining geographic limits.
Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions (1949):
Provides minimum protections for persons in non-international armed conflicts but does not geographically confine the conflict.
Norm Dissociation
Definition: Key actors never cared about the norm against assassination and justified targeted killing without concern.
Example: The U.S. viewed terrorism as an existential threat and justified targeted killings (e.g., drone strikes) as necessary, regardless of the assassination ban.
Pratt, Simon Frankel.
Norm Transformation
Definition: Key actors changed the definition of assassination, reinterpreting it to exclude targeted killings.
Example: The U.S. redefined assassination to allow targeted killings of terrorist leaders as legitimate acts of war, especially with precision tools like drones.
US. Drone memo 2013, Obama + UN Charter art. 51.
Pratt, Simon Frankel.
Simon Frankel, norm death vs norm transformation
- Norm death
- Norm dissociation
- Norm transformation
Illustrates the difference between a norm disappearing and a norm changing.
Some might view targeted killings as evidence of the death of the norm prohibiting assassination.
The US case is more accurately described as norm transformation where the norm was redefined to accommodate new practices
Pratt, Simon Frankel.
Technological Revision
Definition: Using new technology that alters norms and enables new actions.
Example: Drones, with their precision and reduced collateral damage, made targeted killings more acceptable.
Pratt, Simon Frankel.
Targeted killings
Although in most circumstances targeted killings violate the right to life, in the exceptional circumstance of armed conflict, they may be legal. This is in contrast to other terms with which “targeted killing” has sometimes been interchangeably used, such as “extrajudicial execution”, “summary execution”, and “assassination”, all of which are, by definition, illegal.
Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
IHL vs Human Rights Law
Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
International Humanitarian Law
Applies in armed conflict.
This include the 4 Geneva Conventions from 1949.
Concerns civilians and combatants.
Third Geneva Convention protects PoW. They must be treated humanely in all circumstances.
Human Rights Law is treaties, principles that concerns outside armed conflict as well while an armed conflict exist.
Example: CAT
Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
Human Rights Law and lethal killing
Intentional (targeted klillings) killing, lethal force, are generally unlawful under human rights law, as its use of lethal force is onlu permissable as a last resort to protect life.
Targeted killings, involve the intentional and premeditated use of lethal force, which raises concerns about compliance with human rights standards outside armed conflict situations.
Therefore, states tries to frame it as an armed conflict situation.
Geneva Convention Additional Protocol I
International armed conflicts
Assasination of Iranian Nuclear Scientist
Discussion: Was it a combanant or a civil?
Was it international armed conflict?
was that of a scientist and university professor involved in the Iranian nuclear program.
Marko Milanovic
Exception of intervening within a state’s soverignity
Soverignity: UN Charter article 2(4)
- Article 51
- Territorial state consents (not in the UN Charter)
- UN SC authorization
The balance of being a civilian vs combatant.
Civilian when you are not working and combatant when you are working.
Geneva Convention III (1949):
Article 4
Asylum seeker
A person who has departed from their country and is ectively seeking sanctuary in another nation, driven by the need for protection against persecution and grave human rights abuses.
Migrant
A person who moves from one place to another. Lacka universally accepted definition.
Refugee
A refugee is someone who has been recognized as meeting the definition under the 1951 Refugee Convention. They have been granted protection due to a well-founded fear of persecution.
UNSC Resolution 1373 (2001)
Adopted after 9/11 attacks to combat international terrorism.
Legally binding under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.
Key Obligations for States:
1. Prevent terrorism financing (criminalize, freeze assets).
- Prohibit terrorist support (recruitment, safe havens).
- Enhance border security and travel controls.
- Adopt domestic laws and join anti-terrorism conventions.
- Created the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) to monitor compliance.
Criticism: No universal definition of terrorism; human rights concerns.
