In-focus

Pakistan

Amnesty criticizes US for 'unlawful' Bin Laden raid

Dunya News

The Amnesty International has criticized US for unlawful killing of Osama bin Laden.

Amnesty International criticized the United States on Wednesday for its use of lethal force, particularly for the unlawful killing of Osama bin Laden in a clandestine US commando raid in Pakistan last May.The US administration made clear that the operation had been conducted under the USAs theory of a global armed conflict between the USA and Al-Qaeda in which the USA does not recognize the applicability of international human rights law, it said in its annual report.In the absence of further clarification from the US authorities, the killing of Osama bin Laden would appear to have been unlawful, it said.Amnesty said a request for clarification over an apparent US drone strike in Yemen last September that killed US-born radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi, his Al-Qaeda co-conspirator Samir Khan and at least two others had also gone unanswered.These killings appeared to have amounted to extrajudicial executions, the rights watchdog said.Amnesty also hit out at human rights violations committed by former president George W. Bushs administration and condemned the impunity with which his officials operated.The global rights monitor also criticized Canada for failing to arrest Bush when he visited in October, despite clear evidence that he was responsible for crimes under international law, including torture.There was no accountability for human rights violations committed under the administration of president George W. Bush as part of the CIAs program of secret detention and rendition, Amnesty said, referring to the transfer of individuals from one country to another without access to legal process.