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The Legality of the practice of targeted killings under International Law

Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013.

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Other Authors: Waschefort, Gus
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2014
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Waschefort, Gus
author_browse Waschefort, Gus
author_facet Waschefort, Gus
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2013 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013.
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:36:41.285Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2014
publishDateRange 2014
publishDateSort 2014
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/37370 The Legality of the practice of targeted killings under International Law Waschefort, Gus none Okurut, Emmanuel Targeted killings International Law. UCTD Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013. The practice of targeted killings is not a recent phenomenon in International Law. It has been practiced over the years and has been debated. In recent times, the term was popularized by the killing of Osama bin Laden. On 2 May 2011, U.S. Special Forces conducted an operation in Pakistan in which Osama Bin Laden was killed. He was said to be the leader of the Al-Qaeda Terrorist Group that claimed responsibility for the September 9/11 attacks on the U.S. that resulted in the death of thousands. There have been several other incidents of this nature and it is important to determine the legality of such strikes in order to regulate them better. This study comparatively examines state practice of those nations including the U.S., Israel and Russia that have carried out targeted killings while paying special attention to the justifications put forth in defense of the practice. These defenses range from national security and self-defenses. The paper goes a step further to examine some court cases that have particularly dealt with the issue of targeted killings to ascertain the judicial attitude to the practice. It also looks at the main killing techniques which include kill or capture raids and air strikes from unmanned aerial vehicles known as drones. The targeted individuals are alleged terrorists or others deemed dangerous, and their inclusion in kill/capture lists is based on undisclosed intelligence applied against secret criteria. The number of targeted killings that have been specifically carried out by the US has steadily escalated through the different presidential administrations. With reference to some prominent incidents of targeted killings, this study will present an international law perspective analyzing whether this practice can be legally justifiable. The study also focuses on the interaction between international law and the practice of targeted killing. An examination of the pertinent principles of the two branches of international law will be necessary to determine which one is applicable and when. gm2014 Public Law unrestricted 2014-04-01T12:15:51Z 2014-04-01T12:15:51Z 2013-09-04 2013 Mini Dissertation Okurut, E 2013, The Legality of the practice of targeted killings under International Law , LLM dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/37370> F13/9/823/gm http://hdl.handle.net/2263/37370 en © 2013 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Targeted killings
International Law.
UCTD
The Legality of the practice of targeted killings under International Law
title The Legality of the practice of targeted killings under International Law
title_full The Legality of the practice of targeted killings under International Law
title_fullStr The Legality of the practice of targeted killings under International Law
title_full_unstemmed The Legality of the practice of targeted killings under International Law
title_short The Legality of the practice of targeted killings under International Law
title_sort legality of the practice of targeted killings under international law
topic Targeted killings
International Law.
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/37370