Rights Groups Sue for Legal Basis of US Boat Strikes

The ACLU, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the New York Civil Liberties Union said Tuesday they had filed suit seeking the Office of Legal Counsel opinion that set out the administration’s legal rationale. They argue that the government’s claim of an “armed conflict” with international drug cartels warrants scrutiny, and say the law on conflicts with nonstate actors requires an organized armed group structured like a conventional military and engaged in “protracted armed violence.”

Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, accused the administration of distorting international law to defend the strikes. He said the public should see the OLC analysis and hold accountable those who enabled what he called unlawful killings. ACLU staff attorney Jeffrey Stein said Americans deserve to know how the government considers the deaths lawful. Ify Chikezie, a staff attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union, called on courts to order the documents’ release.

The campaign has killed at least 87 people, according to the article. Scrutiny intensified after reports that the military carried out a second strike on September 2, killing two men who survived an initial attack on their vessel. Daphne Eviatar, Amnesty International USA’s director for security and human rights, said last week that the campaign was illegal under domestic and international law. She argued none of the victims posed an imminent threat to life and called on Congress to stop further strikes.