Who’s off Limits? How Inconsistent Interpretation of the Imminence Requirement Under Article 51 of the UN Charter
Who’s off Limits? How Inconsistent Interpretation of the Imminence Requirement Under Article 51 of the UN Charter and Ineffective Accountability Protocols Expand Who Can Be Targeted and When Under the United States Targeted Killing Program
Abstract: After 9/11 the United States began to implement a national security policy that employs targeted killings to fight the “War on Terror” and kill suspected terrorists. Starting with the Bush administration and continuing through each US administration, the United States has expanded who can be the object of a targeted killing and when they can be killed. This Note analyzes the legal justifications set forth by the United States for this expansion. This Note specifically addresses the United States’ capitalization on the ambiguity of the imminence requirement of Article 51 of the United Nations ("UN") Charter (“Article 51”) to broaden the circumstances in which the United States can resort to the use of force in selfdefense. Also examined in this Note is the ineffectiveness of US accountability protocols within the targeted drone strike program that have allowed the United States to violate its own interpretation of the distinction principle of international humanitarian law. This Note argues that in order to reduce the prospective of a long-term threat to national security and the increased potential for innocent civilian casualties, the United States should clearly define imminence under Article 51 of the UN Charter and Congress should strengthen accountability measures through legislative action to enhance the options for redress for victims of targeted drone strikes.
Recommended Citation: Maria Chrysanthem, Who’s off Limits? How Inconsistent Interpretation of the Imminence Requirement Under Article 51 of the UN Charter and Ineffective Accountability Protocols Expand Who Can Be Targeted and When Under the United States Targeted Killing Program, 45 Fordham Int'l L.J. 105 (2021).