UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights on Bin Laden Killing

Benjamin Wittes
Wednesday, May 4, 2011, 10:21 AM
Martin Scheinin, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms, also says the Bin Laden killing was legal--and also hinges this judgment on the opportunity given him to surrender. I think this is already proving to be a thin reed on which to hang the legality of the operation. But if it's a fiction that works for people, okay.

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Martin Scheinin, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms, also says the Bin Laden killing was legal--and also hinges this judgment on the opportunity given him to surrender. I think this is already proving to be a thin reed on which to hang the legality of the operation. But if it's a fiction that works for people, okay.

Benjamin Wittes is editor in chief of Lawfare and a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. He is the author of several books.

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