The whole world it would seem has been celebrating the killing of Osama Bin Laden, the man they were told caused them harm and made them to live in fear. Suddenly president Obama’s popularity has shot up, all because he claims he ordered the death of a man.
What bothers this writer is that all that the world knows about Osama Bin Laden is what the American government has said about him. He was accused, sentenced and executed without a chance of defending himself.
It was also reported that he was unarmed when he was killed. Those who killed him cannot therefore claim that they were defending themselves against an armed Bin Laden. In reality therefore these people had the opportunity to take him alive and have him tried in a court of law for what he is alleged to have done.
Was it Justice?
After Osama’s death, Obama said that “justice has been done”. The president being a former constitutional lawyer should know better than define such actions as justice. The word justice connotes upholding or applying the law. This being the case was the killing of Osama Bin Laden an act of applying the law or an act of retaliation?
Most people could care less about legal niceties because they are convinced that the man was guilty as charged based on what their governments told them. Perhaps Osama Bin Laden was guilty as charged, but why was he not accorded a trial so that the world could hear his side and eventually say “justice was done“?
It would have helped the world to understand the man’s motives and why he felt what he did was right. Marjorie Cohn, a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law argues that “Targeted assassinations violate well-established principles of international law. —-. These are unlawful and deliberate killings carried out by order of, or with the acquiescence of, a government, outside any judicial framework”
In a 1998 report, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions noted that “extrajudicial executions can never be justified under any circumstances, not even in time of war.” The U.N. General Assembly and Human Rights Commission, as well as Amnesty International, have all condemned extrajudicial executions.
Read more: http://socyberty.com/issues/osama-bin-laden-and-the-danger-of-mob-justice/#ixzz1MAJ8wFje
What bothers this writer is that all that the world knows about Osama Bin Laden is what the American government has said about him. He was accused, sentenced and executed without a chance of defending himself.
It was also reported that he was unarmed when he was killed. Those who killed him cannot therefore claim that they were defending themselves against an armed Bin Laden. In reality therefore these people had the opportunity to take him alive and have him tried in a court of law for what he is alleged to have done.
Was it Justice?
After Osama’s death, Obama said that “justice has been done”. The president being a former constitutional lawyer should know better than define such actions as justice. The word justice connotes upholding or applying the law. This being the case was the killing of Osama Bin Laden an act of applying the law or an act of retaliation?
Most people could care less about legal niceties because they are convinced that the man was guilty as charged based on what their governments told them. Perhaps Osama Bin Laden was guilty as charged, but why was he not accorded a trial so that the world could hear his side and eventually say “justice was done“?
It would have helped the world to understand the man’s motives and why he felt what he did was right. Marjorie Cohn, a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law argues that “Targeted assassinations violate well-established principles of international law. —-. These are unlawful and deliberate killings carried out by order of, or with the acquiescence of, a government, outside any judicial framework”
In a 1998 report, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions noted that “extrajudicial executions can never be justified under any circumstances, not even in time of war.” The U.N. General Assembly and Human Rights Commission, as well as Amnesty International, have all condemned extrajudicial executions.
Read more: http://socyberty.com/issues/osama-bin-laden-and-the-danger-of-mob-justice/#ixzz1MAJ8wFje
