British Government Legally Questioned Over Role in Obama's 'Kill List'
An Afghan man who had relatives killed in a U.S. missile strike is challenging parts of the British government demanding to know how they contributed to the construction of President Obama's infamous 'kill list'.
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The Guardian's Nick Hopkins reports an Afghan man started legal proceedings against the British Ministry of Defense and the Serious Organised Crime Agency to figure out the level of participation both organizations played "in the compilation, review and execution of the list and what form it takes," he writes. Their argument boiled down by Hopkins:
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Legal letters sent to Soca and the MoD state the involvement of UK officials in these decisions "may give rise to criminal offences and thus be unlawful". They say Britain's contribution raises several concerns, particularly in cases where international humanitarian laws protecting civilians and non-combatants may have been broken.
The man behind the challenges, Habib Rahman, lost five relatives in a US missile strike that was meant for a suspected Taliban commander named Muhammad Amin. Rahman alleges his relatives were all working for a candidate in the parliamentary elections. NATO called the mission as a success, but the Afghanistan Analysts Network's Kate Clark discovered they killed the wrong man. Zabet Amanullah, the man they thought was Amin, was just another law-abiding Afghan citizen, according to Takhar police chief, Shah Jahan Nuri. "Zabet Amanullah was an ordinary person and lived among normal people. I could have captured him with one phone call," Nuri told Clark.
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There's no information connecting the British organizations to this particular attack, a point Rahman's lawyers acknowledge, but their goal is to "force officials to be more open about the British contribution to the 'kill list'," according to Hopkins.
