Osama Bin Laden’s family accuse U.S. of breaking international law

Osama Bin Laden's family claims he was killed unlawfully.

by J. Bowden | Permalink
 

The New York Times received a statement from the Bin Laden family yesterday in which the members, namely Omar Bin Laden, accused the United States of breaking international law by killing an unarmed man without a trial, shooting the members of his family, and disposing of his body out at sea.

U.S. Attorney General, Eric H. Holder Jr., has maintained that Osama Bin Laden’s declaration of war on the United States allows for the implementation of “self-defense” under international law. Holder commented: “The operation in which Osama bin Laden was killed was lawful. He was the head of Al Qaeda, an organization that conducted the attacks of September the 11th [2001]. He admitted his involvement.”
The Bin Laden family questions why their father “was not arrested and tried in a court of law so that truth is revealed to the people of the world.” Referencing the trials of Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milosevic, the family comments that “justice must be seen to be done” and that “…arbitrary killing is not a solution to political problems.”

The statement called upon the Pakistan government to release the three wives and a number of children believed to be in their custody as well as for an investigation by the United Nations into the circumstances of their father’s death.

Sources:
Malcolm, Andrew. (2011, May 10). Osama bin laden’s son says u.s. broke international law ‘if’ his father is dead. Los Angeles Times, Retrieved from http://latimesblogs.latimes.com
Shane, Scott. (2011, May 10). Bin laden sons say u.s. broke international law. The New York Times, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com