WASHINGTON // Civil rights groups last week were dealt a significant setback when a US federal court ruled it lacked the authority to review a case filed on behalf of the father of a Yemeni cleric who is allegedly on the Obama administration's targeted killings list.
Maria Lahood, a staff attorney with the Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR), which filed the case along with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), argued that the ruling granted unreviewable authority to the administration.
"It means that the US government can kill its own citizens abroad, at least, and no court can do anything about it," she said.
Courts lack the tools to check the administration, Paul Rosenzweig, a visiting fellow with the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based think tank, said. "Almost certainly, courts are ill equipped [to check the executive's enforcement of targeted killings]."
Anwar al Awlaki is accused of being an operational member of al Qa'eda in the Arabian Peninsula and US authorities have linked him to at least five attacks on Americans, including the Times Square car bomb in May, the shootings at Fort Hood in November last year and, also last year, the Christmas Day underwear bomber on a flight headed to Detroit.
He has allegedly been placed on a "kill list" by the US administration, although officials refuse to confirm or deny the existence of such a list.
Judge John D Bates ruled last Tuesday that the District Court of Washington, DC lacked the legal purview to rule on what was a "political question", and that Nasser al Awlaki did not have the right to bring the case on behalf of his son, who the judge said should come forward himself.
That latter ruling was deemed unrealistic by Ms Lahood, who pointed out that if the younger al Awlaki was on a kill list, how could he come forward?
"Anwar couldn't bring the case if he came out of hiding and surrendered himself as the government is saying he should [because the government is actively trying to kill him], even though there are no charges against him," she said. "And he couldn't bring the case certainly afterwards. So there is no time, essentially, that the government will concede that this case could be brought."
The ACLU and CCR also challenged the presumption that a targeted killing policy could apply to Yemen, a country the US is not officially in conflict with, and where Anwar al Awlaki is believed to be in hiding. "We submitted evidence that, first of all, there isn't an armed conflict in Yemen. Any hostilities there don't rise to the level of armed conflict. And we submitted evidence that al Qa'eda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is actually not a part of al Qa'eda. The Aumf [the authorisation of the use of armed force] actually pertains to 9/11 and the people responsible for 9/11," Ms Lahood said.
But Mr Rosenzweig argued that if the courts were not equipped to rule on such a case, any targeted killing policy anywhere was ultimately a political question to be decided by the relevant national and international actors.
"The right checks are political more than anything else. The most significant check on targeted killings in Yemen is what [Ali Abdullah] Salah, the president of Yemen, thinks," he said.
Under the US constitution and international law, targeted killings are permissible, but only as a last alternative to neutralise an imminent threat.
"The threshold question there is: 'is he operational?'" said David Rittgers, a legal policy analyst with the Cato Institute, a libertarian think-tank in Washington. "That is the part where the really tough questions come, because for the government to release information that it has that substantiates a claim that he is operationally involved with a terrorist operation may compromise methods and sources that would indicate how they got the information."
That was reflected in Mr Bates's ruling, in which he acknowledged that his decision was disquieting.
"The court recognises the somewhat unsettling nature of its conclusion - that there are circumstances in which the executive's unilateral decision to kill a US citizen overseas is constitutionally committed to the political branches and judicially unreviewable," Mr Bates wrote. "But this case squarely presents such a circumstance."
Letta Tayler, a researcher at the terrorism/counterterrorism division of Human Rights Watch, a New York-based human-rights watchdog, said that ultimately what was being challenged by the case was not the legality of targeted killings, but a lack of transparency in the process: "The ruling only highlights the need for the government to shed further light on its targeted killing policy."
mhernandez@thenational.ae
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Cargoz%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Premlal%20Pullisserry%20and%20Lijo%20Antony%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2030%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Seed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
What is double taxation?
- Americans living abroad file taxes with the Internal Revenue Service, which can cost hundreds of dollars to complete even though about 60 per cent do not owe taxes, according to the Taxpayer Advocate Service
- Those obligations apply to millions of Americans residing overseas – estimates range from 3.9 million to 5.5 million – including so-called "accidental Americans" who are unaware they hold dual citizenship
- The double taxation policy has been a contentious issue for decades, with many overseas Americans feeling that it punishes them for pursuing opportunities abroad
- Unlike most countries, the US follows a citizenship-based taxation system, meaning that Americans must file taxes annually, even if they do not earn any income in the US.
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hoopla%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMarch%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jacqueline%20Perrottet%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2010%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPre-seed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20required%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24500%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last-16, second leg (first-leg scores in brackets):
PSG (2) v Manchester United (0)
Midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
What is Genes in Space?
Genes in Space is an annual competition first launched by the UAE Space Agency, The National and Boeing in 2015.
It challenges school pupils to design experiments to be conducted in space and it aims to encourage future talent for the UAE’s fledgling space industry. It is the first of its kind in the UAE and, as well as encouraging talent, it also aims to raise interest and awareness among the general population about space exploration.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
INVESTMENT PLEDGES
Cartlow: $13.4m
Rabbitmart: $14m
Smileneo: $5.8m
Soum: $4m
imVentures: $100m
Plug and Play: $25m
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
In numbers
1,000 tonnes of waste collected daily:
- 800 tonnes converted into alternative fuel
- 150 tonnes to landfill
- 50 tonnes sold as scrap metal
800 tonnes of RDF replaces 500 tonnes of coal
Two conveyor lines treat more than 350,000 tonnes of waste per year
25 staff on site
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Medicus AI
Started: 2016
Founder(s): Dr Baher Al Hakim, Dr Nadine Nehme and Makram Saleh
Based: Vienna, Austria; started in Dubai
Sector: Health Tech
Staff: 119
Funding: €7.7 million (Dh31m)
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
