U.N. rights boss asks U.S. for facts on bin Laden killing

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/03/us-binladen-un-rights-idUSTRE7425PR20110503

GENEVA | Tue May 3, 2011 2:31pm EDT

(Reuters) - The United Nations' top human rights official called on the United States Tuesday to give the U.N. details about Osama bin Laden's killing and said that all counter-terrorism operations must respect international law.

But Navi Pillay, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the al Qaeda leader, killed in a U.S. operation in Pakistan, had committed crimes against humanity as self-confessed mastermind of "the most appalling acts of terrorism," including the September 11, 2001 attacks on America.

It was always clear that taking bin Laden alive was likely to be difficult, she said, noting that U.S. authorities had stated that they intended to arrest him if possible.

"This was a complex operation and it would be helpful if we knew the precise facts surrounding his killing. The United Nations has consistently emphasized that all counter-terrorism acts must respect international law," Pillay said in a statement issued in response to a Reuters request.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i8bFxStiSM3yJ1MuaOqvU6Le0Vew?docId=CNG.3bce48042eb243fc76055628cd8a2455.6b1

OSLO — UN human rights chief Navi Pillay on Thursday called for "a full disclosure of the accurate facts" to determine the legality of the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

"I'm still for a full disclosure of the accurate facts," Pillay told reporters in Oslo.

"I think it's not just my office but anybody is entitled to know exactly what happened," she added.

Pillay's declarations come a day after US Attorney General Eric Holder told a Senate hearing the raid during which bin Laden was killed "was lawful and consistent with our values."

The killing of bin Laden: Was it legal?

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/04/bin.laden.legal/?hpt=T1

(CNN) -- Was the killing of Osama bin Laden legal under international law?

The administration says yes, absolutely. Experts are unsure.

Attorney General Eric Holder told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that the U.S. raid on bin Laden's compound was lawful "as an act of national self-defense."

Bin Laden "was the head of al Qaeda, an organization that had conducted the attacks of September the 11th," Holder said. "It's lawful to target an enemy commander in the field."

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