“…a State party can be held responsible for violations of rights under the Covenant where the violations are perpetrated by authorized agents of the State on foreign territory…”-2006 UN memo to Secretary of State Rice, concerning execution of Iraqi children

A 2006 United Nations memo to then U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, has been made public by Wikileaks.

In the memo the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, demands an explanation as to why, on 15 March 2006, an entire Iraqi family was handcuffed and executed by U.S. forces.  That included two children aged five years, two children aged three years and one five month old baby!

After the executions the house was bombed, Iraqi TV has video of the aftermath.

The memo suspects that it was done in retaliation for two U.S. multi-national forces (MNF) troops being killed the week before.

Officially the U.S. claims the family was killed in a gunbattle.  The U.S. led MNF were attempting to arrest one suspect.

The problem is that autopsies showed all the family members had been handcuffed and shot in the head.

The United Nations asked Secretary of State Rice four questions: 1; “On what basis was it decided to kill, rather than capture, members of the Mr. Faiz Harrat Al-Majma’ee’s family.” 2; “What rules of international law does your Excellency’s Government consider to govern these incidents?” 3; “What procedural safeguards, if any, were employed to ensure that these killings complied with international law?” 4; “Does your Excellency’s Government intend to provide compensation…”

The UN memo mentions that this isn’t the only case of summary executions at the hands of U.S. forces.

Secretary Rice was also reminded of UN resolution 59/191: “States must ensure that any measure to combat terrorism complies with their obligation under international law, in particular international human right, refugee and humanitarian law.”

After all, the United States is a shining example of the Rule of Law, is it not?