By John Ramming Chappell and Ari Tolany Recent months have seen a flood of revelations concerning civilian harm resulting from U.S. military operations. The last U.S. airstrike of the war in Afghanistan, which killed ten civilians including an aid worker and seven children, was soon followed by news of U.S. operations in Syria targeting and endangering civilians. Reporting from The…
By Katherine Kramer and Annie Shiel Earlier today, the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Drones and Modern Conflict hosted a UK-US legislators’ dialogue on the protection of civilians in armed conflict and sharing best practices across the Atlantic. The event was hosted by Stewart McDonald MP and featured a conversation with US Congressman Jim…
By Annie Shiel and Chris Woods Karrar Sabbar was at his job as an airport security guard in Karbala, Iraq, when he was killed by American airstrikes. Saleh Ahmed Mohammad al-Qaisi was driving near a health center in Al Bayda, Yemen after visiting his family, when he was inexplicably targeted and killed by a U.S. drone. Eighteen-year-old Nurto Kusow Omar Abukar was…
Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) shares regular updates about the work of our global programs. Our US program, helmed by US Program Director, Daniel R. Mahanty, works with US institutions to protect civilians trapped in conflict around the world. This biweekly newsletter is compiled by the program’s fellows. The US in Afghanistan The…
By Annie Shiel, Seth Binder, Jeff Abramson, William Hartung, Rachel Stohl, Diana Ohlbaum, Adam Isacson, Brittany Benowitz and Daniel R. Mahanty In recent years, U.S. arms sold and transferred abroad have been used to commit gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law (IHL) and fueled widespread civilian harm, corruption, and humanitarian crises in countries…
By Kimberly Rolle In the summer of 2020, from Minnesota to London, a global protest movement erupted in response to incidents of racial profiling and police brutality against Black Americans. As illustrated by Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama in 1965, the Kent State Massacre in 1970, the MOVE Bombing in Philadelphia in 1985, Ferguson…
By Madison Hunke Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) was born in 2003 out of humanitarian and activist Marla Ruzicka’s conviction that the United States (US) military should acknowledge and assist the civilian victims of its military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Today, as the US military remains engaged in counterterrorism operations across the…
December 8, 2020 By Daniel R. Mahanty and Elias Yousif When Biden takes his seat behind the Resolute desk, he will face the competing demands of ending America’s “forever wars” and simultaneously countering lingering threats of terrorism. Biden’s immediate predecessors chose to navigate these narrow straits by limiting the role of conventional U.S. forces in…
By Annie Shiel On June 22, the Department of Defense (DOD) issued an interim policy regulation for providing ex gratia payments to civilians harmed as a result of U.S. military operations. The issuance of this regulation is a welcome step forward in institutionalizing the practice of making amends and recognizing the significant harm that occurs in military operations. However,…