Battling ISIL could pit our troops against Canadians
Canadian military personnel who take part in the war in Iraq could find themselves facing a legal grey area where they may be required to kill their fellow countrymen.
Citizens from Canada, the U.S., France, Britain and Arab nations have flocked to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The Canadian government is now contemplating sending CF-18 fighter jets to join the U.S.- led bombing campaign against the Islamist extremists.
But Wesley Wark, an intelligence specialist at the University of Ottawa, says members of the military coalition who take part in the campaign could have to deal with situations where they are called upon to target fellow citizens or be involved in such actions.
In particular, that situation might develop as bombing focuses on specific ISIL members or senior commanders, he added.
“It is something ... that as an alliance, countries will have to grapple with,” Wark explained. “What they will find themselves doing is pinpointing individuals who are citizens of their own countries.”
But a former hostage of Islamist extremists says targeting Canadians or anyone else in ISIL shouldn’t be an issue. Those who joined ISIL are legitimate targets, says Robert Fowler, a former diplomat who was kidnapped in Africa in 2008 and later held by an al- Qaida affiliate.
“I know the Americans have gone through this debate and still seem to be tortured over it,” explained Fowler. “I’m not looking particularly at the legal dimension but I have no trouble with the moral dimension. These are people who are doing appalling things to other people and we are trying to stop that.”
The U.S. has targeted and killed at least four of its citizens in its global campaign against Islamist extremism, including Anwar al-Awlaki, a wanted terrorist.
That has prompted legal challenges and criticism. The American Civil Liberties Association contends that the U.S. can only use lethal force against individuals who are directly participating in hostilities against the United States.
U.S. President Barack Obama, however, argues the killing of such individuals is allowed under domestic and international law since the U.S. is at war with al- Qaida.
In 2010, a U.S. federal judge criticized Obama for making the unilateral decision to kill al-Awlaki.
But Canada has not yet faced such issues.
There was a report last week that ISIL member Mohamud Mohamed Mohamud of Hamilton was killed by U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in Syria. If the accounts are correct, he would be the first Canadian jihadist killed in the escalating anti-ISIL campaign.
Canadian intelligence officials have estimated that at least 130 Canadians are fighting with Islamist extremists in the Middle East and Africa, with a number aligned with ISIL.
After one U.S. bombing raid, several Canadian ISIL jihadists went on Twitter to say they had survived.
Wark said it would be up to Canadian politicians to deal with any issues over the specific targeting of Canadians in ISIL. He noted the military has in place various rules it would follow.
“Militaries have learned the importance of following the laws of war and international conventions for the conduct of military operations,” he explained. “Even if the political authorities aren’t very sensitive about this, militaries are culturally attuned to this in terms of authorization needed.”
Ernesto J. Sanchez, an attorney specializing in international law, wrote in the U.S. National Review that legal backing for attacks on ISIL fighters is provided by Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.
That article notes that “nothing shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs.”
“The prospect of ISIL attacks on the United States or its allies in general falls under Article 51, because there is nothing in the article that states that self-defence is viable only against armed attacks made by states,” argues Sanchez. “Moreover, a defending state need not wait to sustain such a devastating blow.”
The Department of National Defence could not provide comment on the legalities of targeting and killing Canadians who have joined ISIL.