The document summarizes a live web seminar hosted by the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University on June 15, 2011 to discuss the legal implications of the U.S. military operation that killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The seminar featured a panel of experts who analyzed the applicable legal frameworks and norms, and whether new regulations are needed to govern future counterterrorism operations. Key issues addressed included the justification for using military force on another state's territory and what constitutes direct participation in hostilities.

1. Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research (HPCR) Harvard University Beyond the Attack on Bin Laden: Implications for Regulating Future Military Operations June 15, 2011

2. Hosts Beyond the Attack on Bin Laden: Implications for Regulating Future Military Operations June 15, 2011 Live Web Seminar Ms. Naz Modirzadeh Associate Director Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University Mr. Dustin A. Lewis Program Associate Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University

4. Applicability of international humanitarian law and/or human rights law to such operations;

5. The implications of such operations for the evolving concept of direct participation in hostilities by civilians; and

7. Professor Vijay Padmanabhan Vijay Padmanabhanis a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and will be joining the faculty at Vanderbilt University Law School as an Assistant Professor this fall. Professor Padmanabhanteaches international law, international humanitarian law and human rights law, and has published academic and opinion pieces on these subjects. Prior to entering legal academia, Professor Padmanabhan was an attorney-adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the US Department of State. He was the department’s chief counsel on Guantanamo and Iraq detainee litigation, as well as other litigation implicating the law of war, collaborating with the Departments of Justice and Defense on all aspects of the Supreme Court litigation in Hamdan, Boumediene, and Munaf/Omar. He also advised the Department on issues in multilateral organizations implicating the law of war and human rights law. Professor Padmanabhan received his J.D. magna cum laude from New York University. He clerked for Judge James L. Dennis of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University.

9. Armed Attack: 9/11 attacks

10. Non-State actor?

11. ICJ: Wall Case

12. Problems with the ICJ approach: Historical and Practical

13. Inconsistent with international and domestic responses to 9/11:

14. UNSCR 1368 & 1373

15. NATO North Atlantic Council Sept. 12 resolution

16. AUMF and HamdanVijay Padmanabhan

18. Security Council Authorization

20. Tipped off earlier drone targets

21. Bin Laden present near RawalpindiVijay Padmanabhan

23. D.C. District Court: Command Structure test

24. Al-Bihani: “Part of or supporting AQ forces”Proportionality: Helicopter operation vs. bomb; minimal civilian casualties McCann? No lethal force IF lesser means to achieve objective are feasible: MET Vijay Padmanabhan

25. New Law? Bin Laden is the easy case Drone operations? Fill the gaps! Vijay Padmanabhan

26. Mr. Shuja Nawaz Shuja Nawaz, a native of Pakistan, is a political and strategic analyst and writes for leading newspapers and The Huffington Post, and speaks on current topics before civic groups, at think tanks, and on radio and television. He has worked on projects with RAND, the United States Institute of Peace, The Center for Strategic and International Studies, The Atlantic Council, and other leading think tanks on projects dealing with Pakistan and the Middle East. In January 2009 he was made the first Director of the South Asia Center at The Atlantic Council of the United States. Educated at Gordon College, Rawalpindi, where he obtained a BA in Economics and English Literature and the Graduate School of Journalism of Columbia University in New York, where he was a Cabot Fellow and won the Henry Taylor International Correspondent Award, he was also a member of the prize-winning team at Stanford University’s Publishing Program. He was a newscaster and producer for Pakistan Television and covered the 1971 war with India on the Western Front. He has worked for the World Health Organization and the New York Times and has headed three separate divisions at the International Monetary Fund. He was also a Director at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. His latest book is Crossed Swords: Pakistan, its Army, and the Wars Within (Oxford University Press 2008), available on the web and from leading booksellers worldwide. He is also the author of FATA: A Most Dangerous Place (CSIS, Washington, D.C., January 2009).

27. The Future of Military Operations US heavily depends on Pakistan for ground and air supply routes to Afghanistan; Air is critical but less understood Co-dependence is key: Pakistan heavily invested in US equipment, training, and cash payment under Coalition Support Funds Once CSF ceases, Pakistan may have a hard time financing its internal war against a homegrown and growing insurgency Abbottabad raid was inside Pakistan proper, not “ungoverned space” such as FATA Obama committed to going after high value targets: expect more if intel gives him confidence he will succeed US-Pak relations: A train wreck in the making? Shuja Nawaz

28. Professor Mary Ellen O’Connell Mary Ellen O’Connell holds the Robert and Marion Short Chair in Law and is Research Professor of International Dispute Resolution—Kroc Institute for Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Her research is in the areas of international legal theory and international law on the use of force. She is the author or editor of numerous books and articles on these subjects, including, the What is War? An Investigation in the Wake of 9/11 (MartinusNijhof, forthcoming 2011), The International Legal System, Cases and Materials (with Scott and Roht-Arriaza, Foundation 6th ed. 2010), International Law on the Use of Force, Cases and Materials (Foundation 2d ed. 2009) and The Power and Purpose of International Law, Insights from the Theory and Practice of Enforcement (OUP 2008). She chaired the Use of Force Committee of the International Law Association from 2005 to 2010 and is currently a vice-president of the American Society of International Law. From 1995-1998, Professor O’Connell was a professional military educator for the Department of Defense in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

29. The Law, Policy and Morality Against “War on Terrorism” The Bush administration’s declaration of a “war on terror” and the Obama administration’s “armed conflict against al Qaeda…and associated forces” are a radical departure from a century of U.S. counter-terrorism policy A decade after this radical departure, it is time to return to strict law compliance The law prohibits the use of major military force on the territory of another state, unless: the state is responsible for a significant armed attack has clearly requested assistance in a civil war the Security Council has authorized the force Mary Ellen O’Connell

30. The Law, Policy and Morality Against “War on Terrorism,” Cont’d There is no international legal right to use force against the territory of a state because it is “unable or unwilling” to use military force against terrorist or militant groups It is counter-productive to demand a right to use force against such “unable or “unwilling” states—military force is not effective in the suppression of terrorism It is immoral to kill except in situations of real necessity—on a battlefield or to save a human life immediately Authority for these points is found in: Mary Ellen O’Connell, The Choice of Law Against Terrorism, 4 J. NAT’L SEC. L. & POL’Y 343 (2010), available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1654049 Mary Ellen O’Connell

31. Professor Michael N. Schmitt Professor Michael N. Schmitt joined the Durham Law School faculty in 2010 as Chair of Public International Law. He was previously Dean of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, where he had served as Professor of International Law since 1999. From 2007 through 2008, he occupied the Charles H. Stockton Visiting Chair of International Law at the United States Naval War College. He was the 2006 Sir Ninian Stephen Visiting Scholar at Melbourne University and has been a Visiting Scholar at Yale Law School (1997-98). Before joining the Marshall Center, Professor Schmitt served 20 years in the United States Air Force, specializing in operational and international law. He is presently a Senior Fellow at the TMC Asser Institute in The Hague. Professor Schmitt’s works on law and military affairs have been published in Belgium, Chile, Germany, Israel, Italy, Norway, Peru, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He is the General Editor of the Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law and serves on the editorial boards of the International Review of the Red Cross, International Peacekeeping, the Journal of Military Ethics, Connections, Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies, and the International Humanitarian Law Series (MartinusNijhoff). He is currently directing a cooperative project between Durham University and the Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence on the international law applicable to computer network attack warfare.

32. Questions and Comments Questions and comments

33. Panelists Panelists Vijay Padmanabhan Cardozo School of Law Shuja Nawaz South Asia Center at The Atlantic Council Mary Ellen O’Connell University of Notre Dame Law School Michael N. Schmitt Durham Law School

34. Production Team HostsNaz Modirzadeh & Dustin A. Lewis ProducerElizabeth Holland Technical DirectorJames BrockmanProduction TeamChristina Blunt& AnaïdeNahikian

35. The Live Seminars on Humanitarian Law and Policy are produced by: Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research (HPCR) Harvard University Sponsored by: For more information on the Humanitarian Law and Policy Forum, please visit: http://ihlforum.ning.com or http://twitter.com/hpcr or contact: ihlforum@hpcr.org

36. Next Live Seminar: Countries in UpheavalDeveloping a Protection Framework in Situations Short of Armed Conflict | July 28, 2011 A range of states around the world continue to experience serious violence and social disruption without the situation qualifying as an armed conflict to which the framework of international humanitarian law would apply. Questions arise as to what international legal frameworks may apply for government and humanitarian professionals working to develop a protection strategy aimed at enhancing the security of the civilian population. Amid recent or ongoing violence in places such as Syria, Bahrain, and Kyrgyzstan, this Live Web Seminar will address the following questions: What protections does human rights law provide in such contexts? In what ways might international humanitarian law provide a relevant framework to consider? What accountability mechanisms and normative protections does international criminal law provide? What doctrines - such as Responsibility to Protect - provide a normative or operational framework to promote protection of civilians?