Professor Sir Adam Roberts comments on legality of armed forces killing surrendering targets

Adam Roberts was quoted in The Guardian concerning the case of a US military helicopter crew in Iraq in 2007 that killed two apparently surrendering men due to advice from an unnamed lawyer saying that they can not surrender to aircraft and are still valid targets.

Adam was quoted as saying: The reasoning given by the US military lawyer was dogmatic and wrong. The issue is not that ground forces simply cannot surrender to aircraft, he said. The issue is that ground forces in such circumstances need to surrender in ways that are clear and unequivocal.

He also added: If the insurgents did indeed get back into the truck and drove off in the same direction as previously, then they probably acted unwisely, in a way that called into question their act of surrender The US airmen might legitimately reckon that the truck contained weapons and that the men could be intending to rejoin the fight sooner or later.

The full article can be read here.

Adam Roberts is Emeritus Professor of International Relations, an emeritus fellow at Balliol College and President of the British Academy.