ICJ clarification

Published March 9, 2007

ISLAMABAD, March 8: The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) clarified on Thursday that it had not made any determination, whether positive or negative, on the issue of US attacks inside other countries.

In response to a report published in Dawn about a press conference addressed by two members of the ICJ’s Eminent Jurists Panel, Director of the Global Security and Rule of Law Programme of the Commission, Mr Geral Staberock, said that the subject of ICJ’s public hearing was Pakistan’s counter-terrorism laws and policies relating to human rights.

“It was made clear during the press conference that the panel members were not in a position to make any factual determination on the issue and that Professor Muntarbhorn was merely pointing to the legal criteria to be used to assess the legality of the use of force and self-defence in a given situation,” he added.