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115-514: Hugo Medrano lived in Argentina for much of his early life. He attended Escuela de Teatro de La Plata and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Theatre. Shortly after graduation, Medrano fled political violence as a result of Argentina's Dirty War which targeted left-wing political dissidents. He reported that many of his friends were some of the students, intellectuals, and artists who disappeared as

230-495: A "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars. Genocide is typically carried out with either the overt or covert support of the governments of those countries where genocidal activities take place. The Holocaust is the most cited historical example of genocide . Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain (whether physical or psychological) as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Torture

345-607: A Spanish version. In some cases, this would require two different actors, costumes , or directors to perform these productions. Medrano found this approach to be inefficient, and the GALA Hispanic Theatre subsequently transitioned to producing plays in Spanish and providing English subtitles or headphone translations to the audience. Moving the GALA Hispanic Theatre to a permanent home in the Tivoli Theatre of Columbia Heights

460-536: A UK-based non-profit news organisation, there were 2,243 drone strikes in the first two years of the Trump presidency, compared with 1,878 in Obama's eight years in office. According to press reports, the Trump administration has at times employed a missile that deploys blades rather than explosives to kill targets, because it hoped to decrease non-combatant casualties. The missile is believed to have seen its first combat action in

575-597: A car bomb in downtown Washington D.C." In 1986, the human rights group Americas Watch released a report stating that death squads and armed forces under President José Napoleón Duarte in El Salvador had carried out 240 targeted killings throughout 1985. The report relied upon figures provided by the Roman Catholic Church and included allegations of torture and summary executions . Americas Watch and other rights groups reported "targeted killing" of civilians by

690-588: A common organizing framework is to consider the types of violence which are used by the relevant actors: violence between non-state actors, one-sided violence which is perpetrated by a state actor against civilians, and violence between states. Stathis Kalyvas identifies eleven types of political violence: Interstate war, Civil war, Terrorism, Political assassination, Military coup, Mass protest/Rebellion, Intercommunal violence, Organized crime/Cartels, Ethnic cleansing, Genocide, and State repression. Fighting between non-state actors without state security forces playing

805-559: A concern of mine from the beginning," Feinstein said in little-noticed comments after the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011 . "I asked that this effort be established. It has been. The way in which this is being done is very careful." Feinstein explained how the oversight works in general. "We receive notification with key details shortly after every strike, and we hold regular briefings and hearings on these operations," Feinstein wrote in May in

920-650: A consensus that torture and similar ill-treatment are immoral, as well as impractical. Despite international conventions, torture cases continue to arise such as the 2004 Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal committed by military police personnel of the United States Army . Organizations such as Amnesty International and the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims monitor abuses of human rights and reports widespread violations of human torture by states in many regions of

1035-519: A continuing debate about the proper limits of drone strikes, Obama did not want to leave an "amorphous" program to his successor, the official said. The effort, which would have been rushed to completion by January had Mitt Romney won, will now be finished at a more leisurely pace, the official said. "One of the things we've got to do is put a legal architecture in place, and we need Congressional help in order to do that, to make sure that not only am I reined in but any president's reined in terms of some of

1150-505: A direct role in the conflict. An ethnic conflict is fought between ethnic groups . While at times a specific ethnic group may have the backing (whether formal or informal) of the state (or conversely, a specific ethnic group may be targeted by the state), ethnic conflict can also take place between two groups without the direct intervention of the state, or despite the state's attempts to mediate between groups. Terrorism can be directed by non-state actors against political targets other than

1265-737: A few days after Obama authorized the CIA and the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) to fire on targets based solely on their intelligence "signatures"—patterns of behavior that are detected through signals intercepts, human sources and aerial surveillance, and that indicate the presence of an important operative or a plot against U.S. interests. Under the previous rules the CIA and the US military were only allowed to use drone strikes against known terrorist leaders whose location could be confirmed and who appeared on secret CIA and JSOC target lists. The justification by Brennan built upon remarks by US top officials like

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1380-628: A government or a non-state group, which results in the deaths of civilians is considered one-sided. According to the Human Security Report Project , a campaign of one-sided violence is recorded whenever violence against civilians committed by one group results in at least 25 reported deaths in a calendar year. One form of political violence is genocide. Genocide is commonly defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic , racial , religious , or national group", although what constitutes enough of

1495-502: A known terrorist outside the country's territory, usually by airstrike—an essential part of its counter-terrorism strategy. Hence, the United States has justified the killing of terrorists under a war paradigm. "Using the war paradigm for counter-terrorism enabled government lawyers to distinguish lethal attacks on terrorists from prohibited assassinations and justify them as lawful battlefield operations against enemy combatants, much like

1610-493: A letter sent in response to a column that ran in the Los Angeles Times questioning the oversight of drone strikes. "Committee staff has held 28 monthly in-depth oversight meetings to review strike records and question every aspect of the program including legality, effectiveness, precision, foreign policy implications and the care taken to minimize noncombatant casualties." If the congressional committees objected to something,

1725-480: A number of ways but most recently in the context of the frustration-aggression model theory, expressing that the aggression seen in most riots is a direct result of a groups frustration with a particular aspect of their lives. Widespread and prolonged rioting can lead to and/or produce rebellion or revolution. There are also a number of different types of riots including but not limited to police riots, race riot , prison riots , and sport riot . In political science ,

1840-673: A prelude to general massacres in Rwanda. During the 1980s and 1990s, targeted killings were employed extensively by death squads in El Salvador , Nicaragua , Colombia , and Haiti within the context of civil unrest and war. Starting under the George W. Bush administration , targeted killings became a frequent tactic of the United States government in the War on Terror . Instances of targeted killing by

1955-409: A region or expressing dissatisfaction with the government. There is typically a desire to overthrow the existing power or at least change some of their policies. In many cases, an outside power may intervene on behalf of one side if they share their ideology or condemn the methods/motives of their opponents. Counter-insurgency, another form of political violence, describes a spectrum of actions taken by

2070-576: A result of the war. These experiences inspired the political themes of Medrano's early work. Medrano continued his studies in Spain at the Teatro Estudio de Madrid . He lived and performed in Spain for five years before immigrating to the United States. Hugo Medrano's career in the United States began at Teatro Doble, a bilingual children's theatre located in Washington D.C. However, most of his notable work

2185-448: A revolution is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due to perceived oppression (political, social, economic) or political incompetence . In a revolution political violence is usually common. The use of political violence is usually to fulfill a revolutionary objective, and in times of civil strife to challenge

2300-480: A rise in violence in the 2010s, heavily driven by conflicts involving transnational jihadist groups in the Middle East. The numbers of active conflicts in 2016 and 2019 were the highest recorded. Following World War II , there was a decline in worldwide battle deaths. Since 1946, battle death rates have not matched World War II levels. However, there have been oscillations, with sizable peaks in deaths corresponding

2415-462: A senior local leader of Fatah and plotting attacks against Israelis in the West Bank . A dentist, Dr. Thabet was a friend of many Israeli peace activists and considered one himself. Israeli activists called the killing "a crime", "Mafia-style", and "immoral". Ephraim Sneh , then Israel's Deputy Prime Minister, described the policy as "effective, precise and just". The Washington Post wrote that

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2530-428: A social, ethnic, religious, or political group; or selectively, targeting specific individuals for actions that are perceived as challenging someone or aiding an opponent. Many politically motivated militant , insurgent , extremist , and/or fundamentalist groups and individuals are convinced that the states and political systems under which they live will never respond to their demands, and they thus believe that

2645-488: A violent disturbance by a group of individuals formed to protest perceived wrongs and/or injustice. These can range from poverty and inequality to unemployment and government oppression. They can manifest themselves in a number of ways but most commonly in the form of property damage. Riots are characterized by their lack of predictability and the anonymity of their participants. Both make it difficult for authorities to identify those participating. Riots have been analyzed in

2760-640: Is violence which is perpetrated in order to achieve political goals. It can include violence which is used by a state against other states ( war ), violence which is used by a state against civilians and non-state actors ( forced disappearance , psychological warfare , police brutality , targeted assassinations , torture , ethnic cleansing , or genocide ), and violence which is used by violent non-state actors against states and civilians ( kidnappings , targeted assassinations , terrorist attacks , torture , psychological and/or guerrilla warfare ). It can also describe politically motivated violence which

2875-539: Is 33% (13/39), which is the largest proportion of external actors in intrastate conflicts since the post-World War II era. Just like armed conflict, there was an increase in fatalities associated with terrorism. In 2014, the United States State Department reported 13,463 terrorist attacks in the world. These attacks resulted in at least 32,700 deaths and 34,700 injuries. In addition, more than 9,400 people were kidnapped or taken hostage. Compared to 2013,

2990-419: Is a Marxist -based social theory which states that social systems reflect the vested interests of those who own and control resources. The people in power use the political and economic institutions to exploit groups with less power. This causes the rest of society to become alienated or psychologically separated from the people in power. Revolutions occur to break down the social and economic separation between

3105-473: Is a non-combatant , and entirely uninvolved members of the population, counter-insurgency operations have often rested on a confused, relativistic, or otherwise situational distinction between insurgents and non-combatants. Counter-insurgency operations are common during war , occupation and armed rebellions . Electoral violence includes any acts or threats of coercion, intimidation, or physical harm perpetrated to affect an electoral process or that arise in

3220-510: Is a form of assassination carried out by governments outside a judicial procedure or a battlefield . Since the late 20th century, the legal status of targeted killing has become a subject of contention within and between various nations. Historically, at least since the mid-eighteenth century, Western thinking has generally considered the use of assassination as a tool of statecraft to be illegal. Some academics, military personnel and officials describe targeted killing as legitimate within

3335-410: Is a hard fact that US strikes have resulted in civilian casualties," he said, adding, "These deaths will haunt us. But as commander-in-chief I must weigh these heartbreaking tragedies against the alternative. To do nothing in the face of terrorist networks would invite far more civilian casualties." Obama said new guidance allowed targeting only those terrorists posing "a continuing and imminent threat to

3450-417: Is hidden and violence is not. War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states , nations , or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political communities, and therefore is defined as a form of political violence. Three of

3565-543: Is most commonly described in juxtaposition with the term excessive force. Police brutality can be defined as "a civil rights violation that occurs when a police officer acts with excessive force by using an amount of force with regards to a civilian that is more than necessary". Police brutality and the use of excessive force are present throughout the world and in the United States alone, 4,861 incidents of police misconduct were reported during 2010. Of these, there were 6,826 victims involved and 247 fatalities. At least one of

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3680-490: Is not feasible and no other reasonable alternatives exist to address the threat effectively". The U.S. government further declared, "lethal force will be used outside areas of active hostilities only when the following preconditions are met: U.S. President Barack Obama touched on the subject of combat drones in a speech on Counterterrorism delivered on 23 May 2013 at the National Defense University . "It

3795-561: Is prohibited under international law and the domestic laws of most countries in the 21st century. It is considered a human rights violation and is declared unacceptable by Article 5 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights . Signatories of the Third Geneva Convention and Fourth Geneva Convention have officially agreed not to torture prisoners in armed conflicts. National and international legal prohibitions on torture derive from

3910-402: Is the use of force between neighboring states or states with one major power. Using this metric he finds that there is no downward trend in the rates of conflict initiation since the post-World War II period. Additionally, he finds that the rates of conflict have remained steady over the past two hundred years and the slight increases and decreases in use of force are random. Based on data from

4025-599: Is unable or unwilling to take action against the threat. In a speech titled "The Ethics and Efficacy of the President's Counterterrorism Strategy" John O. Brennan , Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, outlined on 30 April 2012 at the Wilson Center the use of combat drones to kill members of al-Qaeda by the US Federal government under President Barack Obama . John Brennan acknowledged for

4140-437: Is used by violent non-state actors against a state ( rebellion , rioting , treason , or coup d'etat ) or it can describe violence which is used against other non-state actors and/or civilians. Non-action on the part of a government can also be characterized as a form of political violence, such as refusing to alleviate famine or otherwise denying resources to politically identifiable groups within their territory. Due to

4255-548: The American Civil Liberties Union seeking to use the Freedom of Information Act to make public more details about the legal basis for the drone programs U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon ruled at the end of December 2012 that the U.S. Government has no legal duty to disclose legal opinions justifying the use of drones to kill suspected terrorist operatives abroad. While noting that a more detailed disclosure of

4370-558: The American Civil Liberties Union ) and ex- CIA station chief in Islamabad , Robert Grenier , have criticized targeted killings as a form of extrajudicial killings , which may be illegal under both United States and international law . In early 2010, with President Barack Obama's approval, Anwar al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be approved for targeted killing by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Awlaki

4485-564: The Korean War , the Vietnam War , and the Iran–Iraq War and Soviet–Afghan War . Longer term statistical analysis suggests that this pattern is not unusual given the variability involved in a long-term datasets of historical wars, and that conclusions of a downward trend are premature. The Center for Systemic Peace reports that armed conflict in the post-World War II era was at its peak when

4600-615: The Somali Civil War , Sean Devereux described torture and killing by warlords in Kismayo as "targeted killings, a kind of ethnic cleansing", shortly before his assassination. Also in Africa, Reuters described "targeted killings of political opponents" by Hutu army and militias in Rwanda during the Rwandan genocide . The American State Department reported the "politically targeted killings" were

4715-536: The Soviet Union collapsed . Following the Cold War , from the 1990s to the early 2000s, there was a decline in this measure of conflict. Between 1992 and 2005, violent conflict around the world dropped by 40 percent. Other datasets on political violence have shown similar trends. The Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), another project that collects armed conflict data, defines armed conflict as conflict that involves

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4830-510: The UCDP , there were 221 intrastate armed conflicts in the period from 1946 to 2019, involving more than 100 countries worldwide. While there has been a general decline in fatalities from such conflicts, the number of active conflicts in 2019 matched its highest record from 2016. In 2019, UCDP recorded 54 state-based conflicts, 28 of which involved transnational jihadist groups. This compares to 40 active armed conflicts in 2014. The three countries with

4945-469: The Washington Post . Medrano would go on to direct, produce, and act in a multitude of successful productions over the next 40 years. As a theatre director at GALA, Hugo Medrano faced challenges concerning the bilingual nature of his productions. To appeal to both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking audiences, Medrano would often present two different productions of the same play, an English version and

5060-519: The White House centered around White House counterterror chief John Brennan. Under the new plan, Brennan's staff compiles the potential target list and runs the names past agencies such as the State Department at a weekly White House meeting. According to The New York Times , President Obama has placed himself at the helm of a top secret process to designate terrorists for kill or capture, reserving

5175-448: The status quo . The goals of political violence can be varied such as to strengthen the position of a group, or to weaken an opposing side. A civil war, also known as an intrastate war, is a war fought within the same state or country between organized groups. Less commonly, it can also be fought between two countries that have been created from one previously unified state. Often these conflicts involve one group wishing to take control of

5290-539: The 11 September attacks authorizes the president "to use all necessary and appropriate force" against those nations, organizations and individuals responsible for 9/11. There is nothing in the AUMF that restricts the use of military force against al-Qa'ida to Afghanistan ." And he further said: "As a matter of international law, the United States is in an armed conflict with al-Qa'ida, the Taliban, and associated forces, in response to

5405-581: The 1980s and 1990s. Prior to the establishment of the Islamic State in 1979, the Organization of Intelligence and National Security also allegedly performed a number of political motivated assassinations against dissidents and opposition leaders . According to Ronen Bergman , "since World War II, Israel has used assassination and targeted-killing more than any other country in the West, in many cases endangering

5520-609: The 1990s. An early example of American targeted killing is Operation Vengeance during World War II. This counterattack shot down the plane of Isoroku Yamamoto , the senior planner of the attack on Pearl Harbor . During the Vietnam War , the Phoenix Program targeted political leadership of the Viet Cong for assassination. During the period 1976–2001, there was an American norm against targeted killing. The United States has made targeted killing—the deliberate assassination of

5635-607: The 2017 killing of Abu Khayr al-Masri . Alleged and confirmed assassinations were reported to have been conducted by the Islamic Republic of Iran and previously by the Pahlavi regime . It includes attempts on notable persons who were reported to have been specifically targeted by the various Iranian security and intelligence forces, most notably against Kurdish dissidents of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran in

5750-454: The 40 conflicts in 2014, 11 have been classified at the level of war, which means that there were at least 1,000 deaths in one calendar year. The conflict between India and Pakistan was the only interstate conflict, conflict between two or more states. Out of the remaining 39 conflicts, 13 were internationalized, a conflict between a government and internal opposition group where other states intervene. The percentage of internationalized conflict

5865-430: The 9/11 attacks, and we may also use force consistent with our inherent right of national self-defense. There is nothing in international law that bans the use of remotely piloted aircraft for this purpose or that prohibits us from using lethal force against our enemies outside of an active battlefield, at least when the country involved consents or is unable or unwilling to take action against the threat." The speech came

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5980-480: The American people", which administration officials said meant only individuals planning attacks on the U.S. homeland or against U.S. persons abroad. Obama defended the use of drones as just because America "is at war with al Qaeda, the Taliban and their associated forces". To stop terrorists from gaining a foothold, drones will be deployed according to Obama, but only when there is an imminent threat; no hope of capturing

6095-520: The CIA permission to conduct them in Yemen, where an Al Qaeda affiliate that has targeted the United States has established a safe haven in the south. The lawmakers expressed concern that signature strikes could kill civilians. They added: "Our drone campaigns already have virtually no transparency, accountability or oversight." While the Bush administration had put emphasis on killing significant members of al Qaeda,

6210-537: The NSA's sophisticated surveillance capabilities to track individual targets geographically and in real time, while drones and tactical units aim their weaponry against those targets to take them out. NBC News released in February 2014 an undated Department of Justice White paper entitled "Lawfulness of a Lethal Operation Directed Against a U.S. Citizen who is a Senior Operational Leader of Al Qa'ida or An Associated Force" in which

6325-746: The Nicaraguan Sandinista government in the following year during its campaign against the Contras . Politically motivated targeted killings of trade unionists and activists were also recorded in Haiti and Colombia during the late 1980s and 1990s. Targeted killings linked to the drug trade and paramilitary organizations including FARC and the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) resulted in large numbers of deaths among human rights and political activists, and women and children, throughout

6440-439: The Obama administration concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be "senior operational leaders" of al-Qaida or "an associated force"—even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S. However any such targeted killing operation by the United States would have to comply with the four fundamental law-of-war principles governing

6555-685: The Obama administration, while Amnesty International said the same of drone strikes in Pakistan. Caitlin Hayden, a White House spokeswoman, declined to comment on the reports, but said in an e-mail statement: "As the President emphasized, the use of lethal force, including from remotely piloted aircraft, commands the highest level of attention and care." While the U.S. government is considering whether to kill an American abroad suspected of planning terrorist attacks and how to do so legally under new stricter targeting policy issued in 2013, The Intercept reported that

6670-483: The State Department's top lawyer Harold Hongju Koh , US Attorney General Eric Holder , the US Defense Department general counsel Jeh Johnson and President Obama himself, who defended the use of drones outside of so-called "hot battlefields" like Afghanistan. In 2011/2012, the process for selecting targets outside of warzones was altered so that power was concentrated in the hands of a group of people in

6785-403: The Taliban, and associated forces, in response to the 9/11 attacks, and we may also use force consistent with our inherent right of national self-defense. There is nothing in international law that bans the use of remotely piloted aircraft for this purpose or that prohibits us from using lethal force against our enemies outside of an active battlefield, at least when the country involved consents or

6900-535: The U.N. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights . The rights in direct question were the right to life; right to a fair trial ; the freedom of association; right to protection of the family; and, less directly, right to highest attainable health standards; right to education; and right of freedom from hunger. On 21 April 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned

7015-407: The U.S. government is using primarily NSA surveillance to target people for drone strikes overseas. In its report The Intercept the author details the flawed methods which are used to locate targets for lethal drone strikes, resulting in the deaths of innocent people. According to The Washington Post , NSA analysts and collectors (i.e. NSA personnel who control electronic surveillance equipment) use

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7130-496: The U.S. military, under a separate legal authority. President Trump reversed this decision in 2017. A 2016 Obama executive order requiring an annual report of civilian deaths from US airstrikes outside combat zones was not complied with by the Trump administration for 2017 and was then revoked by an executive order in 2019. According to the BBC , citing the Bureau of Investigative Journalism ,

7245-483: The United States "to further clarify its position on the legal and factual issues ... to declassify, to the maximum extent possible, information relevant to its lethal extraterritorial counter-terrorism operations; and to release its own data on the level of civilian casualties inflicted through the use of remotely piloted aircraft, together with information on the evaluation methodology used". Human Rights Watch said that in Yemen more civilians were killed than admitted by

7360-704: The United States that have received significant attention include the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011 and the killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri in 2022, as well as those of American citizens Anwar al-Awlaki and his teenage son in 2011. Under the Obama administration , use of targeted killings expanded, most frequently through use of combat drones operating in Afghanistan , Pakistan or Yemen . Referring to killings by drug cartels in Washington, D.C. in 1989, mayor Marion Barry infamously stated, "Washington should not be called

7475-414: The United States will use lethal force by combat drones "in a foreign country against a U.S. citizen who is a senior operational leader of al Qa'ida or its associated forces, and who is actively engaged in planning to kill Americans, in the following circumstances: (1) the U.S. government has determined, after a thorough and careful review, that the individual poses an imminent threat of violent attack against

7590-466: The United States would be a legitimate act of national self-defense that would not violate the assassination ban. Similarly, the use of lethal force, consistent with the laws of war, against an individual who is a legitimate military target would be lawful and would not violate the assassination ban." In 2013, a report on drone warfare and aerial sovereignty proposed that U.S. government drone policy in Pakistan potentially violated human rights according to

7705-731: The United States. The musical is usually performed in Spanglish , a mix of Spanish and English. Hugo Medrano was recognized as a "Visionary" by the Mayor's Arts Awards in 2014. He also received an Immigrant Achievement Award from the American Immigration Council in 2014. In 2010, both Hugo Medrano and his wife Rebecca Read Medrano were named Washingtonians of the Year by the Washingtonian magazine. Political violence Political violence

7820-654: The United States; (2) capture is not feasible; and (3) the operation would be conducted in a manner consistent with applicable law of war principles." In a Presidential Policy Guidance entitled "U.S. Policy Standards and Procedures for the Use of Force in Counterterrorism Operations Outside the United States and Areas of Active Hostilities" from May 2013 the United States government stated that lethal force by combat drones "will be used only to prevent or stop attacks against U.S. persons, and even then, only when capture

7935-598: The ability of eliminating enemies in complex environments, while minimizing the political implications of resorting to war." The domestic legislative basis offered to justify drone strikes is the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists (AUMF), a joint resolution of both houses of Congress passed exactly one week after 11 September 2001. The AUMF permits the President to use "all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided

8050-608: The above-mentioned December 2012 ruling by U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon and ruled that the Obama administration must release documents justifying its drone-killings of Americans and foreigners. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal released on 23 June 2014 a Juli 2010 memo by then U.S. Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel David Barron which outlined the rationale for killing the American Citizen Anwar al-Aulaqi . CIA-ordered drone strikes were eventually ended by President Obama, who transferred control entirely to

8165-478: The administration's legal rationale "would allow for intelligent discussion and assessment of a tactic that (like torture before it) remains hotly debated", McMahon came to the conclusion that the Freedom of Information Act did not permit her to require such transparency. In a letter dated 22 May 2013 to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee, Patrick J. Leahy , U.S. attorney general Eric Holder wrote that

8280-584: The age of 16, for "premeditated assassinations" or targeted killing, a charge denied by Israeli officials. The allegations included the execution of Palestinians in custody. Controversy over targeted killings continued during the Second Intifada . Palestinians stated that individuals belonging to the group Hamas and shot in targeted killings were being assassinated. Israelis stated that those killed were responsible for attacks against Israelis. Israeli officials initially accepted responsibility for only some of

8395-597: The capability to fight and the incentives to misrepresent this information. Functionalism sees society as "an organism whose entire system has to be in good working order for systemic equilibrium to be maintained." However, when there is a shock to the system, society becomes disorientated allowing for collective violence. Mass society argues that violent social movements come from people who are isolated socially and from political institutions. People who are alienated are easily convinced to join radical or extremist movements. Targeted killing Targeted killing

8510-412: The context of electoral competition. It is used to influence the outcome of elections; to delay, disrupt or derail polls; and to protest election results or suppress protests against election results. Electoral violence is used to influence the outcome of elections because parties cannot win through fraud alone and because candidates cannot rely on fraud agents to perpetrate fraud for them because fraud

8625-474: The context of self-defense, when employed against terrorists or combatants engaged in asymmetrical warfare . They argue that unmanned combat aerial vehicles (drones) are more humane and more accurate than manned vehicles. Scholars are also divided as to whether targeted killings are an effective counterterrorism strategy. Targeted killings have also been used in Kenya and Libya . During fighting in

8740-506: The dead and wounded) than a conflict with 1,000 battle deaths today." The current data makes it seem like war is becoming less frequent, when it is not. Bear F. Braumoeller argues that looking at data on per-capita death is a "misleading and irrelevant statistic" because it does not tell us how wars actually happen. A decrease in battle-related deaths can mean that population growth is outpacing war deaths or that "fewer people are exposed to risk of death from war". Instead, we should examine

8855-422: The death penalty, and in 2010, 23 countries carried out executions and 67 imposed death sentences. Methods of execution in 2010 included beheading, electrocution, hanging, lethal injection and shooting. Famine can be initiated or prolonged in order to deny resources, compel obedience, or to depopulate a region with a recalcitrant or untrusted populace. Police brutality is another form of political violence. It

8970-543: The decisions that we're making," Obama said and added "creating a legal structure, processes, with oversight checks on how we use unmanned weapons, is going to be a challenge for me and my successors for some time to come." U.S. President Obama also expressed wariness of the powerful temptation drones pose to policy makers. "There's a remoteness to it that makes it tempting to think that somehow we can, without any mess on our hands, solve vexing security problems," he said. In response lawsuits brought by The New York Times and

9085-454: The final say on approving lethal action, and signs off every strike in Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan. U.S. congressional oversight over the targeted killing operations increased as the drone program intensified under the Obama administration. Once a month, a group of staff members from the House and Senate intelligence committees would watch videos of the latest drone strikes, review intelligence that

9200-490: The first time that the US government uses drones to kill selected members of al-Qaeda. He justified the use of drones both from domestic law and international law point of view. With respect to domestic law Brennan stated, "as a matter of domestic law, the Constitution empowers the President to protect the nation from any imminent threat of attack. The Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) passed by Congress after

9315-470: The government of a state which "results in at least 25 battle-related deaths in one calendar year." In their overview of data on armed conflict, UCDP also found that the number of armed conflicts in the world decreased following the end of the Cold War. In The Better Angels of Our Nature (2011), Steven Pinker argued that this decline has not occurred over the past 60 years, but has been going on for over

9430-508: The help of his wife, Hugo Medrano created the National Center for Latino Performing Arts and has expanded GALA's focus to include concerts, dance, film, and other arts. In the Heights is a Tony Award winning broadway musical which featured music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda . In 2017, Hugo Medrano and the GALA Hispanic Theatre hosted the first all Spanish version of the production in

9545-1101: The highest total fatalities in the 1989–2019 period were Rwanda , Syria and Afghanistan , with Afghanistan accounting for 40% of all fatalities worldwide in 2019. As of 2014, regionally, Asia had the largest number of violent conflicts at 14, followed by Africa at 12, Europe at six, Middle East at six, and the Americas at two. In 2014, four new conflicts began, all of them in Ukraine . Three conflicts were restarted by new actors in  Egypt, Lebanon, and Libya. Additionally, six conflicts were restarted by previously registered actors in " Azerbaijan (Nagorno-Karabakh) , India ( Garoland ), India–Pakistan , Israel (Palestine) , Mali (Azawad) , and Myanmar (Kokang) ". Finally, seven conflicts in 2013 were no longer active in 2014. The conflicts were in Central African Republic , Ethiopia (Oromiya), Malaysia (Sabah), Myanmar (Karen) , Myanmar (Shan) , Mozambique, and Turkey (Kurdistan) . Out of

9660-428: The imbalances of power which exist between state and non-state actors, political violence often takes the form of asymmetric warfare where neither side is able to directly assault the other, instead relying on tactics such as guerrilla warfare and terrorism. It can often include attacks on civilian or otherwise non-combatant targets. People may be collectively targeted based on the perception that they are part of

9775-474: The intended targets. During one five-month period of the operation, according to the documents, nearly 90 percent of the people killed in airstrikes were not the intended targets." According to analysis by Reprieve , 874 people were killed, including 142 children, in drone strikes in Pakistan that targeted 24 people successfully and unsuccessfully, and, in numerous failed attempts to kill Ayman al-Zawahri , 76 children and 29 adults were killed. Estimates for

9890-516: The killings, and Israeli media termed the practice a "liquidations policy", whereas Palestinians called it "state terrorism". In January 2001, Israeli officials confirmed "the practice of targeted assassinations". Conflict in Israel over the legality of the practice centered on the case of Dr. Thabet Thabet, assassinated as he left his home on New Year's Eve. Dr. Thabet was alleged by the Israeli military to be

10005-622: The lawmakers could call CIA leaders to testify in closed investigative hearings. If unsatisfied, they could pass legislation limiting the CIA's actions. Congressional criticism of drone strikes has been rare. However, in June 2012, 26 lawmakers, all but two of them Democrats, signed a letter to Obama questioning so-called signature strikes , in which the U.S. attacks armed men who fit a pattern of behavior that suggests they are involved in terrorist activities. Signature strikes have been curbed in Pakistan, where they once were common, but in 2012 Obama gave

10120-535: The lives of civilians." During the First Intifada Palestinian uprising, the Palestinian human-rights group Al Haq condemned Israeli soldiers for what they described as "deliberate, cold-blooded... targeted" killings of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip . In 1993, the human rights group, Middle East Watch , alleged that Israeli soldiers had targeted often unarmed Palestinians, some under

10235-484: The most frequently used measures of the Intensity of armed conflict, there was a decline in conflict from 1946 to 2013. Another indicator, the number of civil conflicts, has gradually declined since the Cold War ended. However, more recent scholarship questions the conclusion that violence is decreasing world-wide, based on the measures used and the statistical basis for such interpretations. In addition indicators show

10350-967: The most terrorist attacks were ISIS , the Taliban , al-Shabaab , Boko Haram , and Maoists. Fifty-five percent of the targets were either private citizens, private property, or police. 66% of attacks in Nigeria and 41% of attacks in Iraq targeted private citizens and property. The Global Terrorism Database estimates that  that between 2004 and 2013, about 50% of all terrorist attacks, and 60% of fatalities due to terrorist attacks, took place in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. A 2023 PRRI poll found that 23% of those surveyed in 2023 believed that "American patriots may have to resort to political violence to save our country" in 2024, up from 15% of those surveyed in 2021. Theories of political violence can be organized by their level of analysis : Some research does not fit clearly into this dichotomy. Social conflict theory

10465-587: The murder capital of the world. We are the targeted-killing capital of the world." Barry said that "targeted killings" by D.C.'s cartels were comparable to those during the days of " Al Capone and Eliot Ness " at the time of Prohibition in the United States . Similarly, drug-related "mob hits" in Moscow during the 1990s were euphemistically described as "targeted killings" by the Cox News Service and Atlanta Journal-Constitution . The U.S.-backed Operation Condor

10580-531: The number of battle deaths per country per year are misleading. Tanisha Fazal argues that wars have become less fatal because of medical advancements that help keep more people alive during wars. Therefore, the battle death threshold used by the UCDP and other organizations to determine cases of armed conflict is misleading. A conflict "that produced 1,000 battle deaths in 1820 will likely produce many fewer overall casualties (where casualties, properly understood, include

10695-462: The number of terrorist attacks increased by 35% and the total fatalities increased by 81%. In 2014, the five countries that experienced the most terrorist attacks were Iraq, Pakistan , Afghanistan, India , and Nigeria. In 2013, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and the Philippines were the countries that experienced the most terrorist attacks. In 2013 and 2014, the perpetrators responsible for

10810-687: The only way to overthrow and/or reshape the government or state accordingly to their political and/or religious worldview is through violent means, which they regard as not only justified but also necessary in order to achieve their political and/or religious objectives. Similarly, many governments around the world believe that they need to use violence in order to intimidate their populaces into acquiescence. At other times, governments use force in order to defend their countries from outside invasions or other threats of force and coerce other governments or conquer territory. Political violence varies widely in form, severity, and practice. In political science ,

10925-430: The past millennia. However, more recent upward trends show that armed conflict is increasing as political violence in the Middle East and Africa increases. In the past ten years, the UCDP has found an upward trend in the number of internationalized armed conflicts, "a conflict between a government of a state and internal opposition groups with intervention from other states." Some scholars argue that data focusing on

11040-404: The people in power and the exploited people and "to achieve equity and social unity". War's inefficiency puzzle explains why states go to war even though war is costly. In James Fearon 's Rationalist Explanations for War , he asserts war is costly and that creates an incentive to bargain with the other side. However, states do not bargain and instead go to war because of private information on

11155-458: The possibility of defeat in the 2012 presidential election , the Obama administration accelerated work in the weeks before the election to develop explicit rules for the targeted killing of terrorists by unmanned drones, so that a new president would inherit clear standards and procedures. The work to codify U.S. drone policy began in summer 2011. "There was concern that the levers might no longer be in our hands," said one unnamed U.S. official. With

11270-529: The pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological." What is and is not considered terrorism is itself a controversial political question, as states have often used the label of terrorism to exclusively demonize the actions of their enemies while obscuring "legal" violence administered by the state (e.g. The Troubles , communist rebellion in the Philippines , 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict ). The use of force by an organized armed group, be it

11385-426: The recognized government of a state to contain or quell an insurgency taken up against it. There are many different doctrines, theories, and tactics espoused regarding counter-insurgency that aim to protect the authority of the government and to reduce or eliminate the supplanting authority of the insurgents. Because it may be difficult or impossible to distinguish between an insurgent, a supporter of an insurgency who

11500-643: The state (e.g. Stabbing attacks at gay pride parades in Jerusalem , Charlie Hebdo shooting ). Because terrorism is a tactic often used by the weaker side of a conflict, it may also fall under violence between a state and non-state actor. While there lacks a concrete definition of terrorism , the United States Department of Defense however defines terrorism as, "the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in

11615-485: The targeted terrorist; "near certainty" that civilians won't be harmed; and "there are no other governments capable of effectively addressing the threat". Never will a strike be punitive. A report by Ben Emmerson QC , the UN's special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, who identified 33 drone strikes around the world that have resulted in civilian casualties and may have violated international humanitarian law urged

11730-432: The ten most costly wars, in terms of loss of life, have been waged in the last century: the death toll of World War II , estimated at more than 60 million, surpasses all other war death tolls by a factor of two. It is estimated that 378,000 people died due to war each year between 1985 and 1994. Considerable scholarship and data has suggested that violence has declined since World War II . Based on battle deaths, one of

11845-635: The terrorist attacks that occurred on 11 September 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons". A report published in the Journal of Strategic Security focusing on the future of drones in geopolitics finds the U.S. government's use of drones in targeted killing operations an "indiscriminant and disproportionate use of force that violates the sovereignty of Pakistan". Twenty-six members of United States Congress , with academics such as Gregory Johnsen and Charles Schmitz, media figures ( Jeremy Scahill , Glenn Greenwald , James Traub ), civil rights groups (i.e.

11960-489: The total people killed in U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan , range from 2,000 to 3,500 militants killed and 158–965 civilians killed. 81 insurgent leaders in Pakistan have been killed. Drone strikes in Yemen are estimated to have killed 846–1,758 militants and 116–225 civilians. 57 Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leaders are confirmed to have been killed. The United States is in an armed conflict with al-Qa'ida,

12075-422: The uncontroversial targeted killing of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto while he was traveling by a military airplane during World War II." Further support for the U.S. government's use of drone strike tactics is found in a report found in the Journal of Strategic Security concerning the surgical nature of drone strikes for use in a populated area. The author concedes, "Indeed the tactic of using drones promises

12190-534: The use of combat drones underwent a quiet and unheralded shift during the Obama administration to focus increasingly on killing militant foot soldiers rather than high-value targets according to CNN National Security Analyst Peter Bergen . Bergen noted: "To the extent that the targets of drone attacks can be ascertained, under Bush, al Qaeda members accounted for 25% of all drone targets compared to 40% for Taliban targets. Under Obama, only 8% of targets were al Qaeda compared to just over 50% for Taliban targets." Facing

12305-529: The use of force which are necessity, distinction, proportionality and humanity – i.e., the avoidance of unnecessary suffering. (Page 8 of ). The memo also discusses why targeted killings would not be a war crime or violate a U.S. executive order banning assassinations : "A lawful killing in self-defense is not an assassination. In the Department's view, a lethal operation conducted against a U.S. citizen whose conduct poses an imminent threat of violent attack against

12420-470: The warring parties involved is the government of a state. Rebellion is a violent uprising against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a portion of a state. A rebellion is often caused by political, religious, or social grievances that originate from a perceived inequality or marginalization. A riot can be described as

12535-558: The willingness of a state to go to war. Braumoeller creates a new metric for conflicted called the "use of force", which is the number of militarized disputes that reach at least a level 4 on the 5-point Correlates of War Militarized Interstate Dispute scale. He finds that use of force has held steady from the 1800s through the First World War , but after World War I the use of force has steadily increased. Braumoeller creates another metric called "uses of force per relevant dyad", which

12650-529: The world. Amnesty International estimates that at least 81 world governments currently practice torture, some of them openly. Capital punishment is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offense. This does not include extrajudicial killing , which is the killing of a person by governmental authorities without the sanction of any judicial proceeding or legal process. The use of capital punishment by country varies, but according to Amnesty International 58 countries still actively use

12765-709: Was a campaign of political repression and state terror in Latin American right-wing dictatorships involving assassination of political opponents and dissidents. The National Security Archive reported, "Prominent victims of Condor include two former Uruguayan legislators and a former Bolivian president, Juan José Torres , murdered in Buenos Aires, a former Chilean Minister of the Interior, Bernardo Leighton , as well as former Chilean ambassador Orlando Letelier and his 26-year-old American colleague, Ronni Moffitt , assassinated by

12880-527: Was an important moment in Hugo Medrano's career. The Tivoli Theatre was built in 1924 and quickly became a city landmark as both a theatre and a cinema. The theatre was abandoned in 1976 but was restored with the help of a $ 4 million fundraising campaign started by Hugo Medrano and others. In 2005, the GALA Hispanic Theatre officially moved into the Tivoli Theatre and Medrano began to work on new projects. With

12995-482: Was done with the GALA Hispanic Theatre. GALA stands for Grupo de Artistas Latino Americanos. Hugo Medrano co-founded this theatre in 1976 to deliver quality plays to the growing Spanish-speaking community of Washington. In its early years, the GALA Hispanic Theatre performed in a townhouse in the multicultural Adams Morgan neighborhood of the city. Hugo Medrano produced and directed the group's first production, La Fiaca by Ricardo Talesnik , which received recognition by

13110-510: Was killed in a drone strike in September 2011. A Reuters report analysing the killing of 500 "militants" by US drones between 2008 and 2010 found that only 8% of those killed were mid- to top-tier organisers or leaders; the rest were unidentified foot soldiers. The Intercept reported, "Between January 2012 and February 2013, U.S. special operations airstrikes [in northeastern Afghanistan] killed more than 200 people. Of those, only 35 were

13225-409: Was used to justify each drone strike, and sometimes examine telephone intercepts and after-the-fact evidence, such as the CIA's assessment of who was hit. The procedure used by House and Senate intelligence committees to monitor CIA drone strikes was set up largely at the request of Senator Dianne Feinstein who became determined to ensure that it was as precise as the CIA had been claiming. "That's been

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