The U.S. investigation into the latest incident in Uruzgan must be carried out urgently and the findings must be made public, Amnesty International said today, adding; "The US military should be taking urgent measures to avoid repetition of similar tragedies."
"The bombing of the village wedding ceremony which killed and injured scores of civilians adds to the mounting civilian death toll caused by the US-led coalition bombing since it began nine months ago," Amnesty International said. "The rules of war need to be respected."
US-led forces should take sufficient precautions to protect civilians in selecting military objectives and means of attack. They should also desist from an attack if it becomes apparent that the objective is not a military one, or the attack risks being disproportionate to the military objective.
The rules of international humanitarian law require those who plan or decide upon an attack to do everything feasible to verify that the objectives targeted are not civilian. When it is unclear whether a target is used for military purposes, it shall be presumed to be a civilian object.
"The bombing of the village wedding ceremony which killed and injured scores of civilians adds to the mounting civilian death toll caused by the US-led coalition bombing since it began nine months ago," Amnesty International said. "The rules of war need to be respected."
US-led forces should take sufficient precautions to protect civilians in selecting military objectives and means of attack. They should also desist from an attack if it becomes apparent that the objective is not a military one, or the attack risks being disproportionate to the military objective.
The rules of international humanitarian law require those who plan or decide upon an attack to do everything feasible to verify that the objectives targeted are not civilian. When it is unclear whether a target is used for military purposes, it shall be presumed to be a civilian object.