- published: 23 Jul 2013
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Targeted killing is the intentional killing, by a government or its agents, of a civilian or "unlawful combatant" targeted by the government, who is not in the government's custody. The target is a person who is allegedly taking part in an armed conflict or terrorism, whether by bearing arms or otherwise, who has lost the immunity from being targeted that he would otherwise have under the Third Geneva Convention. Note that this is a different term and concept from that of "targeted violence" as used by specialists who study violence.
In the legal world, Georgetown Law Professor Gary Solis, in his 2010 book entitled The Law of Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law in War, writes: "Assassinations and targeted killings are very different acts". The use of the term assassination is opposed, as it denotes murder, whereas people who are allegedly terrorists are targeted in self-defense, and thus it is viewed as a killing, but not a crime. Judge Abraham Sofaer, former federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, wrote on the subject: