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Accountability Of State And Non-State Actors For Human Rights Abuses In The 'War On Terror', Laura T. Dickinson
Accountability Of State And Non-State Actors For Human Rights Abuses In The 'War On Terror', Laura T. Dickinson
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
The decisions regarding detainees in the so-called "war on terror" - Hamdi, Padilla, and Rasul - leave a number of questions unresolved. This essay focuses on one question in particular: What happens when terrorists are detained not by U.S. authorities, but by private contractors hired by U.S. authorities? Domestically and internationally, we are seeing an increasing turn to private contractors performing what we might think of as core governmental functions. Accordingly, it is vital to consider to what extent private actors involved in the treatment of detainees in the war on terror can be held accountable for their actions. Although …