The United States paid over a million euros to the family of Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian aid worker killed in a U.S. drone strike in January of last year, according to newly released documents.
The 37-year-old Lo Porto died when CIA drones struck an al Qaeda compound where he was being held hostage along with Warren Weinstein, an American humanitarian worker. In a rare admission of responsibility, President Barack Obama acknowledged the strike and promised compensation for the families.
The Intercept first reported that the family had reached a settlement with the U.S. government in July. Italian government documents obtained by La Repubblica show that Lo Porto’s mother and father accepted 1.185 million euros (about $1.3 million) as a “donation in the memory” of their son. The document, in which the U.S. government was represented by a diplomat with the embassy in Rome, confirms that Lo Porto died in Pakistan but includes no admission of wrongdoing by the United States.
The document also states that the agreement does not imply “a waiver of sovereign or personal immunity.” Lawyers for the Lo Porto family had pressed the Italian state prosecutor to consider a criminal case against the United States, while acknowledging that the chances of such a case going forward were slim. They also asked for more information from U.S. agencies about the strike and its aftermath. There is reportedly a CIA Inspector General investigation into the incident; in July, the White House would not comment on the status of the inquiry. It is not known if the Weinstein family has also settled with the government.
The U.S. has, in a few instances, reportedly paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to the families of civilians killed in attacks in Yemen, but has not publicly acknowledged doing so. Many human rights advocacy groups see a double standard in the silence of the U.S. government on the cases of non-Westerners who have died.
Earlier this summer, the Obama administration released its own tally of casualties from counterterrorism operations (the estimate of 64 to 116 civilians killed over seven years is in sharp disagreement with outside estimates, some of which put the civilian death toll as high as 1,000). The release was accompanied by an executive order requiring U.S. forces to take measures to avoid civilian casualties, investigate instances of civilian harm, and acknowledge and provide compensation for any civilian victims.
In light of the new order, Amnesty International has asked the CIA to respond to the death of Mamana Bibi, an elderly Pakistani woman killed in 2012. So far, it has received no answer, according to Naureen Shah, director of Amnesty International’s Security with Human Rights program.
In July, a White House spokesperson told The Intercept that the White House “will not address specific operations.”
Who could blame them for taking hostages and using them as shields?
What would Americans do if they had foreign death drones hovering overhead day and night?
Before you fire back with the usual Islamic terrorists bit let me state the obvious that 9-11 was a demolition job. Pentagon hit by a missile and building 7 just fell down due to a few office chairs burning.
The world is indeed being attack by terrorists and the real terrorist is draped in the Stars and Stripes.
The poor and defenseless are being used as target practice for the latest evil war weapons that are built sold by again guess who?
You!
Right. Who can blame the Taliban and al-Qaeda for endangering innocent civilians through the use of these illegal tactics?
And, sure the Pentagon was hit by a missile. Even though a crashing jet would have had its wings sheared off by the Pentagon’s support columns. And even though some of the Pentagon windows were blast-resistant, which would explain why survived the crash. And even though there was plane wreckage on the lawn and the building face, according to photos and eyewitnesses. And even though the plane hit a generator and light posts before crashing.
And sure building 7 was a controlled demolition. Even though it was hit by falling debris from the other towers, was damaged by the fires (which the fire department was unable to reach), there were fuel tanks in the building, the planes were carrying thousands of pounds of fuel, they took out multiple floors during the crash, and the south face was heavily damaged during the attack. And the way the building was designed meant that the kinks were bearing unusually large loads. And even though, in a controlled demolition, experts collapse a building from the bottom. If the controlled demolition theory is true, how did the conspirators smuggle tons and tons of explosives into the building without anybody noticing?
Sure, the evidence is so “obvious” that 9/11 was an inside job and that the Taliban and al-Qaeda are just innocent victims who have no choice but to resort to illegally using civilians and hostages as human shields. Those poor souls.
You and your “truther” ilk are idiots on stilts.
If you are in Afghanistan and killed by one of Obama’s drones you might get a thousand bucks and a few goats for the death of your family member. So f—ed up. Nothing about U.s. drone killings on Rachel Maddow’s, Lawrence O’Donnell’s etc. Everything Obama has done is aok with those millions of dollars a year talking heads.
https://www.propublica.org/article/hearts-minds-and-dollars-condolence-payments-in-the-drone-strike-age
One record, obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union, authorizes $1000 for “a Solatia payment for a lady whose son was killed by coalition forces.” He had been shot in downtown Kabul when troops fired to disperse a crowd. An email noted the mother had been given “a complete runaround” in tracking down compensation.
In 2006, soldiers fired on a taxi that did not slow down at a military checkpoint in Iraq, killing a woman inside. The military determined the checkpoint wasn’t adequately marked, and her family received a large payment, of $7,500.
“It’s hard to digest that the value of a human life is a few thousand dollars,” said Gordon-Bray, the general in Iraq. “But you know that in their economic situation, it is the equivalent of much more, and you feel better.”
Today in Afghanistan, according to a Pentagon spokesman, condolence payments can be up to $5,000 for a death or injury, or $5,000 for property damage. Greater amounts can be approved in certain cases. In fiscal year 2012, the U.S. made 219 payments, totaling $891,000, according to a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. (Solatia are not included in those figures.)
The death of Lo Porto and Weinstein are interesting. Their bodies were found mingled with senior jihadist leaders, suggesting that the Taliban were using them as human shields to protect themselves from drone strikes.