INTERNATIONAL LAW SINCE SEPTEMBER 11 – A TIMELINE
By Anthony Dworkin and Ariel Meyerstein

September 11
Hijacked airliners are flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon, outside Washington DC. A fourth plane crashes in Pennsylvania. In an address to the nation, President Bush describes the attacks as "deliberate and deadly terrorist acts." He says he has directed the US intelligence and law enforcement communities "to find those responsible and bring them to justice," adding that the US "will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010911-16.html

September 12
President Bush declares that the attacks were "acts of war."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010912-4.html

The United Nations Security Council passes Resolution 1368, recognizing "the inherent right of individual and collective self-defence" and calling on all states to work together to bring the perpetrators of the attacks to justice.
http://daccess-ods.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N01/533/82/PDF/N0153382.pdf?OpenElement

The North Atlantic Council for the first time invokes Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty, stating that an armed attack against any member state shall be considered as an attack against all.
http://www.nato.int/docu/pr/2001/p01-124e.htm

September 18
Congress passes a resolution giving the President authorization for the use of force "against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons."
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/sept_11/sjres23_eb.htm

September 20
In an address to a joint session of Congress, President Bush says all the evidence suggests al-Qaeda was responsible for the attacks, and warns the Taliban regime that they must "hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010920-8.html

The Department of Justice issues an Interim Rule stating that non-citizens can be detained for 48 hours without charge, or in the event of an "emergency of other extraordinary circumstance" for "an additional reasonable period of time."
http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/vll/fedreg/fr2_pdf/fr20se01R.pdf

September 21
Chief Immigration Judge Michael Creppy sends a memo to immigration judges, advising them that deportation hearings for people suspected of involvement in terrorism should be unannounced and closed to the public.
http://www.aclu.org/court/creppy_memo.pdf

October 4
The British government issues a statement saying it is confident that Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda network "planned and carried out the atrocities of 11 September," and setting out the evidence for their conclusion.
http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/page3554.asp

October 7
US military forces launch ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’ against Taliban and al-Qaeda facilities in Afghanistan. In a televised address, President Bush says US actions "are designed to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations, and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/10/20011007-8.html

October 26
President Bush signs the USA Patriot Act into law. The act gives the Attorney General the power to detain foreigners if he has "reasonable grounds to believe" that they are engaged in an activity that endangers the national security of the United States, so long as they are charged or released within seven days. It also allows him to deport or refuse entry into the country to anyone who supports or raises money for a terrorist group.
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/sept_11/hr3162_eh.htm

October 30
The Department of Justice issues an interim rule allowing prison authorities to monitor communications between inmates and their lawyers, where the Attorney General has certified that "reasonable suspicion exists" that the inmate is using these communications to further or facilitate acts of violence or terrorism.
http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/bop_rule.pdf

November 13
President Bush issues a military order authorizing the creation of military tribunals to try non-US citizens if there is "reason to believe" that they are members of al-Qaeda or have been involved in planning or committing acts of terrorism against the United States. The order gives the Secretary of Defense the authority to detain anyone liable to trial by the commissions within or outside the United States.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/11/20011113-27.html

The Afghan capital Kabul falls to the Northern Alliance after Taliban fighters abandon the city.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/13/international/asia/13MILI.html

December 7
Taliban forces abandon their stronghold of Kandahar in the south of Afghanistan, the last city they had occupied, completing their fall from power.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/08/international/08AFGH.html

December 11
The Department of Justice announces that it has indicted Zacarias Moussaoui on charges of conspiring with Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda to commit the terrorist acts that took place on September 11. The indictment lists six counts against Moussaoui, four of which carry the death penalty, and alleges that Moussaoui underwent the same preparation as the 19 men suspected of hijacking the four jet airliners.
http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/speeches/2001/agcrisisremarks12_11.htm

December 22
Hamid Karzai is sworn in as the new leader of Afghanistan.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/23/international/asia/23GOVE.html

January 11
The first group of captives transferred from Afghanistan begins detention at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Photographs of the detainees in orange jumpsuits, apparently hooded and in chains, provoke an international outcry.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1754444.stm

January 15
The Department of Justice announces that it is filing criminal charges against John Walker Lindh, a US citizen taken prisoner while apparently fighting alongside Taliban forces. He is charged with conspiring to kill members of the US military in Afghanistan, and with providing material support and resources to foreign terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda.
http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/speeches/2002/011502walkertranscript.htm

January 29
In his State of Union Address, President Bush says Iraq, Iran and North Korea constitute an "axis of evil," and claims that "by seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger." The President warns that these countries could provide these weapons to terrorists, blackmail the United States, or attack its allies.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020129-11.html

February 7
The White House announces that President Bush has determined that the Third Geneva Convention applies to Taliban detainees, but not al-Qaeda detainees. The announcement confirms that neither group is entitled to prisoners of war status, but says that it will nevertheless accord the detainees most of the rights to which POW’s are entitled.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/02/20020207-13.html

March 21
The Department of Defense announces the guidelines for the military commissions authorized to try suspected terrorists captured during the campaign against terrorism. At the same time Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld asserts that the United States has the right to hold detainees without trial, or even after acquittal, until the end of the war against terrorism, as is standard with enemy combatants captured during the course of a war.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2002/d20020321ord.pdf

March 27
Twenty-nine people are killed in the suicide bombing of a Passover dinner in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya. The bomber is identified as a member of Hamas from the West Bank city of Tulkarem.
http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0le00

March 29
Israel launches Operation Defensive Shield – a series of military incursions into West Bank towns. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announces that the purpose of the operation is to "crush the Palestinian terrorist infrastructure," and describes Yasser Arafat as an enemy who will be "isolated." Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer claims that the security forces are engaged in "an all-out war against terrorism." http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0ldy0

April 3
Israeli security forces begin their incursion into the West Bank town of Jenin. During the course of their operation, the town is closed to reporters. There are widespread reports of violations of the laws of war, and allegations from the Palestinians that a "massacre" is being committed.
Independent reports later find that there were serious violations of humanitarian law, but find no evidence of a "massacre."
Human Rights Watch Report, "Jenin: IDF Military Operations" http://hrw.org/reports/2002/israel3/

April 18
Fighting in Jenin between the Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian fighters ends.

April 21
The New York Times reports that the US government is considering the announcement of a new legal doctrine that would allow it to charge members of al-Qaeda with conspiracy to commit war crimes, in the absence of any evidence that they had actually engaged in criminal acts. Perhaps because of the negative reaction generated by the report, the doctrine was not subsequently announced.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/21/national/21TRIB.html

May 6
The United States announces that it has no intention of becoming a party to the International Criminal Court, in effect repudiating the signature of the Rome Treaty by the Clinton administration in December 2000.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2002/9968.htm

June 1
In a speech to the West Point Military Academy, President Bush outlines a new US strategic doctrine of pre-emption. He warns that containment and deterrence will not work against terrorist groups or unbalanced dictators with weapons of mass destruction: "If we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too long." http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/06/20020601-3.html

June 10
The US Attorney General, John Ashcroft, announces that the government has in custody a US citizen named Abdulla al-Muhajir (formerly Jose Padilla), who was arrested in Chicago and was allegedly "involved in planning future terrorist attacks," including the explosion of a "dirty bomb" in the United States. Ashcroft announces that al-Muhajir is being transferred to military authorities to be held as an enemy combatant.
http://www.usdoj.gov:80/ag/speeches/2002/061002agtranscripts.htm

June 30
In the UN Security Council, the United States vetoes a resolution extending the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in Bosnia, because other members refuse to exempt peacekeeping troops from countries that have not ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court from the court’s jurisdiction.

July 1
An American gunship attacks a number of compounds in southern Afghanistan, including one where a wedding party is taking place; according to the Afghan government, 48 civilians are killed. President Bush later describes the incident as a "tragedy"; US military officials say they attacked after receiving anti-aircraft fire.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/03/international/asia/03MILI.html

July 12
The United States and other members of the UN Security Council reach agreement that UN peacekeepers from countries that are not parties to the ICC are exempted from its jurisdiction for a renewable period of one year.
(insert PDF)

August 2
Judge Gladys Kessler of the District of Columbia orders the US government to release the names of all people detained during the anti-terrorism investigation in the United States. It is the role of the judiciary "to ensure that our government always operates within the statutory and constitutional constraints which distinguish a democracy from a dictatorship," she writes.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac3/ContentServer?pagename=article&articleid=A36767-2002Aug2&node=nation/specials/attacked/archive

August 3
President Bush signs into law the American Servicemembers Protection Act, legislation directed against the International Criminal Court that authorizes withholding military aid from some countries that sign up to the court, and the use of force to free US personnel from the court.
http://www.usaforicc.org/ASPA.htm

August 13
US threatens to withhold military aid if countries do not sign Article 98 agreements agreeing not to surrender US citizens to the International Criminal Court.
(insert PDF File)

August 16
Judge Robert G. Doumar of Virginia orders the US government to provide evidence to support their designation of the US-born Yaser Esam Hamdi as an unlawful enemy combatant. Hamdi had been picked up by US forces in Afghanistan, and is being held in a navy brig in Virginia.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/17/national/17DETA.html

August 26
A federal appeals court in Cincinnati rules that deportation hearings for people detained during the anti-terrorism investigation must be open to the public.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac3/ContentServer?pagename=article&articleid=A64994-2002Aug26&node=nation/specials/attacked/archive

Newsweek publishes a detailed report alleging that Northern Alliance forces allied to the United States killed several hundred prisoners after their surrender at Kunduz in November 2001. The report (based on an initial investigation by Physicians for Human Rights) says the prisoners suffocated while being transported in airless containers.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/795153.asp

August 28
German prosecutors charge Moroccan-born Mounir el-Motassadeq with supporting the work of the al-Qaeda cell in Hamburg that planned the September 11 attacks. Prosecutors claim that Motassadeq managed the bank accounts of some of the al Qaeda members taking flight school lessons in the United States.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/28/international/28CND-GERM.html