The Danish human rights organisation, Institut for Menneskerettigheder, and Amnesty International are both calling for an investigation into domestic intelligence agency PET’s role in the tracking and killing of al-Qaeda terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki.
The calls come after PET double agent Morten Storm came forward with his claim that he worked with PET to track al-Awlaki for the Americans with the clear intention of killing him.
“If it is true that PET used a civil agent – and it undeniably looks that way – to intensively track a terrorist far beyond our borders, then there are almost no limits to what PET can do,” Jonas Chistoffersen, the head of Institut for Menneskerettigheder, said.
Claus Juul, a lawyer with Amnesty International Denmark, echoed Christoffersen’s call for an investigation.
“This case clearly illustrates that we in Denmark are lacking an independent and unbiased control mechanism against PET that can investigate cases like these,” Juul said. “But when it comes to this concrete case, there is a need for an independent investigation, preferably with the authority to force witnesses to testify.”
In addition to questions over PET’s role in the killing of al-Awlaki, allegations against the character of Storm have arisen out of England, including the claims that he attempted to radicalise youth, sold them drugs, and was prone to violence.
