Government operations and workforce

Executive Order 13732: United States Policy on Pre- and Post-Strike Measures To Address Civilian Casualties in U.S. Operations Involving the Use of Force

President: Barack Obama

Set government-wide principles for reducing civilian casualties before strikes and assessing and responding to harm afterward.

Status: Partly revoked. Is Executive Order 13732 still in effect? Partly. Executive Order 13862, signed on March 6, 2019, revoked section 3 of Executive Order 13732, which required an annual public report on counterterrorism strikes outside areas of active hostilities. It did not revoke the rest of the order, including its civilian-casualty mitigation policy and periodic consultation requirements. Sources: Office of the Federal Register: current 2016 executive order disposition table; Executive Order 13732: signed text; Executive Order 13862, March 6, 2019, section 2.

What does Executive Order 13732 do?

EO 13732 directed agencies using force to train personnel, assess targets, take feasible precautions, investigate credible reports, acknowledge responsibility and offer condolence or other responses where appropriate. It also required an annual public report on certain strikes outside areas of active hostilities. EO 13832 revoked that reporting section in 2019 but left the operational policy sections intact; the Defense Department later issued a Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan.

Administration position: The order states policy and procedures; it does not resolve whether a particular strike was lawful or create a judicial remedy for every allegation.
SignedJuly 1, 2016
Reporting sectionRevoked in 2019
Core policyNot expressly revoked

Before and after

Before the order

Civilian-harm practices varied across agencies and operations, with limited consolidated public reporting.

After the order

Common precautions and response principles applied, while the reporting mandate later ended.

Who had to do what

Agency / officeActionTiming / position
Operational agenciesPlan assess investigate and respondContinuing under current policy
Director of National IntelligencePublish annual report under section 3Ended
Defense DepartmentImplement later mitigation action planContinuing subject to current direction

What happened next

EO 13732 established policy.

Executive Order 13862 revoked section 3, the annual public-reporting requirement, while leaving the rest of Executive Order 13732 unrevoked. Official source.