UN says US drone strikes may violate international law

The report by the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism, Ben Emmerson, asks for the US to share information about attacks coordinated by the CIA and explain its position on the legal standing of the attacks.

In his report, he states that he does not believe that the United States has a valid national security interest in withholding data on civilians killed by unmanned aircraft. The United States has avoided publishing such data by classifying it as secret, while having no objections to disclosing when suspected militants are killed by the aircraft.

Next Friday in New York, the UN General assembly will take up the issue of pilotless aircraft. Emmerson states in his report that there are several questions that must be decided about the legality and use of unmanned aircraft in regards to the application of international law.

His report studied multiple incidents in several countries. In Yemen alone, a nation where no war is currently be waged, the report states that as many as 58 civilians have been killed. In another nation where the United States is not currently at war, Pakistan, the number of civilian dead reaches at least 400. All of these were caused by US drones.

The United Kingdom’s drone policy, by contrast, has resulted in a single civilian death. The United Kingdom’s drone strikes are openly reviewed by the Royal Air Force, the Ministry of Defense, and by Parliament. In the United States, the strikes are often controlled by the Central Intelligence Agency and are often denied to have ever occurred.

President Barack Obama recently said

 “before any strike is taken, there must be near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured”.

The recorded number of civilians deaths in the report paint this statement as a complete falsehood.