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| A US predator unmanned drone armed with a missile stands on the tarmac of Kandahar military airport. Photograph: Massoud HossainiAFP/Getty |
A United Nations investigation
has so far identified 33 drone strikes around the world that have resulted in
civilian casualties and may have violated international humanitarian law.
The report by the UN's special rapporteur on human rights and
counter-terrorism, Ben Emmerson QC, calls on the US to declassify
information about operations coordinated by the CIA and clarify its positon on
the legality of unmanned aerial attacks.
Published ahead of a debate on the use of remotely
piloted aircraft, at the UN general assembly in New York next Friday, the
22-page document examines incidents in Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, Libya,
Somalia, Pakistan and Gaza.
It has been published to coincide with a related
report released earlier on Thursday by Professor Christof Heyns, the UN's special rapporteur on
extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, which warned that the
technology was being misused as a form of "global policing".
Emmerson, who traveled to Islamabad for his
investigation, said the Pakistan ministry of foreign affairs has records of as
many as 330 drone strikes in the country's north-western tribal areas since
2004. Up to 2,200 people have been killed – of whom at least 400 were civilians
– according to the Pakistan government.
In Yemen, Emmerson's report says that as many as 58
civilians are thought to have been killed in attacks by UAVs (unmanned aerial
vehicles).
"While the fact that civilians have been killed or injured does
not necessarily point to a violation of international humanitarian law, it
undoubtedly raises issues of accountability and transparency," the study
notes.
Reaper UAVs, used by the RAF in Afghanistan, have a
range of 3,700 miles (5,900 km), a maximum airspeed of 250 knots and can ascend
to 15,300 meters (50,000 feet), the document explains. Their missions can last
up to 18 hours.
The Reaper carries three cameras as well as
laser-guided bombs. Three communication networks relay information between the
RAF ground station in the UK and the UAV:
"a secure internet-based chat
function, a secure radio routed via satellite and a secure telephone
system".
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