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UN report calls for independent investigations of drone attacks
Source: The Guardian
UN report calls for independent investigations of drone attacks
Ewen MacAskill and Owen Bowcott
theguardian.com, Monday 10 March 2014 15.16 GMT
A report by the United Nations Human Rights Council has called for independent investigations to be carried out into drone attacks after a series of strikes that result in unexpected civilian deaths in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere. Most of the attacks involved US drones.
In a 21-page report, the UN special rapporteur on human rights, Ben Emmerson, records a dramatic reduction in drone strikes in 2013 in Pakistan but increases in Afghanistan and, towards the end of the year, in Yemen.
The decline in drone strikes in Pakistan comes after its government's repeated calls for the US to reduce their number. Islamabad argued that the impact of drone strikes was counterproductive, turned opinion in the country against the US and undermined the Pakistani government.
But Emmerson noted a threefold increase in recorded civilian casualties from drone strikes in Afghanistan in 2013. He concluded that states have an obligation to launch inquiries into cases in which civilians become caught up.
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Ewen MacAskill and Owen Bowcott
theguardian.com, Monday 10 March 2014 15.16 GMT
A report by the United Nations Human Rights Council has called for independent investigations to be carried out into drone attacks after a series of strikes that result in unexpected civilian deaths in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere. Most of the attacks involved US drones.
In a 21-page report, the UN special rapporteur on human rights, Ben Emmerson, records a dramatic reduction in drone strikes in 2013 in Pakistan but increases in Afghanistan and, towards the end of the year, in Yemen.
The decline in drone strikes in Pakistan comes after its government's repeated calls for the US to reduce their number. Islamabad argued that the impact of drone strikes was counterproductive, turned opinion in the country against the US and undermined the Pakistani government.
But Emmerson noted a threefold increase in recorded civilian casualties from drone strikes in Afghanistan in 2013. He concluded that states have an obligation to launch inquiries into cases in which civilians become caught up.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/10/un-report-independent-investigations-drone-attacks
