My latest report to the UN #HRC44 focus on targeted killings by armed drones: ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Exec… The world has entered a “second drone age”, in which State and non-State actors are deploying ever more advanced drone technologies, a major international, security issue.
As of 2020, at least 102 countries have acquired an active military drone inventory, and 20 armed non-State actors reportedly have obtained armed and unarmed drone systems. This expanding use of drones is accompanied by an increasing disregard of central int'l law principles.
To justify extraterritorial drones use of force, some States have reinterpreted the law of self-defence by distorting the notion of “imminent” attacks and the principle of State sovereignty. Low-intensity conflicts are drawn-out with few if any geographical or temporal boundaries
For the first time, a State drone targeted a high-level official of another state on the territory of a third one. The int'l community must now confront the very real prospect that States may opt to “strategically” eliminate high ranking military officials outside “known” wars
These are serious threats to global peace that have been exacerbated by: 1) The absence of effective oversight of the use and export of drones, at both international and domestic levels, judicially and legislatively; 2) the silence of the UN Security Council and other States.
The int'l community needs to regain control over the development, export and use of drones through: 1.Adequate mandatory reporting on drones strikes; 2.Control over export and use of drones. In addition, it must provide effective oversight over claims of Art. 51 UN self defence.
My report contains a range of recommendations that builds on those of my predecessors on the topic as well as on those of the UNSG and UN disarmament agencies which are equally troubled and alarmed by these developments.
