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Forum:
General Assembly 6: Legal
Issue:
Criminal liability in the area of unmanned aerial vehicles
Student Officers:
Ahmed Ibrahim, Jasmin Afifi, and Sarah Lowen
Position:
Student Officers
Introduction
The notion of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), are a new arisen concern for the United Nations,
in regards to civil liability, public safety, insurance, security, privacy, and regulatory issues. The
development of Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) was sporadically throughout history, initially started as
per request of the U.S. military for new technological advancements useful for armed conflicts. However,
as UAV use has become more popular since the Obama administration, the United Nations (UN) has
enforced the call for complete drone transparency and accountability.
Despite international laws that only permits use of lethal force in highly limited circumstances, the
United States have appeared to evade such laws as the US military have readily used drones along the
rough borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Although the US military drones are not necessarily being
used illegally, their purposes have raised the concerns of the United Nations Human Rights Council,
specifically the Philip Alston, United Nations rights investigator, who states that, “ the Central Intelligence
Agency is running a program that is killing significant numbers of people and there is absolutely no
accountability in terms of the relevant international laws”. The use of drones in armed conflicts have
introduced a new domain of weaponry for terrorist groups, and a new major concern for the international
community. There have been numerous accounts of civilian casualties at the result of military drone
attacks, intended for counter-terrorism efforts.
The arise of lethal uses of UAVs has evoked further concerns of civilian casualties, and the
effects of drones on communities, individuals, families, and children. There is also reluctance to assist
victims of drone attacks, due to the fear of being caught or targeted in secondary strikes. Such
reluctancy is allowing unmanned aerial vehicles, to not be pressured to obtain proper certification,
display transparency, or have any accountability for their actions. Pakistan proposed the resolution,
“Ensuring use of remotely piloted aircraft or armed drones in counter-terrorism and military operations in
accordance with international law, including international human rights and humanitarian law”. Such a
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resolution enforces complete transparency and accountability of States’ use of armed drones, as well as
the motion for independent and impartial investigations to be conducted on States when there is
suspicion of international law violations. Although this resolution has received some resistance,
particularly from the United States, it still embodies the steps that need to be taken by the international
community to acquire regulated unmanned aerial vehicle use.
Definition of Key Terms
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAV) are aircrafts which carry no human pilots or passengers, and
are typically either fully or partially autonomous. Such vehicles may be controlled either remotely
by a human pilot using remote controls or onboard computers. Also known as a drone, or
unmanned aircraft system.
Civil Liability
A civil liability is the legal obligation arising from a variety of private wrongs that may be
categorized according to the type of injury or damage involved. These torts or breaches are not
technically illegal or considered a public wrong, and thus do not typically involve the government,
only arrangements between private persons.
Air Traffic Control
Air traffic control (ATC) is the ground based personnel and equipment that is involved with the
monitoring aerial vehicle movement and traffic within a particular region.
National Airspace
The National Airspace System (NAS) is a United States network of air navigation, airspace,
regulations, procedures, etc.
Certificate of Authorization
The COA system authorizes an operator to use a defined airspace as well as including special
provisions unique to the proposed operation. A majority of COA’s are issued under a specific time
frame, and thus only applicable for the particular time. They also may include extra requirements,
such as a aerial vehicle may only operate during daylight hours. COA approval is also usually
only administered to public entities, for example a local law enforcement.
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Customs and Border Protection
The CBP is an law enforcement organization, responsible for maintaining border management,
combining customs, border security, agricultural protection, immigration, and the facilitation of
lawful international travel and trade. In relation to the subject of aerial vehicles, the COA
maintains a number of homeland defense UASs along the border of the United States. They
provide border surveillance in areas of difficult terrain.
Background Information
CIA drone strikes have killed more than 2,500 civilians in the tribal areas of the North PakistanAfghanistan border over the past decade (Haider). “The Obama administration claims its use of lethal
force, including with drones, is ‘legal’, ‘ethical’, and ‘wise’” (Amnesty International). However the rest of
the world feels differently than the almighty superpower.
History of Drones
To get a full understanding on how drones were created and how they started becoming a major
problem, read this article by Mr. Ian G. R. Shaw.
Unmanned aerial vehicles started becoming more popular under the Obama administration, but
came into light under the last few years of the Bush administration. The U.S continually fire drone strikes
against countries that supposedly harbour terrorists such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen. With the
firing of these drones, numerous civilians unfortunately become collateral damage. Some drones miss
their intended targets and end up killing only civilian innocents.
They started becoming a problem in recent years, when the world saw how the U.S could
completely destroy nations and not be penalized for it. The U.S. is currently openly bombing seven
nations namely Syria, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia. These attacks have
caused much distress worldwide. The Obama administration considers all military aged males in a strike
zone as combatants - unless there is explicit intelligence posthumously proving them innocent. This is a
major concern as the country which is mostly responsible for the usage of these drones defines civilian
innocents as combatants.
Beneficial Uses of Drones
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Thinking from a perpetrator's perspective, you can engage in warfare without endangering your
own force, and only attacking those of the enemies. But then again, is the “enemy” even an “enemy” to
the world, or are they solely the country who used the drones’ enemy?
Drones also prove to be beneficial to spy on enemy camps, but that is only if they are not sent off
to kill. Some drones are only launched with the intention of bloodshed, whereas some drones merely spy
on enemy troops.
Drones can also be used to look into places where humans cannot go. For example, on top of
mountains, volcanoes etc.
Disadvantages of Drones
Clearly the cons outweigh the pros in this situation as targeted drone killings take away innocent
lives including those of women and children more so than they do of those who they intend to kill. Some
even argue that killing people who have committed horrendous crimes such as the terrorists they U.S
tries to kill with these drones, is wrong. Violating one's right to life is seen as an international crime, but
the U.S continues to launch and fire its drones.
Additionally it is extremely difficult to assign liability to these lost lives. In theory blame is to be put
on the government of the country which launched the drones, but it is difficult to attain justice. It is not
that easy for governments to sue other governments over issues like this, for the simple fact that what if
the perpetrating government accepts the blame but does not pay the money they are requested to by the
complaining government.
The world is in desperate need of a system that helps explicitly assign criminal accountability in
the area of unmanned aerial vehicles, such as these drones.
Major Countries and Organizations Involved
United States (US)
The United States (US) has been using UAVs since the 2001 attacks on the ‘World Trade Center’
attacks. They used it to exterminate suspicious terrorists in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, and
other countries. Furthermore, it decreases the amount of civilians being impacted on during these wars
compared to any other military weapon. This allows a safer environment for both the personnel and the
civilians. America also claims that it is much cheaper since they spend only 1% of their budget on it. The
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main reason that the US is because it is legal world-wide and in the US law. Finally, about 61% of the
US supports the UAVs.
United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council has approved in several resolutions for the use of
UAVs for military (and safety purposes) such as ‘Ensuring use of remotely piloted aircraft or armed
drones in counter-terrorism and military operations in accordance with international law, including
international human rights and humanitarian law, resolution (A/HRC/25/L.32)’, which is sponsored by
Pakistan. UNHRC believes that UAVs in terrorist hands shouldn't be allowed for obvious reasons, but
using these UAVs against them is recommended. Furthermore, UNHRC believes that using these tools
is going to increase the rights for the citizens in terms of safety and comfort.
Japan
Japan was going to legalise the use of UAVs, when a UAV landed on the roof of the Prime
Minister. After that UAV landed, it proceeded to explode. This has lead to the change of mind making
UAVs illegal in Japan making it a terrorist attack to use these UAVs. They aren't even used against the
terrorists or for the country's protection (military use). It got to a point where simple photography drones
aren't allowed in the country.
Thailand
On the other hand, Thailand has banned the use of UAVs with cameras on them, but others are
fine. For some reason, photography drones aren't allowed. This might be because of the belief that these
drones are used for spying purposes, although all the information about the country are public. There
might have been a coincidence that liberalized this item, but it hasn't been specified.
Timeline of Events
Date
Description of event
The armed Predator program was activated days after the terrorist attacks on
September 16, 2001
September 11, 2001, with Predators reaching Afghanistan by September 16th
2001, by the U.S (World Timelines).
February 4, 2002
June 17, 2004
The CIA used the first ever unmanned predator drone for the intention of killing
(World Timelines)
For the next few months the CIA uses unmanned aerial vehicles to do target
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killings in northwest Pakistan, causing many civilian deaths (World Timelines).
United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) presented a report critical of
June 03, 2009
US tactics about their misrepresentations of casualties with their drone attacks
(CNN).
October 27, 2009
June 02, 2010
Philip Alston, UNHRC investigator questioned the US to prove that it was not
randomly killing civilians near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border (Reuters).
Mr. Alston’s team released a report criticizing the US of being “the most prolific
user of targeted killings” in the world (Entous).
After his visit to Pakistan, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Navi
June 07, 2012
Pillay called for an investigation into the Obama Administration's drone attacks
on Pakistan (Dawn).
March 24, 2014
Human Rights Committee passes resolution regarding drones and their usage
in accordance with international law (Human Rights Committee).
Relevant UN Treaties and Events
Please view these resolutions that are extremely relevant to this topic. Please note that a
resolution has reoccurred in both the General Assembly and in the Human Rights Committee (this was
done on purpose as they are different in content).
●
Ensuring use of remotely piloted aircraft or armed drones in counter-terrorism and military
operations in accordance with international law, including international human rights and
humanitarian law, 28 March 2014 (A/HRC/25/L.32)
●
Protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, 10 December
2013 (A/RES/68/178)
●
Protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, 23 March 2012
(A/HRC/19/L.25/Rev.1)
●
Security Council Resolution, 28 March 2013 (S/RES/2098)
Previous Attempts to solve the Issue
Though numerous UN resolutions have been passed regarding the protection of civilians in the
operation of unmanned aerial vehicles, no concrete policies have been stated in regard to the criminal
liability of their operation.
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However there was a UN Panel discussion that took place in October of 2013 that tried to
address this issue but failed. Additionally due to the fact that the world's largest superpower (The U.S) is
predominantly responsible for most of the drone attacks in the world today, governments and
humanitarian organizations are limited as to what they can do. If they speak out against the U.S there
could be potentially unpleasant consequences for themselves. Thus it is common for people and
organizations to turn a “blind eye” in regards to criminal activity like this that is taking place by the U.S,
which started under the Bush administration but has continued under the Obama administration.
Humanitarian organizations such as Amnesty International have expressed their dissatisfaction of
the merciless killing of civilians due to these drones, but not as outrageously as they have before
regarding other issues which have been perpetrated by countries other than the United States.
Drones and their impact cause many social and economic factors as well. After drones have
been used, cities are ruined, people are mourning and there is an overall unpleasant atmosphere in the
country. This leads to business failings, economies crashing, and then, countries who were attacked, are
forced to pay large sums of money to fix roads and infrastructure that has been damaged. When dealing
with criminal liabilities no organization or country has yet said that countries who use drones should be
required to pay for their damages, however it should be taken into account as it is a huge problem
associated with drone usage.
Possible Solutions
Unmanned Aerial vehicles could be a great weapon in the terrorists’ hand; therefore, setting limits
to these devices would be of great importance. ‘There are many ways that lead to Rome’ meaning that
delegates are encouraged to think outside the box. The are many solutions to this topic, but the issue which is shared with many other topics - is that these solutions aren't being implemented in real life. In
other words, there aren't any action taken (major actions).
It wouldn't be the greatest idea to completely ban UAVs as there are many proposed behind
them. This means that only some of them should be legalised (unharmful). An example of UAVs include
drones which are commonly used between photographers; therefore, it wouldn't be of such danger to
civilians. In addition, only some individuals should be allowed to use UAVs for security purposes. The
reason for this is that not everybody would act responsibly when handling such an important device.
There are many other solutions to this issue. Delegates are encouraged to think of other ideas
that haven't been thought of to avoid the occurrence of repetition. Delegates could also refer to ‘previous
attempt to solve the issue’ to avoid these repetitions and learn from the mistakes that previous counties
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have performed; the UN could be used as an example. The UN always puts ideas on the table, but never
puts them into action. Delegates could mention this in their resolution.
Bibliography
CNN. "U.N. Envoy Calls for Probe into U.S. Drone Attacks." CNN. Cable News Network, 4 June 2009.
Web. 22 Oct. 2016.
<http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/06/04/drone.attacks/>.
Dawn News. "UN Wants Investigation into Drone Attacks inside Pakistan."Dawn News. N.p., 07 June
2012. Web. 22 Oct. 2016. <http://www.dawn.com/news/724665/un-wants-investigation-intodrone-attacks-in-pakistan>.
Entous, Adam. "U.S. Unease Over Legal Basis for Drone Strikes." WSJ. Wsj.com, 25 Sept. 2012. Web.
22 Oct. 2016.
<http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390444100404577641520858011452>.
Reuters. "U.S. Use of Drones Queried by U.N." The New York Times. N.p., 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 22 Oct.
2016.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/world/28nations.html?_r=0>.
"Resolutions, Decisions and President´s Statements." United Nations Human Rights Office of the High
Commissioner. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.
<http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session19/Pages/ResDecStat.aspx
>
Human Rights Committee. "Human Rights Documents." Human Rights Documents. United Nations, 24
Mar. 2014. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.
<http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/alldocs.aspx?doc_id=23080>.
World Timelines. "History of Drones Timeline." Timetoast. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.
<https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/history-of-drones>.
Haider, Ejaz. "Unfair Advantage Of Death and Drones." Dawn News. N.p., 20 Aug. 2014. Web. 23 Oct.
2016. <http://www.dawn.com/in-depth/unfair-advantage-of-death-and-drones/>.
Amnesty International. "Drones." Amnesty International USA. Amnesty International, n.d. Web. 23 Oct.
2016. <http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/security-and-human-rights/drones>.
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Ian G. R. Shaw, (2014), “The Rise of the Predator Empire: Tracing the History of U.S. Drones”,
Understanding Empire <https://understandingempire.wordpress.com/2-0-a-brief-history-of-u-sdrones/>.
"Drones - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., 14 Sept. 2016. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.
<http://drones.procon.org/>.
"The Current State of Global Drone Regulations." The Current State of Global Drone
Regulations. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.
<http://thedroneinfo.com/the-current-state-of-global-drone-regulations/>.
Https://www.justsecurity.org/author/goodmanryan/. "United Nations Human Rights Council
Adopts Resolution Calling for Drone Transparency and Accountability." Just Security RSS. N.p., 11 Apr.
2014. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.
<https://www.justsecurity.org/8712/unhrc-adopts-drones-resolution/>.
Appendix
I.
https://www.asil.org/insights/volume/18/issue/13/use-unmanned-aerial-vehicles-drones-united-nationspeacekeeping-case (The Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Drones) in United Nations Peacekeeping: The
Case of the Democratic Republic of Congo)
This website is useful due to it’s unlimited information that it affords. With the history, background
information and countries involved, this website would be a great start for delegates that have some to no
knowledge on this topic.
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