Drones EU: Study warns that drones pose a threat to int'l. security system

European Neuron Drone

The European Parliament warned in a study that the rapid development and proliferation of drone and robotic technology and lack of transparency and accountability of current policies could "destabilizing the international security environment as a whole." The 51-page study titled "human rights implications of the usage of drones and unmanned robots in warfare" was published by the Directorate-General for External Policies of the EU Parliament.

The study notes that in the course of the last decade, the use of armed drones has increased a lot, beginning with the Second Intifada in the Israeli-occupied areas (since 2000), continuing in the Second Gulf War (2003-2011), and reaching its current peak in the course of the United States' confrontation with Al-Qaeda and affiliate groups in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.

What is new today, it points out, is the systematic use of armed drones for the targeted killing of pre-selected individuals in the territory of other states.

By 2012, the US had some 7,000 drones flying roughly 20,000 sorties per year, with a total of 1 million "combat hours" achieved already in 2010.

The study estimates that, between 2004 and 2012, drones operated by the CIA have carried out approximately 350 attacks in Pakistan alone, killing between 2,000 and 3,000 individuals.

The report says that approximately 50 states currently either possess drones or are in the process of developing or acquiring them for purposes of reconnaissance, intelligence-gathering and targeting, thus illustrating a trend towards the worldwide proliferation and acceptance of this technology.

States, such as Israel, the United Kingdom, Australia and Germany are already known to have conducted or contributed to armed drone attacks, others including Russia, Turkey, China, India, Iran, and France, are reported either to have or to be seeking to acquire drones capable of being armed with laser-guided missiles.

The report also underlines that drones are also increasingly employed for domestic law enforcement purposes, including border and road patrols infrastructure protection, and the detection, identification and surveillance.

The study urges the European Union to make the promotion of the rule of law in relation to the development, proliferation and use of unmanned weapons systems a declared priority of European foreign policy.

It also calls on the EU to launch a broad inter-governmental policy dialogue aiming to achieve international consensus on the legal standards governing the use of drones and to work towards the adoption of a binding international agreement aiming to restrict the development, proliferation or use of certain unmanned weapon systems.

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