United Nations: A UN human rights investigator is warning the United States that its use of unmanned warplanes to carry out targeted executions may violate international law.
Philip Alston says the US will increasingly be perceived
as carrying out indiscriminate killings in violation of
international law unless the government explains the legal
basis for targeting particular individuals and the measures it
is taking to comply with international humanitarian law which
prohibits arbitrary executions.
His comments yesterday came as the US has increased the
use of Predator drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan and is
considering stepping up their use even further against
al-Qaida and Taliban targets.
Alston, the UN Human Rights Council's investigator on
extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, told a news
conference the US response that the Geneva-based council and
the UN General Assembly have no role in relation to killings
during an armed conflict is untenable.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 08:59