Since 2012, We have been documenting developments around the use and proliferation of armed drones through open-source investigations (OSINT) and satellite imagery, with the focus on their impacts on civilians. Through research-based advocacy, PAX has been calling for better international regulation of drones’ use and proliferation, which would improve accountability and oversight over their use, as well as strengthen international export controls of drones’ transfers.
What are armed drones?
Drones – also known as uncrewed vehicles (UAVs) or systems (UASs) – are remotely controlled aircrafts which are used at an increasing rate in and outside of armed conflict. Drones improve situational awareness for militaries, they can fly around for longer periods of time and destroy enemy targets with precision weapons without risks for the pilot. These unique capabilities of drones have led to their deployment across the whole spectrum of warfare, from insurgencies to inter-state conflicts. However, oftentimes drones have been used with substantial civilian casualties and in violation of the international law.
Transparency, accountability and oversight on drone use
Challenges around Armed Drones’ Deployment and Transfers
There are judicial, moral and military-strategic obligations to the use of armed drones. However, in addition to drone wartime deployment, States often conduct drone strikes as part of counter-terrorism operations outside conflict zones – without clear legal justification, transparency, and accountability. Since 2001, thousands of people have been killed in extrajudicial executions in countries like Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria or Yemen; hundreds of these were innocent civilians, including many children. Such drone operations undermine the core principles of international law regarding the legitimate use of lethal force and protection of civilians.
Moreover, both States and non-state armed groups, including terrorist organisations, have increasingly weaponized commercial and dual-use drone technology for military purposes. As this type of drones fall outside the scope of existing export control mechanisms, there are little safeguards to prevent these technologies from falling into the wrong hands. Altogether, wide-spread opportunities for misuse of armed drones raise major concerns about their implications for human rights and international peace and security.
Towards International Standards on the Use and Proliferation of Drones
Currently, there are limited governance frameworks to address the key issues stemming from the proliferation and use of armed drones, especially in light of rapid technological developments. Both on the national and international level, more transparency, accountability and increased regulation of the use and export of drones are needed.
PAX has been advocating for a multilateral process to establish robust, progressive, and implementable standards on the use of armed drones, as well as to bridge the gap between commercial and dual-use technologies, and military drones. PAX is also calling on States to clarify their legal position on the use of force through armed drones, take all possible measures to prevent civilian harm, and ensure victims’ access to judicial remedies and reparation.
Over the past ten years, PAX has initiated and co-organised several side events dedicated to this issue within the UN General Assembly First Committee and UN Human Rights Council, as well as provided input to the work of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee. In 2015 to 2021, PAX coordinated the European Forum of Armed Drones – a civil society network of organisations working to ensure respect for the rule of law and promote human rights, disarmament, and conflict prevention. PAX will continue to engage with States, civil society organisations, and experts to develop international regulations for the responsible use of drones and for enhanced protection of civilians.
Making Drones Matter
in the Disarmament Debate
Between terror strikes and targeted killings
The evolving role of drone warfare in Iraq
A Laboratory of Drone Warfare
The role and relevance of uncrewed aerial systems in the war in Syria
FAQ
The continuous use of military drones for extrajudicial killings and in counter-insurgency operations in remote areas, as well as the growing deployment of drones to strike civilian targets as terror weapons have resulted in substantial civilian harm and thousands of civilian casualties. Drone operations are often based on insufficient or faulty intelligence, leading to the targeting of civilians.
here is also little public disclosure and government accountability for civilian harm and no reparations provided to families of the victims.
It is therefore crucial for the international community to reaffirm applicability of international law, international humanitarian law, and international human rights law to armed UAVs, and assert the need for transparency, oversight, and accountability in the use of drones by all states. Armed drones users must
take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian casualties, investigate any instances of civilian harm and ensure victims’ access to judicial remedies and reparation.
Even the ‘older’ military-grade drones could lower the threshold for the use of lethal force by States compared to other conventional weapons, due to the absence of risks to own military personnel and low costs of drones’ production and deployment. This has manifested in an increase in cross-border strikes over the past years, as well as in widespread practices of extraterritorial drone operations (including for extrajudicial killings), often without the consent of a host state. Such actions these violate state sovereignty and may amount to crimes of aggression, undermining international peace and security.
However, due to the rapid technological developments, armed drones became an even easier acquisition for any state or non-state actors, including terrorist groups. Such a wide-spread proliferation of cheaper and easy-to-operate armed drones pose additional risks for international security and public safety.
Existing regulations, which primarily focus on large military drones, are fairly limited in their effectiveness to deal with armed drone proliferation. This is due to the voluntary and non-binding nature of some of the arms control regimes – such as the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) – and the limited participation of States. The current regulatory scheme’s limited oversight, monitoring, and accountability mechanisms for drone exports, along with gaps in export controls over novel developments, weaken existing international norms and standards aimed at preventing weapons from falling into the wrong hands. For instance, weaponised commercial drones or military drones made with commercial parts and components are not covered by existing export control mechanisms.
More and better regulation is needed to ensure the transparent and accountable use of armed drones, and to improve controls over the acquisition of drones, their parts and components by both State and non-state actors, to prevent misuse.
News articles on Armed Drones
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Contact
Wim Zwijnenburg, Project Leader Humanitarian Disarmament