Abstract
The international media, on a regular basis, mentions targeted killings of terrorists in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, and the Palestinian territories by drones deployed by distant States, such as the USA and Israel. States turn to armed drones because of their free-ranging capacity to eliminate human targets anywhere on the planet. Given that there seems to be no turning back for the logic of the use of armed drones, the actual challenge is not to delegitimize their use but rather to regulate this practice. Therefore, this chapter focuses on the most important rules of public international law that apply to drone attacks both in and outside the context of an armed conflict.
This chapter further elaborates on points first made in a note published at GRIP in May 2014 (“Utilisation des drones armés: considerations juridiques et pratiques”)
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Notes
- 1.
Among others, on 14 November 2012, the head of the military wing of Hamas was killed by an Israeli military drone strike in Gaza City (Vilmer 2013, p. 121; The Telegraph 2012); a US drone strike in south Yemen killed at least 30 al-Qaeda suspects on 20 April 2014 (Al Arabiya 2012; Le Figaro 2014). On 28 October 2013, the main explosive expert for Al-Shabaab was killed in a suspected US drone strike in Somalia (The Times 2013; Le Monde 2013b). On 24 October 2013, a 68-year-old woman was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan (Amnesty International 2014).
- 2.
This analysis is limited to the most important instruments of international law which delineate the legality of the use of armed drones.
- 3.
During most conferences and interviews, the Chatham House Rules applied.
- 4.
- 5.
[Translation]
- 6.
See, for example, Security Council Resolution 387, S/RES/387, 31 March 1976 (it is ‘the inherent and lawful right of every State, in the exercise of its sovereignty, to request assistance from any other State or group of States’); International Court of Justice, Nicaragua v. United States of America, 27 June 1986, § 246 (intervention is ‘allowable at the request of the government of a State’); International Court of Justice, Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda, 19 December 2005, § 42 and 53.
- 7.
International Court of Justice, Nicaragua v. United States of America, 27 June 1986, § 246. See also Kunig (2013), “Prohibition of Intervention”, Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, p. 6.
- 8.
Authoritative case law of the International Court of Justice reaffirms this. See, for example, International Court of Justice, Nicaragua v. United States of America, 27 June 1986, § 194 and International Court of Justice, Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda, 19 December 2005, § 147. On this topic, see also Gery 2012, p. 14–15; CAVV 2013, p. 4 and Gray 2008, p. 148–156.
- 9.
For an interesting overview and analysis of these questions, see Ruys 2013.
- 10.
Several authors have supported this argument. See, for example, Vilmer (2013), p. 126.
- 11.
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Dusco Tadic case, Interlocutory Appeal on Jurisdiction, 2 October 1995, § 70.
- 12.
Ibid.
- 13.
See among others, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Dusco Tadic case, Interlocutory Appeal on Jurisdiction, 2 Octobre 1995, § 70; ICTY, Ljibe Boskoski case, Trial Judgment, 10 July 2008, § 177; International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Fatmir Limaj case, Trial Judgement, 30 November 2005, § 84; International Criminal Court, Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, Trial Judgment, 14 March 2012, § 506. See also Moir (2002), at p. 43 and ICRC 2008.
- 14.
See, for example, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Fatmir Limaj case, Trial Judgement, 30 November 2005, § 90; International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, George Rutaganda case, Trial Judgment, 6 December 1999, § 93; International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Haradinaj, Balaj and Brahimaj case, Trial Judgment, 3 April, 2008, § 63–100.
- 15.
Article 3 common to Geneva Conventions I–IV states: “In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following provisions: (…).”
- 16.
On this topic, see doctoral thesis of the author to be published in 2016.
- 17.
In this chapter, only few of these rules will be examined.
- 18.
See, for example, International Court of Justice, Nicaragua v. United States of America, Judgment, 27 June 1986, § 194; International Court of Justice, Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda, Judgment, 19 December 2005, § 147; International Court of Justice, Advisory Opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, 8 July 1996, § 41–46.
- 19.
See, for example, Article 2(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights (1948) and Article 4(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights (1969).
- 20.
International Court of Justice, Nicaragua v. United States of America, Judgment, 27 June 1986, § 215.
- 21.
International Court of Justice, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland v. Albania, Judgment, 9 April 1949, § 22. See also N. Melzer (2013), p. 19.
- 22.
See, for example, European Court of Human Rights, Öcalan v. Turkey, Preliminary Objections and Merits, Judgment, 12 May 2005.
- 23.
Article 2 is a positive reflection of pre-existing customary rules. See among others International Court of Justice, United States of America v. Iran, Judgment, 24 May 1980, § 56.
- 24.
Article 16 ILC’s Articles only concerns relations between States and is not applicable inasmuch as the aid or assistance concerns entities that have no international status. See, for example, International Court of Justice, Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro, Judgment, 26 February 2007, § 420.
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De Groof, M. (2016). Death from the Sky: International Legal and Practical Issues on the Use of Armed Drones. In: Završnik, A. (eds) Drones and Unmanned Aerial Systems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23760-2_7
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