by Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

NEW YORK CITY, New York – Ben Emmerson, a UN special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, publicized findings of his report Friday which announced that at least 479 civilians have been killed by drone strikes in Pakistan since 2004.  The report’s release came ahead of a General Assembly debate schedule for October 25.

The report, which Emmerson began research on in January, involved interviews with local US elements in Pakistan.  Emmerson said that the CIA’s involvement in the drone program has created “an almost insurmountable obstacle to transparency.”  The report emphasizes that national security considerations are an unacceptable justification for withholding data on civilian casualties.

While Emmerson notes that a number of international legal issues relating to drone use need to be resolved, he believes that there is a place for their use within humanitarian law.  BBC News reports that Emmerson’s fear with drones is that lack of consensus on how to use them in armed conflict could become increasingly dangerous.

Emmerson’s report has no binding authority; however, the UN Human Rights Council will use the report in determining whether the US has committed human rights violations in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Yemen.

Human rights concerns aside, the use of drones is unlikely to decline in the near future. Already China has begun training with drones for use in armed conflicts, and Japan is looking to acquire drones by 2015.

Emmerson expects the expanding role of drones as a policing tool will lead states to prefer targeting enemies under war parameters over capturing them.

“The expansive use of armed drones by the first states to acquire them, if not challenged, can do structural damage to the cornerstones of international security and set precedents that undermine the protection of life across the globe in the longer term,” Emmerson’s report said.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – UN investigator presses US to publish drone attack data – 18 October 2013

Asahi Shimbun – Almost 500 civilians killed in drone attacks, U.N. study finds – 19 October 2013

Chicago Tribune – Pakistan tells U.N. at least 400 civilians killed by drone strikes – 19 October 2013

International Business Times – Drone Attacks In Pakistan Killed 400 Civilians In Last 10 Years; UN Investigator Urges US To Declassify Data – 19 October 2013

Reuters – Pakistan tells U.N. at least 400 civilians killed by drone strikes – 19 October 2013