Robotic warfare

Storm of criticism for armed drones

1 October 2005News Chris Cole

In June, the use of armed (pilotless) drone aircraft came in for criticism from a senior UN official, Amnesty International, and, reportedly, CIA officials. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence confirmed that Britain and France were conducting a feasibility study into the possibility of jointly producing or purchasing a new drone aircraft.

Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on “extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions”, submitted a strongly-worded report to the UN human rights council on 4 June, calling for an end to CIA drone strikes.

Alston wrote: “because operators are based thousands of miles away from the battlefield, and undertake operations entirely through computer screens and remote audiofeed, there is a risk of developing a ‘Playstation’ mentality to killing.” He added: “A lack of disclosure…