US drone strikes maybe in breach of international humanitarian law: Expert
29 Oct 2009, 1448 Hrs

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New York, Oct.29 The United States has been warned that its use of unmanned Predator drones in counterinsurgency operations in countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan may be against the international law against 'summary executions.'

A human rights investigator, Philip Alston, who is associated with the United Nations, said the Obama Administration should explain the legality of targeting particular individuals through the drones.

Alston, in his report, said that failing to do so would be considered as a violation of international humanitarian law, which prohibits subjective killings.

" It will increasingly be perceived as carrying out indiscriminate killings in violation of international law," The Nation quoted Alston, as saying.

Interacting with media persons during a press conference here, he said Washington should also clarify what precautions were taken to ensure that the armaments used in the counterterrorism operation were strictly in accordance with the international and humanitarian law.

" The US should indicate what sort of review mechanism was in place to evaluate what had happened when those weapons had been used," said Alston.

" What we need is for the US to be more up front and say, 'OK we're prepared to discuss some aspects of this rogramme'.Otherwise you have the really problematic bottom line, which is that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is running a rogramme that is killing significant numbers of people and there is absolutely no accountability in terms of the relevant nternational laws," he added. (ANI)

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