The almost global capacity to conduct airstrikes anytime, anywhere: that is one of the most distinctive features of armed drones – and therefore a new dimension of warfare. Since many years the US employs drone strikes in the thousands. Again and again, innocent people are killed in the attacks – in many different countries, among them Pakistan.
On 4 October 2010, a US drone strike killed German citizen Bünyamin E in Pakistan. Obliged under German law, the Federal Public Prosecutor initiated a criminal investigation, but closed the file soon after. In 2013, ECCHR analyzed the German prosecutor’s decision to discontinue investigations into the death of Bünyamin E.
According to ECCHR’s examination, the decision raises a number of serious doubts as to the application and interpretation of the law and shows insufficient investigations. ECCHR supported Bünyamin E’s family members, produced a 3-D reconstruction of the strike together with Forensic Architecture, took part in an exhibition, theatre play and several expert talks and public debates about the case, legal standards and drones.
US drone warfare often violates international law, such as strict rules on the use of force and self-defense (ius ad bellum), principles and customs of war (ius in bello), basic human rights (namely the right to life and physical integrity), by attacking individuals without sufficiently determining their status. This results in blatant violations of human rights and international law.
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UN Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the UN to work on a specific mandate.
Show MorePublic international law is the system of laws governing relations between states and other subjects of international law.
Show MoreUN Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the UN to work on a specific mandate.
Show MoreUS drone warfare often violates international law, such as strict rules on the use of force and self-defense, principles and customs of war, basic human rights (namely the right to life and physical integrity). Nevertheless, the US receives support from a number of European governments, including Germany and Italy.
Show MoreMass surveillance of their own citizens, drone strikes that kill civilians, the torture of detainees – these are just some of the crimes that for example the United States has overseen in recent years. For more than ten years, ECCHR has been taking legal action against systematic US torture and unlawful drone strikes committed by the US.
Show MoreDecision makers in Western democracies often apply double standards when it comes to human rights. While the Global North will condemn and in some cases prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Global South, there is little appetite to examine the role played by Western politicians, military leaders and corporations in crimes against international law.
Show MoreUS drone warfare often violates international law, such as strict rules on the use of force and self-defense, principles and customs of war, basic human rights (namely the right to life and physical integrity). Nevertheless, the US receives support from a number of European governments, including Germany and Italy.
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