Many in Pakistan say that the strikes cause indiscriminate deaths and injuries
CIA
drone attacks in Pakistan are responsible for unlawful killings, some
of which could amount to war crimes, Amnesty International says.
Amnesty said it reviewed nine recent drone strikes in North Waziristan and found a number of victims were unarmed.
In a separate report looking at six US attacks in Yemen,
Human Rights Watch says two of them killed civilians at random,
violating international law.
Drone warfare has become common in the US pursuit of al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Few details are known about the covert US drone operation.
Senior al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders have been killed in drone strikes in Pakistan, but civilians have also died.
These attacks cause outrage in Pakistan, where many assert that the strikes cause indiscriminate deaths and injuries.
Last week, a UN investigation found that US drone strikes had
killed at least 400 civilians in Pakistan, far more than the US has
ever acknowledged.
UN special rapporteur Ben Emmerson accused the US of
challenging international legal norms by advocating the use of lethal
force outside war zones.
Establishing precise casualty figures and identifying the
dead in such attacks is virtually impossible as independent media are
barred from tribal areas near the Afghan border.
'Very tight leash'
As for local claims of civilian deaths in strikes targeting militant camps, they are almost impossible to prove. One reason is the restricted media access in the region. The other is the militants' tendency to cordon off the targeted sites and make quick burials.
But Waziristan is a small place, with well-knit tribal clans living and interacting closely with each other. Civilian deaths cannot go unnoticed here, and anecdotal evidence travels fast.
The general impression that one gets from talking to elders and correspondents from the area is that drone strikes are for the most part accurate, causing little or no collateral damage.
They say if civilians deaths had been as high as those mentioned in some recent international reports, there would have been more of an outcry against it both socially and also in the media.
Amnesty said it had investigated
nine of 45 recently reported attacks by US drones, unmanned aircraft
whose operations are controlled remotely by operators in control rooms,
often on other continents.
The group called on the US to disclose information and the legal basis for strikes carried out in Pakistan.
In the report, Will I Be Next? US Drone Strikes in Pakistan,
the rights group named several victims who, it says, had been unarmed
and "posed no threat to life".
In October 2012, 68-year-old grandmother Mamana Bibi was
killed in a double strike as she picked vegetables in the family's
fields while surrounded by her grandchildren, said the report.
It said US President Barack Obama's pledge earlier this year
to increase transparency around drone strikes had not been fulfilled.
"This secrecy has enabled the USA to act with impunity and
block victims from receiving justice or compensation. As far as Amnesty
is aware, no US official has ever been held to account for unlawful
killings by drones in Pakistan," the report said.
It called on the governments of Pakistan, Australia, Germany
and the UK to investigate drone strikes or other abuses that may
constitute human rights violations.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch said in its report that six US
drone attacks in Yemen killed 82 people, including at least 57
civilians.
It added that two of the strikes killed innocent people indiscriminately.
A controversial aspect of the US policy is that drone attacks
are carried out not by the military but by the Central Intelligence
Agency.
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has argued in favour of the policy, saying that the US will continue to defend itself.
President Obama has insisted the strategy was "kept on a very
tight leash" and that without the drones, the US would have had to
resort to "more intrusive military action".
Drones kill rescuers in 'double tap', say activists
Mohammad Nazir's son was killed in a 2006 strike in North Waziristan
Drones
are often lauded for their supposed precision and accuracy. Sometimes,
though, the machines - and their human operators - make mistakes, as two
new reports from human rights organisations show.
The tent burned. Friends and family members came running to help. A moment later, there was another drone strike. Many of the people who had come to assist their friends and relatives in the tent were also killed.
Altogether 18 people died in the two rounds of drone strikes. One of the victims was a 14-year-old boy. The strikes in Zowi Sidgi fall into a special category of attacks, said Qadri, a lethal operation that includes two phases.
There are regular protests in Pakistan against such strikes
'Particularly shocking'
This practice, known as a "double tap", as journalists have described, is being used more often.
US officials declined to comment on Qadri's findings about
these and other drone strikes in Pakistan. His research appears in an Amnesty International report.
In a May speech at Fort McNair in Washington, however, US President Barack Obama said the drone strikes in Pakistan and other countries are "effective" and "legal".
"Before any strike is taken, there must be near certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured - the highest standard we can set," he said.
A Human Rights Watch study on drone strikes in Yemen has also been released. For the Human Rights Watch report, researchers looked at six strikes that took place in Yemen from 2009-13. Researchers claim that two of the attacks violated the laws of war "because they struck only civilians or used indiscriminate weapons".
More than 640 people have been killed in US-directed drone strikes in Yemen over the past decade, according to New America Foundation.
During this period of time, about 2,065 people were killed in strikes in Pakistan.
Most of the people who have been killed in the strikes were militants. But sometimes the wrong individuals are targeted.
Americans rely on information gathered by the CIA, the National Security Agency and other US agencies, as documents from former contractor Edward Snowden reveal, to plan some of the strikes.
Individuals who are planning the strikes use the information in order to determine whether or not to carry out an assault - and who should be targeted.
When contacted by the BBC, CIA officials declined to comment.
Child killed
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
Mustafa Qadr Amnesty InternationalIf you're a military-aged male, you're considered a target”
"They appear to be targeting
those who have come in to help those who are injured," said Qadri. "And
that's particularly shocking."
In a May speech at Fort McNair in Washington, however, US President Barack Obama said the drone strikes in Pakistan and other countries are "effective" and "legal".
"Before any strike is taken, there must be near certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured - the highest standard we can set," he said.
A Human Rights Watch study on drone strikes in Yemen has also been released. For the Human Rights Watch report, researchers looked at six strikes that took place in Yemen from 2009-13. Researchers claim that two of the attacks violated the laws of war "because they struck only civilians or used indiscriminate weapons".
Pakistani villagers, shown in 2008, after a suspected drone strike
During this period of time, about 2,065 people were killed in strikes in Pakistan.
Most of the people who have been killed in the strikes were militants. But sometimes the wrong individuals are targeted.
Americans rely on information gathered by the CIA, the National Security Agency and other US agencies, as documents from former contractor Edward Snowden reveal, to plan some of the strikes.
Individuals who are planning the strikes use the information in order to determine whether or not to carry out an assault - and who should be targeted.
When contacted by the BBC, CIA officials declined to comment.
Child killed
In addition Americans may rely on so-called "pattern of life"
analysis, which means they study a group of people over time in order to
see if they are doing anything suspicious. The definition can be broad.
Indeed Qadri and other activists believe the definition is so vague
that innocent people are killed as a result.
"If you're a military-aged male, you're considered a target," he said.
For the Amnesty International report, researchers interviewed
more than 60 people, including individuals who saw the strikes in
Pakistan occur. Some of the interviews were done in North Waziristan.
Based on this research, Qadri and others believe the drone strike in
Zowi Sidgi was wrong.
"Let's assume the US made a mistake in the first strike," he said. "But in the second round it should have been clear that they were killing civilians. A child was killed.
"It's up to the US to tell us why they were targeted," he said. "In the absence of that, it's an unlawful killing."
"If you're a military-aged male, you're considered a target," he said.
Villages have dug graves for the people who were killed in the July 2012 strike
"Let's assume the US made a mistake in the first strike," he said. "But in the second round it should have been clear that they were killing civilians. A child was killed.
"It's up to the US to tell us why they were targeted," he said. "In the absence of that, it's an unlawful killing."
SOURCE: BBC
