CIA operated drone strikes in Af-Pak region may hit UN hurdle: Report
By ANIFriday, May 28, 2010
NEW YORK - Concerned over the large number of civilian casualties in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operated drone strikes in the semi-autonomous parts of Pakistan’s tribal areas along the Afghanistan border, the United Nations may call upon the Obama administration to stop the missile hits.
A senior UN official, Philip Alston said he would table a report in the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on June 3, which would stress that the drone operations must be carried out by regular armed forces and not by any intelligence agency.
“With the Defence Department you’ve got maybe not perfect but quite abundant accountability as demonstrated by what happens when a bombing goes wrong in Afghanistan.The whole process that follows is very open. Whereas if the C.I.A. is doing it, by definition they are not going to answer questions, not provide any information, and not do any follow-up that we know about,” The New York Times quoted Alston, the UN’s special rapporteur on extra judicial, summary or arbitrary executions, as saying.
According to another UN official, who refused to be named, Alston’s views are not legally binding, and his report will not assert that the operation of combat drones by non-military personnel is a war crime, the paper said.
On the other hand, the CIA maintains that the drone operations are infact overseen by the White House and Congress, and refuted reports that the agency lacked accountability.
“While we don’t discuss or confirm specific activities, this agency’s operations take place in a framework of both law and government oversight. It would be wrong to suggest the CIA is not accountable,” CIA spokeswoman Paula Weiss said.
In recent months the Obama administration has been seen trying extensively to square the idea that the C.I.A.’s drone program is lawful, with the United States’ efforts to prosecute Guantanamo Bay detainees accused of killing American soldiers in a war.
The United States has argued that because the Al-Qaeda fighters do not obey the requirements laid out in the Geneva Conventions, like wearing uniforms, they are not “privileged combatants” entitled to any battlefield immunity.
Under the reformed war manuals, the C.I.A. drone operators, who reportedly fly the unmanned aircraft from agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia, might theoretically be subject to prosecution in a Pakistani courtroom, the paper said, adding though, that the United States can argue to allies that it is not violating the laws of war. (ANI)
