I’ve spent the past few days in Berlin at a conference organised by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) and Amnesty International looking at how, ten years after 9/11, counter terrorism is impacting on everyday life around the globe.
One of the key strands of the event focused on the growing use of drones for targeted killing and I presented a short paper on Britain’s use of armed drones in Afghanistan. Many of the participants told me that they had not appreciated how involved the UK had become in the ‘drone wars’.
I really appreciated the opportunity to discuss in formal and informal ways various aspects of the issue with legal experts and scholars from both Europe and the United States. A good number of contacts were made which will no doubt give rise to future work.
On the main day of the conference itself a panel of four excellent speakers addressed the issue of drones and targeted killing. An audio recording of their presentations together with questions and responses is available here. For anyone interested in this issue I would highly recommend giving it a listen.
Thanks to Gavin Sullivan and everyone at ECCHR for the invite.