UK Drones – Policy – Page 4

Defence Select Committee issues report on drones: PR trumps transparency

24/03/2014Chris Cole

Three years ago today (25 March) four Afghan civilians were killed and two seriously injured in a British drone strike in the Now Zad district of Helmand province. According to the MoD the strike, which also killed two men believed to be combatants, was investigated by ISAF who found that the strike had been “in accordance with extant procedures and rules of engagement.” Words of regret were issued, the case closed and British and US drone operations in Afghanistan continued unabated.

Seemingly by coincidence, the Defence Select Committee chose the third anniversary of this tragic event to release the report of its inquiry into the use of ‘Remotely Piloted Air Systems’. Not only is the anniversary itself ignored, so too is how UK drone strikes are actually impacting on the ground in Afghanistan. The fact that casualty figures from UK drone strikes in Afghanistan are not made public is not even mentioned, never mind challenged. Just as the four Afghan civilians killed in that British drone strike three years ago remain nameless, so to do all victims of UK drone strikes in Afghanistan Read more →

MoD’s drones PR offensive continues as UK commits to a drone filled future

17/01/2014Chris Cole

Armed Forces Minister Mark Francois speaks to Reaper pilots at RAF Waddington

As we reported, in December the MoD began a PR offensive on the UK’s use of drones by inviting selected members of the press to RAF Waddington in order that the MoD could correct the “wild misrepresentations” about drones put about by drone activists.

As part of this initiative, UK Defence Secretary wrote an op-ed piece in the Guardian to which a former US intelligence analyst, Heather Linebaugh scathingly responded “few of these politicians who so brazenly proclaim the benefits of drones have a real clue of what actually goes on.” Read more →

MoD undertakes PR offensive on drones

18/12/2013Chris Cole

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond holds a Black Hornet drone at RAF Waddington

The MoD has launched a carefully controlled PR exercise to defend its use of armed drones. A selected number of journalist were invited to RAF Waddington to view the new Reaper control centre that has been operating UK drones in Afghanistan since last April. As well as being able to view RAF pilots controlling Reapers, the MoD also put on display the UK’s other five unarmed drones.

As usual whether to call these aircraft ‘drones’ or ‘unmanned aerial vehicles’ or ‘remotely piloted aircraft’ seems to have taken up an extraordinary amount of time. Read more →

UK Defence Select Committee announces remit of inquiry into use of drones

11/07/201328/07/2020Chris Cole

Last November we reported that the UK Defence Select Committee was considering an inquiry into the growing use of drones as part of a wider inquiry leading up to the Strategic Defence Review. Today, the Committee has announced further details in a press release (below). Drone Wars UK early submission to the inquiry is available here. More on this soon no doubt. Read more →

Lawyers Challenge Legal Basis of UK Drone Strikes

08/06/2013Chris Cole

A leading firm of UK lawyers has today published a 52-page opinion on the legality of the use of armed drones by UK forces in Afghanistan. In what is sure to cause consternation in Whitehall, Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) argue that

“it is highly likely that the UK’s current use of drones is unlawful. There is a strong probability that the UK has misdirected itself as to the requirements of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) principles of proportionality, distinction and humanity and as to its human rights obligation to protect human life and to investigate all deaths (civilians and combatants alike) arguably caused in breach of that obligation.”

Drones continue rapid development as Parliament begins to grapple with the issue

10/12/2012Chris Cole

The Defence Select Committee has confirmed this week that it plans to investigate the use of armed unmanned drones. The inquiry into “the use of remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs, commonly known as “drones”)” will form part of a wider investigation into the purpose and future use of the Armed Forces. As well as examining the use of drones, the wider inquiry will look at “the strategic balance between deterrence, containment, intervention and influence; the utility of force; the legitimacy of force, including the political/military interface and lessons learned from current and recent operations; the effect of changes in the interpretation of the law on the prosecution of operations, and the relationship between hard and soft power in terms of influence.” (Phew!) Read more →