CIA Drone Strikes Could Encourage Use by Hostile States, Lawyer Warns

Photo Credit: Mike Theiler/EPAHuman rights lawyers have warned that alleged illegal drone attacks by the US in Pakistan and Yemen risk encouraging their use by other states in the region.

Andrea Prasow, a counter-terrorism lawyer with Human Rights Watch, said a new report with Amnesty International into evidence of strikes against civilians showed breaches of international conventions that could be exploited by hostile countries using similar technology.

“The failure to abide by international law sets a dangerous precedent for other countries,” Prasow told reporters at the launch of the report.

On Monday, Iranian media reported that authorities in Tehran had reverse-engineered a captured US drone and made a series of copies.

Naureen Shah of Amnesty echoed the growing concern in legal circles that indiscriminate US strikes will make it harder to restrain such countries in future.

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