Curse of Flying Death and Dilemma of Law: Challenges of International Humanitarian Law before Drone Attacks

Abstract

Usage of new technology in warfare has bamboozled the existing customs and etiquettes in battlefield. Especially the innovation of Drone as a lethal weapon in the battle field has created much complexities in International Humanitarian Law. The greater problem of Drones is that it unlike other weapons or mass destructive methods, entirely Drones do not possess the military features. With regard to the current legal implications Drones have not been regarded as a prohibited weapon by any international treaty or customary law. Neither Drone have been prohibited by the Article 8 of Rome statute as they do not exhibit any banned qualities such as causing indiscriminate harms or unnecessary sufferings. In fact Article 36 of Additional Protocol 1 of Geneva Convention states a new weapon could be acquired, if it is not prohibited by the protocol. This legal ambiguity has created a heavy loophole in the black letter law to legitimize this deadly weapon. As a matter of fact number of issues regarding the nature of belligerents, whether Drone has ability to distinguish a military target from civilian arise and this paper’s main objective is to trace those legal lacunas in International Humanitarian Law regarding the usage of Drones in war. Methodology of the research will be based on a doctrinal approach and Geneva conventions, ICRC document, 1 additional protocol shall be used as the primary document along with other available literature. The remedy that can be taken within International Humanitarian Law against Drones will be further discussed in this paper and it will enlighten the reader about the present challenge in IHL on Drones and the routine that has created this problem.