Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in Targeted Killings as a Counter Terrorism Strategy: A Human Rights Perspective

Abstract Modern technological weapons like the “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles” (UAVs) are increasingly being used in battle fields to translate each war into a Military success. In this paper, an endeavour has been made to analyze the legal ramifications of use of drone technology in “War on Terror” in the context of Human Rights violations by United States and NATO Forces in different countries with special reference to North-West Pakistan. To understand the complexities involved, reference has been made to other counter-terrorism measures. The researcher has tried to highlight how targeted killing by UMS strike is violative of International Bill of Human Rights like ICCPR, ICESCR and Regional Human Rights treaty arrangements like ECHR. Efforts are been made to analyze how IHRL has application to targeted killing, in addition to the IHL, by elaborating the concept of extra-territorial application of IHRL. However, due to paucity of time and limitations of words, the research is confined to the counter terrorism strategy of the United States of America alone.