UN rights expert concerned over drone use in domestic law enforcement

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JURIST is reporting:

A UN rights expert said Wednesday that the increase in the use of armed drones in domestic law enforcement may violate human rights [press release]. In his report [text, PDF] to the UN General Assembly, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Christof Heyns[official website] raised a number of serious concerns with regards to the use of armed drones by the police as well as private security firms. Heyns noted:

Questions that are asked about the use of armed drones and autonomous systems on the battlefield intensify when they are used in ordinary policing. The relationship between the State and those under its protection is very different from its relationship with those it regards as its enemies during armed conflict.

According to the report, in domestic law enforcement, officials have a much stronger duty to consider specific circumstances of each particular case, and unmanned robots might not be the best instrument for this purpose