In a decision published on 2 January 2018, the Upper Tribunal has decided that the ‘security bodies’ exemption under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) should not have been applied in a blanket fashion to exempt the legal advice that formed the basis of the lethal drone strike that killed two British citizens, Reyaad Khan and Ruhul Amin, in August...
In what circumstances can the UK Government target and kill a British citizen abroad? Can the Government withhold its legal basis for doing so by invoking a blanket claim to secrecy with reference to the involvement of the security services? Has the UK been inching towards the US position on the use of force, while denying the public the opportunity...
On the 25th of September, Rete Italiana per il Disarmo, CILD and the ECCHR hosted a conference in Milan on ‘Armed drones in Italy and Europe: Problems and Perspectives Between military strategy, transparency issues and protection of fundamental human rights’. The conference brought together many academics, legal experts, and civil society groups from Europe and the United States to discuss...
The New York Times has reported that the Trump administration is set to dismantle Obama-era restrictions on drone strikes and ground raids outside traditional warzones (see story here). EFAD Member Reprieve has found that since Trump took office, at least 30 civilians have been killed in ground raids and drone strikes in Yemen, where the US is not formally at war. The...
On the 25th of September, Rete Italiana per il Disarmo, ECCHR and CILD will host a conference in Milan entitled: “Armed drones in Italy and Europe: Problems and Perspectives Between military strategy, transparency issues and protection of fundamental human rights.” CILD has more information on its website here. A number of experts from EFAD organizations will be speaking and present during the...
Earlier this month, 19 civil society organizations, including 9 members of the European Forum on Armed Drones, raised concerns about US-led initiative on the export and subsequent use of armed and strike-enabled aerial vehicles. The statement highlights several issues around the risks and limitations posed by the US’ Joint Declaration, most concerning about how these proposals may contain standards that are...
Chris Cole, Director of DroneWars UK writes: “An information tribunal has upheld the MoD’s decision to refuse to release the number of British armed drones deployed against ISIS and their location, despite such information being released by the UK about its ‘manned’ aircraft. In the just released open judgement (a closed judgement has also been produced but will not been made available...
Rights Watch UK’s Legal and Policy Director, Adriana Edmeades writes: “The U.K.’s approach to drone warfare is opaque at all levels of policy and practice. Officially, the U.K. has no formal drone program equivalent to that in the U.S. The U.K. Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry into targeting killing concluded that, instead, armed drone strikes occur in an...