Drone debate: New reports open debate about American drone program

A debate over the use of drones is scheduled to take place on Friday at the United Nations. This will comes just days after Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif and Barack Obama meet at the White House. Sharif has been openly critical of the US drone program for some time now.

Also this week, an Amnesty International investigation into the US use of drone strikes, found that 19 civilians in the area around North Waziristan in Pakistan had been killed in just two of the drone attacks since January last year. The Obama administration has maintained that one advantage to using drones is that the strikes are precise and reduce the number of civilian casualties. Human Rights Watch is also releasing a report focusing on drone strikes in Yemen.

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This Friday, a drone debate is scheduled to unfold at the United Nations. Recent UN reports attacked America’s lack of transparency over its use of drones. 16×9 explored the drone debate and concerns raised by UN Special Rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights in “Watchful Eye”.