Lethal Force and Drones: The Human Rights Question

摘要

For centuries, just war theory (JWT) has served as a tool to evaluate the justice of the use of armed force within the international arena. Its principles drive belligerents’ behavior and affect how the rules of war are implemented during hostilities. The theory has evolved over time and has integrated changes in warfare, particularly technical innovations. The present-day advances in military technologies, and in particular the growing use of unmanned devices, are profoundly altering the attitude toward war. Around 70 states and some non-states groups are currently acquiring autonomous weapon systems.1 Governments are investing immense resources in setting up programs aiming at creating more complex devices able to “hunt, identify, authenticate and possibly kill a target” without human intervention.2 Worldwide spending on uninhabited aerial vehicles is expected to double over the next decade, totaling over 89 billion.3 The path to robotized wars seems unavoidable, given that technology provides for a significant, if not decisive, military advantage to the side possessing it.