UNMANED AERIAL VEHICLES

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, commonly known as drones. Flown by pilots sitting safely in Nevada, these remotely-piloted aircraft have the ability to hover over communities twenty-four hours a day and to target – and kill – those below at the mere push of a button. To date, the United States has used drones to execute without trial thousands of people in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia – all countries against whom it has not declared war. Nobody knows who the next target might be. Armed drones can hand down a death sentence simply because a person exhibited suspicious behaviour. Like, Noor Khan’s father, Malik Daud Khan, was a Pakistani tribal elder and mediator for local disputes. On March 17, 2011, Malik Daud Khan and 40 other tribal elders were killed in a US drone strike that targeted a meeting convened to resolve a dispute over a local chromite mine. The elders had notified and received permission from the Pakistani authorities for the meeting. Dozens watched helplessly as the drone overhead opened fire for reasons that are still unknown today. Our Magazine “The Lords International” is also working to expose and challenge the covert programme of illegal drone attacks in Pakistan. On 30 March 2011, aiming to call authorities concerned for initiation of legal course, a proposition was circulated under head note “THINK OVER………..WHY NOT F.I.R” and it was “Whether the pilots waging undeclared drone war in Pakistan could be liable to criminal prosecution for war crimes and are also liable to be prosecuted under the law of any jurisdiction where attacks cause any injury, death or property damage”. Thanks to Mr. Pir Muhammad Shah (SSP) who put forward this proposition and our system took notice. In May 2013, it was a historic day, that Peshawar High Court Observed & declared significantly, in a case brought on behalf of several drone strike victims, that US drone strikes in Pakistan are illegal, and ordered the Pakistani government to take a series of steps to stop future strikes. Furthermore, the court also held that the U.S. Government is bound to compensate all the victims’ families and that the Pakistani Government should take steps to ensure that this happened immediately. It is another stepping stone that on 21 May 2016 Family members of deceased taxi driver Muhammad Azam who was killed in an American drone strike in Baluchistan filed a First-Information Report (FIR) against the United States officials. I hope authorities concerned will take further steps to ensure that no one could make the use of drones as a weapon of choice to execute without trial the people in Pakistan. [Farhan Khaliq Anwer Advocate – E.Mail: duaapk@hotmail.com] ……..... Cell:03002165271 & 03410214627…………… “The Lords International” – Magazine of Law & Law Fields].