Since the U.S. started drone attacks in Afghanistan in 2001, U.S. weaponized drones have, as of January 1, 2017, reportedly killed at least 7,511 people in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, according to statistics supplied to Knowdrones.com by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ).
Pakistan: 4,001 Afghanistan: 2,295 Yemen: 859 Somalia: 356 Total: 7,511
This is a gross underestimate of U.S. drone killings because the BIJ only began counting drone deaths in Afghanistan in 2015. There are also no comprehensive tallies of drone killings in Iraq, Syria or Libya, nations where the U.S. has been conducting extensive drone attack operations. U.S. drones have also attacked in the Philippines.
All of these killings violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, an international human rights treaty that the U.S. ratified in 1992, as well as the international laws of war. This is because none of those killed were tried in a court of law or determined to be “combatants” by a neutral tribunal, and all killings were based upon gross violations of the privacy of those living in sovereign nations.
-The President, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Secretary of the Air Force and other military leaders directly involved in the U.S. drone program are guilty of war crimes under International Criminal and Humanitarian Law and should be subject to prosecution.
Sources:
Know Drones
Drone REFERENCES
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Green Party Platform on the Issues
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