Los ataques armados con drones en Derecho internacional

Abstract

The increasing use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, in the framework of the war on terror is posing serious challenges both from an ethical and from an international legal perspective. We must accept that drones have become a strategic tool, given the asymmetrical nature of contemporary conflicts and the advantages of their use. In fact, their use for military purposes is an irreversible process. This paper aims to explore the main legal issues raised by the United States use of drones in places such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. While the first part of the paper assesses the pros and cons of the use of drones in contemporary conflicts, the second deals with the legal implications. Thus we analyze the use of drones as a weapon per se, their legality from the angle of both ius ad bellum and ius in bello, and, finally, from the perspective of International Human Rights Law.