https://hsphevents.webex.com/hsphevents/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=EC&rID=1823647&...

Click here to view the recording of the event

This live seminar explored the use of unmanned weapons systems - in particular unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) - and their implications for the protection of civilians in contemporary conflicts. The seminar addressed the following questions:

* How, if at all, does the use of UCAVs affect obligations related to the use of force under international humanitarian law?

* Despite the technological advances in accuracy and precision of targeting associated with UCAVs, why are there still high numbers of civilian deaths and injuries stemming from their use?

* How would the analysis change if a human rights framework, rather than an international humanitarian law framework, were to be applied to the use of UCAVs in different contexts?

* Are there any considerations particular to the use of UCAVs regarding the accountability of the military and of intelligence agencies?

This seminar examined these issues against the backdrop of the recent increase in use of UCAVs in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Naz Modirzadeh, Senior Associate at the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University, and Claude Bruderlein, Director of the Program, hosted the discussion.

Panelists:
Vicki Divoll, United States Naval Academy
Mary Ellen O'Connell, Notre Dame Law School
John Radsan, William Mitchell College of Law
Peter W. Singer, Brookings Institution

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Resources
Additional materials pertaining to this Live Seminar are available on the International Humanitarian Law Research Initiative Portal.