Police Use of Drones May Threaten Human Rights: UN Expert

The increasing use of drones by police forces and private security may pose a threat to human rights, a United Nations independent expert has said.

“An armed drone, controlled by a human from a distance, can hardly do what police officers are supposed to do—use the minimum force required by the circumstances,” Christof Heyns, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, told a UN General Assembly committee Wednesday.

The right to life and human dignity must be considered above any added value of giving police these unmanned weapons, he said.

“The decreased personal involvement of police officers in the deployment of force raises the question, among others, of who is responsible if things go wrong,” Heyns added.