TIANMUN 2018 Disarmament Commission – 1 FORUM: Disarmament Commission ISSUE: Measures to Safely Develop and Implement Drone Technologies STUDENT OFFICER: Paula Kim (Ji Won) POSITION: President of Disarmament Commission Introduction Human soldiers are disappearing from war zones with the advancing technology. Autonomous drones, representing a section of “Unmanned Arial Vehicle (UAV),” are replacing human soldiers, for the use of military-purposed autonomous drones eliminate pilots’ risk of death, drastically reducing the damage caused by warfare. Yet, military-purposed drones are facilitating a heated debate around the international society because it produces 10 times more civilian loses than conventional manned aircrafts. Moreover, not all countries have enough money and the technology to replace human soldiers with highly advanced drones, and therefore, it is extremely hard for civilians to protect themselves from rapid attacks caused by the military-purposed autonomous drones. Thus, many innocent people are dying due to the use of autonomous drones, leaving them hopeless in halting the inhuman genocide. At least 55 countries around the globe are reported to use or own drone technology, and the United States of America itself owns more than 8,000 autonomous drones. Yet, autonomous drones are not always harmful. They are used by UN peacekeepers and many other organizations to provide humanitarian aid to people in conflict zones, because utilization of autonomous drones is considered as the safest way of which people can deliver aid in a timely manner, considering the ongoing chaotic civil wars and internal conflicts in many countries. In order to reduce the damage caused by the use of military-purposed drones while utilizing the drones for the public good, it is extremely crucial for the international society to be aware of the use of autonomous drones. Background Like mentioned above, there are many different types of Military-purposed drones. Yet, there are three main types of Military-purposed drones that are utilized for many different but important purposes. Firstly, the Micro- and Nano-drones are insect sized spy machines that are used to gather information, but it is yet to be widely utilized in real life. A good example of this is the “Black Hornet”, which is being used in Afghanistan since 2013 by the British Soldiers. Then, there is the Medium-sized
Transcript
TIANMUN 2018 Disarmament Commission –
1
FORUM: Disarmament Commission
ISSUE: Measures to Safely Develop and Implement Drone
Technologies
STUDENT OFFICER: Paula Kim (Ji Won)
POSITION: President of Disarmament Commission
Introduction Human soldiers are disappearing from war zones with the advancing technology. Autonomous
drones, representing a section of “Unmanned Arial Vehicle (UAV),” are replacing human soldiers, for
the use of military-purposed autonomous drones eliminate pilots’ risk of death, drastically reducing
the damage caused by warfare. Yet, military-purposed drones are facilitating a heated debate around
the international society because it produces 10 times more civilian loses than conventional manned
aircrafts. Moreover, not all countries have enough money and the technology to replace human soldiers
with highly advanced drones, and therefore, it is extremely hard for civilians to protect themselves
from rapid attacks caused by the military-purposed autonomous drones. Thus, many innocent people
are dying due to the use of autonomous drones, leaving them hopeless in halting the inhuman genocide.
At least 55 countries around the globe are reported to use or own drone technology, and the United
States of America itself owns more than 8,000 autonomous drones.
Yet, autonomous drones are not always harmful. They are used by UN peacekeepers and many
other organizations to provide humanitarian aid to people in conflict zones, because utilization of
autonomous drones is considered as the safest way of which people can deliver aid in a timely manner,
considering the ongoing chaotic civil wars and internal conflicts in many countries. In order to reduce
the damage caused by the use of military-purposed drones while utilizing the drones for the public
good, it is extremely crucial for the international society to be aware of the use of autonomous drones.
Background Like mentioned above, there are many different types of Military-purposed drones. Yet, there
are three main types of Military-purposed drones that are utilized for many different but important
purposes. Firstly, the Micro- and Nano-drones are insect sized spy machines that are used to gather
information, but it is yet to be widely utilized in real life. A good example of this is the “Black Hornet”,
which is being used in Afghanistan since 2013 by the British Soldiers. Then, there is the Medium-sized
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reconnaissance drones, which are also known as the MALE
(Medium Altitude Long Endurance) and HALE (High Altitude
Long Endurance) drones. “Heron” is the key type of drone that
represents this category, and it can fly as long as 52 hours, and up
to 10,000 meters high. “Heron” is being utilized in countries such
as the US, India, and Canada for reconnaissance use. Lastly, the
large combat and surveillance drones are the ones that come to
people’s mind when they think about military-purposed drones:
they are armed and are usually used for controversial extrajudicial
killings. They can carry various missiles, and they have a range
of over a thousand miles and a maximum flight time of 14 hours.
The “Global Hawk” is the largest and most expensive drone of this type and it is made in the US, but
unlike the others, this drone is mainly used to scan mobile phone calls, having a possibility of violating
the citizen’s privacy.
The first militarization of drone dates back to World War I, although the idea of drones existed
ever since the mid-1850s. Starting with the development of the first UAV “Aerial Target” in 1916,
Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane (the flying bomb) were invented, and the first Automatic Airplane
was demonstrated by the US Army shortly
afterwards. After World War I all the way through the
end of World War II, jet engines were being applied
to drones, but they were merely remote-controlled
airplanes until the Vietnam Era when it was actively
utilized as weapons. Later, UAV Technology has
gone through a rapid growth between the 1980s to the
1990s, transforming in to more approachable and cheaper fighting machines.
Problems Raised Causation of Civilian Casualties
It is explicitly known that autonomous drones can cause 10 times more harm when compared
to manned aircrafts, and it can do so fairly easily: Amnesty international even classified the utilization
of autonomous drones as war crimes, and Human Rights Watch judged the US attacks in Yemen and
Pakistan to have broken international human rights law. Although the US has used air strikes to
A clear picture of the "Heron".
British Soldier is holding the "Black Hornet".
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combat terrorism in the past, the missions also killed the hostages and the people around the area as
well. This is partly because of the lack of technological development and the lack of information
considering the place of mission. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimated that “415 drone
strikes launched in Pakistan since 2004 have killed between 2,449 and 3,949 people,” including 400
to 1,000 civilians. Moreover, researchers have found that the operators of drones suffer from more
severe post-traumatic stress disorders compared to the other pilots who were involved in the warfare.
Aviation expert Peter Gray stated in his speech in the Birmingham University that the autonomous
drones are not "fully autonomous" yet, as “they can't decide when to take off, or choose their own
targets.” However, he warned his audience that technology can develop in that direction, and that we
must take actions to prevent it.
Treat to the International Security/ Infringement of National Sovereignty Autonomous drones cause harm in
the international society not only because
they can take the lives of numerous people
and cause pain in the neighborhood, but also
because they can crash in to buildings and
interfere airspaces. Drones interfered the
pathways of which the airplanes travel, as it
nearly crashed in to Airbus A203 in July
2014, causing the Civil Aviation Authority
(CAA) to rate the incident as a "serious risk of collision," the top rating it can give. Moreover, the
white house spotted an unauthorized drone when it crashed in to the lawn in January 26, 2015, which
could have caused great chaos because drones are not easily detected even with strict flight restrictions.
The drone could have overheard important information that might have harmed the country as a whole.
International Actions/ Key Players The United Nations The United Nations have started their discussion considering the use of autonomous drones as
a counter terrorist tactic that complies with international law in the late 2013, and their conclusions
were later drafted and included in the resolution A/RES/68/178 in the following year. This resolution
is the first time where drones were discussed in the international level. Yet, not all the countries agreed
The dramatic moment RAF drone wipes out multiple jihadis as it destroys a key ISIS military building in Iraq.
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upon this decision. Pakistan, as the major victim of air strikes, viewed this action as a violation of its
national sovereignty, while the United States of America, as a firm believer of the benefits that drones
could bring in eradicating terrorism, were able to persuade all other groups in voting for this resolution.
Since the first discussion, the global attention towards UAVs in general has grew drastically, and the
UN even conducted research upon UAVs entitled “Study on Armed Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.”
The former Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has explicitly expressed his opinion on this topic
by stating that “the only goal of unarmed aircrafts is photography. Their use as a weapon must be
subject to international humanitarian law.” In other words, he wanted to limit the military usage of
drones exclusively in order to combat possible civilian casualties. However, the current Secretary
General António Guterres has not expressed his view towards the use of autonomous drones quite yet.
United States of America FAA, also known as the Federal Aviation Administration, has set rules upon the operation of
drones. They created baseline of which operators of drones were certified, allowing only those
missions where the drones were within the sight of the operator, and even set a strict time of which
drones could be used. Yet, these rules does not apply to drones utilized in the military. They rank the
first place when it comes to countries that utilizes autonomous drones for military purposes, and have
eradicated many terrorist groups through their utilization. Yet, there has been reports where researchers
made clear that 90% of the victims were actually innocent people. For instance, the mission that
targeted only 41 men that threatened the international security resulted in more than 1,100 people being
killed, and more than 2,500 people has been killed in US’s autonomous drone operations.
Pakistan and Syria Pakistan, in the international forums, has continuously said that “Drones strikes have serious
human rights and humanitarian implications besides implications for inter-state relations and peace
and security.” Al-Qaeda and Taliban that takes their base in the country has constantly caused the
country to be targeted upon air strikes that takes purpose in air strikes. People has been affected greatly
due to these attacks, and it is estimated that roughly 959, 755 innocent adults and 204 children were
killed throughout the 413 airstrikes. Moreover, it is said that the killing of important leaders in the
terrorist groups has hindered peaceful conversations between them and the international society,
causing more problems to spouse out.
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The more recent victims of air strikes is
Syria. After the world has suspected the use and
development of chemical weapons within the Syrian
border, countries such as the US, UK, and France
has been utilizing autonomous drones and air strikes
as a tool to warn Syria against pursuing illegal
research projects. Although Russia has urged the
UN Security Council to condemn the "aggression"
against Syria, Turkey's Erdogan stated that the strikes on Syria is, indeed, “appropriate.” The current
president of the US, Trump, justified their attacks in Syria as an action to "establish a strong deterrent
against the production, spread and use of chemical weapons.” The air strikes were targeted upon many
important sites of Syrian army, and although Syrians have attacked back in defensive purposes, their
lack of technology and power has led their actions to be ineffective in reducing the harm.
Possible Solutions Setting an International Standard Considering the Utilization of Autonomous Drones The United Nations should provide a platform where all the countries could come together and
agree upon the very details of the utilization of autonomous drones, because some of the conflicts in
the international community results from very unexpected and accidental strikes caused by
autonomous drones. Also, setting specific limitations in the weaponized use of autonomous drones
and crafting international regulations to limit the possible infringement of national sovereignty is
urgently needed to ensure the international security.
Proliferation of International Communication prior to Air Strikes Because air strikes can be used to combat
terrorism that takes root in certain countries, the
government of the country in which the groups are
located and the government of the country that
provides the drones for operations should work in
tandem in preventing noncombatant casualties,
ensuring the transparency of the action. Moreover,
rather than utilizing air strikes as a way to raise An example of military drone (Large Combat and Surveillance Drone) used in the US’s Navy.
The Syrian Scientific Research Center in Barzeh, near Damascus, after the attack.
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awareness of the international tension towards a certain action (like development of weapons),
proliferating communication in dealing with those sensitive issues will greatly reduce the risk of
innocent death and damage caused by air strikes. Thus, creating and suggesting specific procedures
that countries have to follow in planning for reasonable air strikes will greatly ease the tension between
countries.
Glossary Weaponization of Autonomous Drones (Military-purposed Drones) Many specialists agree that autonomous drones (that can be controlled with computers and
remotes from a distance) will dominate future warfare. There are many sub-divisions of Military-
purposed drones, including the Large Combat and Surveillance Drone.
Air Strike Air Strike refers to all the attacks that include the utilization of aircrafts, including autonomous
drones. It ranges from gun shooting to bomb drooping, and it is often driven by a clear purpose of
hitting a certain target.
UN Peacekeeping Operations United Nations Peacekeeping Operations ensure a long-lasting peace in conflict zones by
taking tangent actions in solving the conflict. Their actions range from aiding the internally displaced
people in the conflict zones and protecting the refugees to warranting forums of which different groups
involved in a conflict can solve the conflict in the core level.
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Sources Ackerman, Spencer. 41 men targeted but 1,147 people killed: US drone strikes – the facts on the ground . 24 November
2014. Article. 28 August 2018. <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/nov/24/-sp-us-drone-strikes-kill-
1147>.
—. US drone strikes more deadly to Afghan civilians than manned aircraft – adviser . 2 July 2013. Article. 9 September
