COMMITTEE: General Assembly

QUESTIONOF: Criminal liability in the area of unmanned aerial vehicles

SUBMITTED BY: South Sudan

CO-SUBMITTERS: Norway, Italy, Syria, Sudan, Serbia, Barbados, Pakistan, Human Rights Watch, Holy See

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

Recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as signed by all Member States, which states that,“everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person” and that,“all are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law”,

Recalling also the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action which affirms that “all human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated. The international community must treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing, and with the same emphasis”,

Keeping in mind the importance of all human lives and the responsibility of the UN and its Member States to promote and protect all human rights around the globe.

Deeply concernedthat around 90 percent of people killed in recent drone strikes were not the intended targets of the attacks,

Condemnsall Member States that carry out convert drone strikes that are not in compliance with international lawand threaten the international legal system,which has been in existence since World War II,

Recalling the Human Rights Council resolutions concerning,“Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms While Countering Terrorism”, 19/19 of 2 February 2017 and 68/178 of 21 February 2017,

Emphasising the importance of the resolution passed by the Human Rights Council with the title,“Ensuring use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft or Armed Drones in Counter-Terrorism and Military Operations in Accordance with International Law, Including International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law” on the 24 of Mach 2014,

Concernedabout the potential environmental risks involved in the use of UAV, such as toxic remnants, which are left behind,

  1. Calls for the establishment of the United Nations Institution for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UNIUAV), anorganization which will ensure that:

a)member States are using UAVs in accordance with international law, international humanitarian law, international human rights lawand the Charter of the United Nations, which will:

  1. ensure that the use of UAVsby Member States is approved by the United Nations,
  2. protect the human rights of civilians and insure no harm comes to un-intended targets,
  3. investigate if the use of UAVsis appropriate and if there are other more suitable methods that can be used to achieve the same goals,

b)UNIUAV conducts a formal investigation if there is any evidence or possibility that a Member State has used UAVs in a matter that is not in coherence with international law,

c)all transactions related to UAVs is supervised and agreed upon by theUNIUAV in order to prevent UAVs from falling into the hands of terrorist organizations;

  1. Proclaims that the usage of UAVs needs to be approved and authorized by UNIUAV before usage, in order to ensure the safety of civilian lives and the appropriate use of UAVs;
  1. Encourages the implementation of military sanctionson all conventional weapons as stated in the Arms Trade Treaty on Member States that choose not to cooperate with the UNIUAV;
  1. Calls upon all member states that use UAVs to ensure they are used in a safe and secure manner that minimizes civilian casualties by:

a)minimizing the degree of human errors involved with the usage of UAV’s, however ensuring the individuals involved have gone through sufficient training, as well as continue training programs to ensure their qualifications,

b)ensuring the computer software used is without any defaults with no possibility of system failures or glitches;

  1. Calls upon all Member States to ensure transparency within their use of UAVs and conduct impartial and independent investigations whenever there has been apossibility of a violation of international law;
  1. Requests that unmanned aerial vehicles will be added to the Arms Trade Treaty, as part of conventional weapons;
  1. Decides to remain actively seized upon the matter.