Published on Jan 27, 2013 :
The investigation was announced in London on Thursday by Ben Emmerson -- the Special Investigator for the UN Human Rights Council. The focus -- according to Emmerson -- will be on about 25 of drone strikes conducted over the past several years in Pakistan -- Yemen -- Somalia -- Afghanistan -- and Palestine. At the UN on Friday -- a spokesman for Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon said the deadly strikes raise legitimate legal concerns. Haq added that Ban has urged relevant parties -- in this case the US -- UK -- and Israel -- to be transparent about the circumstances in which drones are used. The UK has said that it will comply -- but there are no such assurances from the US -- which has run its drone assassination program under deep secrecy -- mainly through the C.I.A. Much of the concern has to do with US strikes over Pakistani territory -- which have killed thousands -- including hundreds of civilians and nearly two hundred children. Pakistan's UN ambassador -- Masood Khan -- is the current Security Council president -- but he couldn't comment on the investigation in that capacity Friday because the Council has never taken up the subject of drone strikes.
