A researcher who helped a U.N. team investigate
drone strikes in Pakistan says most civilian deaths from the attacks were the
result of bad intelligence.
Imtiaz Gul runs the Center for Research and Security
Studies in Islamabad and sent his own researchers into parts of Waziristan
province between 2008 and 2011.
Gul told VOA:
"Most of the cases in which innocent people got
killed basically resulted from faulty information, but not entirely," said
Gul. "Nobody really told us, and I would presume a number of people our
team spoke to also withheld information because usually people also tend to
hide the truth even in such situations."
Gul says fear is a major factor.
"These militants belong to a movement or to
groups which see the United States as the oppressor, as the perpetrator, the
violator of Pakistan sovereignty, so it is very difficult, extremely difficult
for the people on the ground in the tribal areas to defend or support something
that is killing members of the militant groups," he said.
A statement from the head of the U.N. team, released
Friday, has been drawing attention for condemning the United States' use of
drones in Pakistan as a "violation of Pakistan's sovereignty."
U.N. Special Envoy Ben Emmerson said Pakistan has
also been "quite clear" on rejecting U.S. drone missions over its
territory and that Islamabad believes the U.S. drone campaign
"radicalizing a whole new generation, and thereby perpetuating the problem
of terrorism in the region."
U.S. officials rarely discuss the use of drones
against terrorists, though they say privately civilian casualties are minimal.
Imtiaz Gul says his researchers found the collateral
damage is significant.
"Largely the pattern that emerged, in most of
the cases, regardless of whether there was also a legitimate target present or
not, a lot of innocent people, women and children also lost their lives,"
he said.
Gul said his teams spoke to families of alleged
victims and then would try to corroborate allegations with local officials and
tribal elders.
The findings on the impact of drone strikes in
Pakistan will be part of a larger U.N. report on drones set to be presented
later this year.
U.N. spokesman Eduardo del Buey told reporters
Friday the preliminary findings have not changed the position of U.N. Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon.
"Like any other weapon, the use of armed UAVs
is subject to long standing rules of international law including international
humanitarian law in situations of armed conflict," said del Buey. "He
also believes there is a need for greater confidence in international community
that the use of these weapons is within the bounds of international law."
The U.N. investigators spoke to military and
government officials as well as people in tribal areas.
Sources :
http://www.voanews.com/content/resaercher-most-civilian-drone-deaths-from-faulty-information/1622442.html
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